Within the Muslim world, Muslim women have been dressing differently than the women of other nations for over 1400 years. Many of these Muslim women have immigrated from their native countries to the United States, and are now a part of the cultural salad bowl of the world. Here, they face the arduous task of incorporating their religious garb and doctrine with the allegedly contradictory American ideals of unlimited personal freedom and independence. Their apparel is regarded by many Americans as backwards and suppressive, hence deviating from the esteemed American ideals.

The hijab is viewed as a mechanism of subjugation that has worked to repress the Muslim woman. It is something a Muslim woman is expected to be liberated from once she has moved to the United States. But, the questions that emerge in many people's minds are: how is it that modern liberated American Muslim women choose to dress in this backward manner? Why do they allow themselves to be subdued in this fashion? However, before this analysis commences, background information on the hijab and the reason(s) for its adherence are necessary.

Hijab comes from the Arabic word hajaba, meaning to hide or conceal. The context of hijab as applied by Muslim women is that of modest covering. This covering is a result of the divine injunction in the Qur'an which states:

"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze an guard their modesty, that all make for greater purity for them; and God is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty, and that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not &splay their beauty except to their husbands... " (24:30-3 1)

These two verses present two major commandments for Muslim women. The first is that a woman should not flaunt her beauty, and secondly, the head covering should be drawn over her bosom. In addition to these divine commands, the Prophet Muhammed in his hadith states that:

"When a girl reaches the age of puberty, it is not proper that anything should remain exposed except this and this. (he pointed to his face and hands.)"(Abu Daud)

Hence, the standard of hijab is explicitly ordained in both the Qur'an and hadith. It is precisely because of these injunctions that Muslim women adhere to their style of dress. However, hijab is not simply a form of dress. It is an overall attitude. It encompasses appropriateness in behavior and mannerisms that exhibit decency and honor. All of these facets contribute to the one concept of hijab.

Complications in practicing the hijab arise when these Islamic values are contradicted by the contemporary Western ideal of total independence from religious doctrine. This in turn implies independence from the hijab for a Muslim woman, as it is a result of a perceived out-of-date religious dogma. The majority of modern Western men and women do not retain a standard of religious dress because it exhibits submission to a theology that contradicts everything that is modern and progressive. So when the Muslim woman retains her religious identity through the hijab, she is seen as being suppressed by her religion.

This complicated issue becomes even more entangled when the suppressed" Muslim woman moves into a liberated society. It is very difficult for the free society to accept this "self-subjugation." Many cannot fathom why these women, now that they have the opportunity to live a free and independent life, choose to retain this "servile" attire. Ironically, surveyed American Muslim women that adhere to the hijab do not view their dress as a means of oppression. Instead they regard the hijab as a statement of their independence and individuality, that garners self-respect and self-worth. When asked if the hijab was forced upon them, 98 percent of the fifteen Muslim women surveyed stated that it was not, that in fact they were wearing the hijab by their own free will.

Some of the Muslim women felt that the hijab facilitated their acceptance in society as an individual person, not a sexual object. It acquired a degree of respect and admiration not only for their ability to defy societal norms in favor of religious dogma, but also for their expressly individual talents that exist regardless of their gender.

The majority of these women do not regard their dress as an obstacle or hindrance in the college scene. Nor do they regard hijab as a physical impediment in a working environment. One Muslim woman states that "the dress of the Western woman a couple of decades ago was a lot like the hijab. Yet, it did not hinder her ability to contribute to the American society." However, what many of these women do foresee as a problem in the future, in terms of applying for and attaining jobs, is discrimination based on the conformity to this form of dress. This fear emerges from these women's experiences with discrimination outside of the university setting. Some have been taunted openly on the streets; some have had security guards follow them around in stores and some have even had fellow students try to pull off their hijab. (in middle and high schools).

There have been several court cases in the past few years in which Muslim women were hired for certain positions, and served commendably. Once they made the religious commitment to start wearing the hijab, they faced biases and harassment at their work place. Some were even fired. This type of outright discrimination worries some women, but even then, they are headstrong in their ways. One woman said that, compromising the pleasure of God will not earn me any worthwhile job." Others stated that, "no job merits the removal of my hijab," and "who wants to work in a discriminatory environment anyway."

Ironically, this type of discrimination exists not only in the non-Muslim environment, but it also exists amongst Muslim women themselves. In an effort to better assimilate into the American society, many Muslim women have removed their hijab. These "progressive" Muslim women may actually create more difficulty for the Muslim women who wear the hijab than American women who have no knowledge of Islam. Muslim women who conform to the hijab may be discouraged by their family members who consider this adaptation as yielding to a radical wing. Others believe that hijab, if it is to be adhered to in the proper manner, requires total segregation from men and even drawn the veil over one's face. Although these ideals are not mandated in Islam, they are widespread practices in Eastern cultures. These cultures' augmentations to the religion are accepted blindly as law. Hence, many Muslim women choose not to wear the hijab in America because they feel that they can not adapt to these extremely difficult standards.

