If you are Muslim.

[Masher]

Hopefully this doesn't come across as insensitive. It is to do with the photograph of the lady in the brown headscarf walking across Westminster Bridge after the attack. I thought she looked terrified, distraught, and very, very shaken. The photographer has just confirmed this.

One thing that crossed my mind I think, is that if I was muslim and caught up in such an act I would really fear for my safety. I would be scared the people there may turn against me, I would be scared that I would be accused of being involved, and I would be scared the security services may do both of these things too.

It got me thinking about how I would feel in everyday life in Britain. I just wondered whether you all feel safe here, or if it changes through various regions and depends on where you are?

If you don't feel safe, or there are times when you don't feel safe, what can I do that would make it better? I live in London if that helps.

yellow you are reading English translations, that contain the word headcover. The word hijab nowadays is used to describe a headscarf but it's not actually what hijab really means. Its not in the translations you are reading because its not an English word and isnt used in the original Arabic anyway. The actual word used in the Quran is khimar, you also wont see that reading a translation . I posted a link to a video which explains everything for you, but obviously you are not really interested in learning and just want to argue.

I hope your treatment goes well HeadoftheHive55. I don't think most Muslims would bother at all, though some might get a bit over excited thinking that you had converted. Muslims do not and never have had a monopoly on head coverings. I know Middle Eastern Christians for example who choose to wear a headscarf, not to mention Her Maj.

yellow perhaps come back when you are an expert in 7th century arabic and tafseer. Believe it or not there is more than one word for headcovering in arabic and the arabic we speak today is not the arabic of the quran. I am muslim but couldn't interpret the quran for toffee which is why I leave it to the people who have spent a lifetime studying it.

Reza Aslan is not an expert on the quran.

Muslim women are people like anyone else, some of us have a deep religious faith and are very observant, some of us are muslims in name only. How each one chooses to practice their faith or lack of faith is no one's business but theirs.

the last 3 nowhere mention head covering the first one does mention head coivering but the arabic word is khumur not hijab and dosnt say they must wear it it assumes they already are because of the culture at the time

are you free for lectures and seminars yellow6?

yellow6 are you for real?!

I think your thread is insensitive Masher, but not for the reasons you'd expect.

I agree with you that the woman in the headscarf looks very distressed (as anyone would be in such an awful situation) but when opening the photo you posted my first thought was to question your motivations in starting this thread.

You've posted a horrific picture of the aftermath of an attack on innocent people. There is a woman supine on the ground severely injured. However, your concern is not for this poor wounded woman, no, your concern is wholly for the woman in the headscarf. As a woman lies bleeding you worry about the feelings of the woman walking past her broken body because she is a Muslim.

You do not post that you hope this poor victim doesn't die. How your heart goes out to her and those who love her. You do not ask what you can do to help her and her family. No, you worry only about the lady in the headscarf, how scared she is, does she feel safe?

Do you see how perverse your reaction is Masher?

For the record, the abuse the Muslim lady received as a result of this photo was, in my opinion, disgusting. However to elevate the hurt feelings of one woman over the smashed body of another is deeply disturbing.

Err no it isn't really. Its two separate issues. Both valid.

Thanks all. I have looked at turbans too, but I generally wear a scarf round my neck anyway so it seemed a good compromise. I don't really want to look like a cancer patient, but I didn't want to upset anyone.

It's interesting that one of the posters said they wouldn't like it.

Why have people fed the troll and made this 10 page thread about a theological argument about hijab? Genuinely completely irrelevant to OP's post. Please can people stop feeding trolls and derailing threads, it doesn't benefit anyone.

I'm Muslim, I don't wear hijab/traditional dress, and I am so pale that that the vast majority of non-Muslims 'read' me as being a white British non-Muslim person. So no I don't fear immediately for my safety as the fact that I'm Muslim is usually only revealed to people I am already comfortable with, and my nickname is anglicised. My actual name is Muslim but lots of non-Muslims don't even realise that it is, just that it is "foreign". So thankfully I am pretty much free from personal abuse in that regard but it does put me in a very uncomfortable situation when people don't realise I'm mixed race, not white, Muslim, with one immigrant parent, and then start complaining about Muslims/immigrants/foreigners etc which has happened sometimes in odd locations e.g. with clients at work, taxi drivers, people on the bus etc. I then do have to assess my personal safety when deciding how to respond.

