In a situation where a slew of false narratives about Islam, particularly as it pertains to Muslim women and their rights, Hijab-clad women who excel in their lives themselves refute one of the many misconceptions. They reaffirm that Islam is the most flawless and progressive faiths when it comes to women’s empowerment.

Nobel Laureate Tawakkol Karman

When journalists questioned her about her Hijab and how it was out of proportion to her intelligence and education, Tawakkol Karman graciously responded:

“Man in the early times was almost naked, and as his intellect evolved he started wearing clothes. What I am today and what I am wearing represents the highest level of thought and civilisation that man has achieved, and is not regressive. It’s the removal of clothes again that is regressive back to ancient times.”

It was Tawakkol Karman’s perfect reply to a journalist when she was asked about the logic behind observing Hijab.

Tawakkol Karman is a Yemeni journalist, human rights activist, and politician known as the “Iron Woman” and “Mother of Revolution.”

In 2005, she co-founded the organisation “Women Journalists Without Chains.”

Tawakkol, along with two others, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2011, making her the first Yemeni, the first Arab woman, and the second Muslim woman to earn a Nobel Prize, as well as the second youngest Nobel Peace Laureate ever.

Late Dr. Kamala das, a noted Malayalam writer, who adopted Kamala Surayya as her new name after her conversion in 1999

Dr. Surayya argued that Purdah grants protection and Islam is the only religion that truly recognises the dignity of women.

She didn’t require the independence the Western culture desires for women, combined with lustful gaze. Semi-naked female statues were put at a recent book expo in Delhi in order to entice and seduce more customers. What a pity!

People who are leading a never-ending war against Purdah supporters to “emancipate the lady” so she can “march with the times” do so by exposing her body to the vulgar gaze of outsiders.

Speaking about freedoms that liberation offers, Dr. Surayya is quite candid:

“I don’t want freedom. I had enough of it. Trust me. Freedom had become a burden for me. I want guidelines to regulate and discipline my life. I want a Master to protect me. I want protection and not freedom. I want to be subservient to Allah. In fact, for the past 24 years I have worn Purdah off and on. I had gone to markets; matinee shows and even while abroad I had worn Purdah. I have several of them. A woman in Purdah is respected. No one touches you or teases you if you wear one. You get total protection.”

“Now let us consider freedom,” continues Surayya. “The tenets of Islam offer full freedom to women. They are treated with equality. Curbs on freedom are there only in those societies where these tenets are ignored. I don’t consider a woman’s submission to her husband and other higher powers as lack of freedom. I’ve had enough of such freedom and I don’t want it any more. I have totally submitted myself to Allah. I am happy to observe His rules and conditions.”

Dr. Surayya was a Kerala native. Her mother was a well-known poet and her father V. M. Nair was the Managing Editor of two publications: Mathrubhoomi and Nalappat Balamani Amma. In addition to her numerous prominent works in Malayalam language, her works in English have also been honoured.

Ente Katha is a Malayalam novel that has been translated into 15 foreign languages. In 1969, one of her short stories won the Kerala Sahitya (Literary) Academy Award.

In 1964, she received the Asian Poetry Prize for The Sirens, the Kent Award in 1965 for Summer in Calcutta, and the Asan World Prize and Academy Award in 1967 for The Sirens (Collected Poems).