Another group of Muslim women who do not wear the hijab expect the veiled women to be extremely pious and virtuous, almost infallible. They expect that the covered women should not make the same mistakes that the average (i.e. not so religious) women do. So if they witness a veiled woman committing some sin, they mock these women by calling them hypocrites. However, the religious dogma does not expect anyone to be flawless. Mistakes will be made by all regardless of their adherence to the hijab. But the hijab is a divine order and expectation. Perfection is neither of these two. In other words, Islam demands and expects Muslim women to wear the hijab, but it does not demand nor does it expect perfection from its followers. This is an aspect of the religious dogma that many conveniently forget when they make their case against the women who wear hijab. As is evident, internal strife amongst the Muslim women themselves makes the adherence to hijab even more difficult in the American society than is apparent.

Ignorance about the hijab and why it is worn prevails in the Muslim as well as the American communities, although it is magnified considerably in the laffer. In the surveys answered by fifteen of the students at the University of Illinois-Chicago, a large portion of these students do not realize the rationale behind the hijab. Much like the prevalent stereotypes, many of these students found the hijab to be an oppressive force and a means of suppression because it "does not allow the woman to be herself," or "show her God-given beauty." Compare these responses to those of the Muslim women who wear the hijab, and the contrasts become quite clear. What Muslim women who wear the hijab find as liberating and independent, fellow students perceive as suppressive.

However, the term suppressed is applied to American women by many Muslim women. One may wonder how could anyone label the contemporary American woman as anything but liberated and independent? The wellknown Muslim feminist Nawal El-Sadaawi relates the opinion of many Muslim women when she describes the Western woman as oppressed by the unrealistic expectations of her society. They (Western women) are constantly striving to achieve the perfect body, perfect haircut, perfect dress, perfect job, perfect family, etc. But, who has set these standards of perfection? To whom are all of these women submitting their eating habits, their style of fashion, their manner of walking and/or talking; essentially who are these women submitting the way they live their lives to? Is this not a manner of oppression?

In their effort to achieve the impossible, to attain statuesque figures of the supermodels, diseases such a bulimia and anorexia are running rampant. Hours are spent on fixing one's hairstyles and applying one's make up to achieve a desirable look. In the eyes of many Muslim women, this is suppression and self-subjugation. Wearing the veil is submitting to the will of God, which in many Muslims' opinions is more important than conforming to societal norms. In lieu of this argument, even the independent American woman can be viewed as suppressed by her society.

But what exactly defines suppression and liberation of women on a general level? This article has illustrated that it isn't necessarily their style of dress. A woman may dress in a modern unconstrained fashion, but she may be actually living a life of subjugation to her society. On the other hand, women who dress in the hijab may be seen as submissively attired, but they may be enjoying tremendous personal freedom. By no means does clothing dictate or mandate certain behavioral patterns on the part of women, especially in the realm of living a free life. Independence is a state of mind and a manner of living one's life, not the style of dress. Independence is also a matter of interpretation. American women proudly proclaim that their dress is a symbol of independence, individuality, and freedom. This so called independence is interpreted as a for of suppression by many non-Western women.

Is the freedom of American women truly granting personal independence? Or is it different method of subjugating women? Th Western society has successfully distracted the woman and hindered her from achieving truly personal freedom by focusing such an enormous amount of her mind and potential o her physical appearance rather than letting he advance her individual potential to the fullest extent. Many Muslim women, such a Fatima Mernissi, would argue that this nee to enhance one's physical appearance take away from the woman's personal achievements. The men that these women work with will take their physique more seriously than the work that they have produced. This is a problem that is all abut obliterated for a woman who wears the hijab. Her physical appearance is concealed, so that all that her peers can judge her on is the work that she has produced, not what she looks like.

Different standards and interpretations o the subjugation of women exist throughout the world. After all, despite the many advances women have made in achieving certain inalienable rights, it is still a patriarchal world. However, one of the great hurdles that must be overcome before some standard o equality of the genders is established, is the judging of women by other women. As is evident in this article, it is women themselves who add to the problem of female suppression. It is not the dress of a woman that suppresses her, it is her society. Within this society exist many women who contribute significantly to this suppression. In order for the inequality of genders to cease, it is imperative that women first attempt to understand why other women do what they do. It is very easy to say that those women are being oppressed by their religion or their societies, but without the proper understanding of the context of their situation, these types of assumption are baseless. Hijab is viewed predominantly by Western women as a means of suppression, when in actuality, many Muslim women feel that it is exactly the opposite. Attempt to understand the reasoning behind these emotions before judging what they represent to you.