My mother is white British hijabi and the most chill person when it comes to this stuff. If she has ever felt afraid she's never let it shown. She lives in the north west and just goes around her life like a butterfly, breezing about all over with no worries. But she has suffered from islamaphobia on many occasions throughout her life. The best times are when people assume she can't speak English and then the look on her face when she replies in a north east accent . But more serious incidents have happened too. I remember a particular incident of verbal abuse at a train station when she was there with me , my brother, and sister and we were all under 10 at the time.

yellow It's a bit of material that covers your head. Even if you think it's not stated in the quaran - so what? Does that mean woman who wants to wear headscarf, should not wear a headscarf ?

Headofthehive55 There are loads of headscarf styles that are worn by different religions/cultures including Muslims. There is only a few that are really only worn by Muslims. I think I'm in the minority for not liking non Muslims to wear those styles but please be aware that people would mistake you for being Muslim.

The abuse towards this lady is appalling. What would anyone do in that scenario? Well, what any of us, of any religion or ethnicity, would have done, that is what she did .

As for comments that Muslim women should not wear hijab to look more "normal" or "Western", words fail me. Muslim women who live in the UK, whether born here or not, are both normal and Western.

I think the style of headcovering varies from country to country, with fashion and depending which school of Islam you follow?
For what it's worth, I have worn a scarf ( I'm not a Muslim) when visiting a rural area of an Arab country as I didn't want to upset any one. I had a terrible cold and a man on a market stall gave me a lime and sent me to his friend's tea stall to have it made into a hot drink ( no charge from either of them), so I don't think anyone was offended by my temporary scarf wearing!
For what it's worth I have also covered my head to look around Orthodox churches and my shoulders and legs for temples.I view it as being polite.
That poor woman couldn't have done anything that wasn't being done already for the victim and has already given a perfectly reasonable response that she had already helped one person and was contacting her family to let them know she was OK and on her way home.

Headofthehive55
I would have no problem with it.
Why would I ? Muslim women do not own the hijab.

Most people are decent and anyone that would turn on a muslim because of something like what's just happened is plain evil. On the whole we are a very tolerant country. I wonder if there would be the same tolerance shown to non muslims in a muslim country if a muslim had been stabbed by a non muslim. I highly doubt it, but that doesn't mean to say we are like that.

All the people on this thread who are being weird about the hijab - do you accept that white Judeo-Christian heritage Brits have a gendered dress code? Have you ever gone to a wedding and worn a dress? Has your DH also worn a dress, or did he wear trousers? When you go to a beach, do you join your husband in wearing trunks, or do you cover your breasts either with a bikini or a one-piece? If you do adhere to these arbitrary differences in dress standards for men and women, why do you see these as acceptable, but another religion/ culture's standards as unaceptable (not all people from that religion - it varies by cultural background as well, in my experience)? And do you also go up to women who belong to the Plymouth Brethren and give them a hard time about covering their heads?

Forgot to mention,a very helpful Somali woman showede how to fix the scarf, so I probably looked totally unfashionable for the country I was in!

To those individuals who have interpreted and commented on what my thoughts were in that horrific and distressful moment, I would like to say not only have I been devastated by witnessing the aftermath of a shocking and numbing terror attack, I've also had to deal with the shock of finding my picture plastered all over social media by those who could not look beyond my attire, who draw conclusions based on hate and xenophobia.

Apologies if this has already been posted - am on a clunky laptop that hates navigating MN.
Statement from the woman in question.

muhajaba the word is khmmur though not hijab distinctly different and means to cover its from the root word ‘Kha-Miim-Ra’ thats why in verses 2/219 and 5/90 its used to describe intoxicants

Primark and H&M do great head scarfs by the way.
I have also found some in charity shops.
I use pashminas, I find square scarfs hard to put on.

yellow6 stop embarrassing yourself

im not im stating facts the word is khumur(plural) khimar (singular)please it is that same word is used in those two verses to mean intoxicants and in context it does mean covering their breasts and why did you post the other 3 verses wear does it mention the hijab or headcovering there.
www.exploring-islam.com/implication-of-the-word-khimar.html

Yellow6, please would you stop? Please? People are free to choose to wear whatever they want for whatever reason they want, be it for religious, cultural, or not not wanting to walk round naked reasons.

You may dispute that covering heads is in the Quran, but others here think it is. Why disrespect someone else's attire and religious/cultural traditions by seeking to prove them wrong? It will end in nothing but offence. No one shall say "oh my, I have been wrong all this time, thank you Yellow6 for enlightening me."

25bottles, square scarves are best folded diagonally to form a triangle and then pinned under the chin, think Turkish women wear their hijab like that, I once saw a group of super stylish Turkish women with their hijab like that but it looked like they'd done something else to the hijabs looked very glam.... I'd look like my granny if I tried wearing mine like that!

• and that is on the slim chance that you're right.