Stop Wearing Lipstick or Be Prepared to Get Raped

Muslim council in Malaysia orders women to stop wearing lipstick and high heels to 'prevent them getting raped'

Authorities in a northern Malaysian city are calling on Muslim women not to wear bright lipstick and noisy high-heel shoes if they want to follow the "Islamic way".

The municipal council in Kota Baru, run by a conservative Islamic party, is distributing pamphlets with the advice, in an effort to prevent rape and protect women's dignity and morals....

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I tell you what. We muslims love to lecture other people. Dress is an extremely contentious issue and debates rage all across the globe between muslims themselves and with non-muslims. Veil has assumed the role of Sacredness and Oppression.

Dress is a cultural phenomenon. It has no religious connection. As muslims we are told in Quran to dress 'modestly'. Quran does not describe what dress to wear. Citizens of various countries dress differently according to their cultural traditions. A Muslim woman would take a headscarf rather than try a skirt.

Normally, when you see a girl observing 'pardah' (protection) you would naturally think she is a modest person as compared to a girl who does not cover her head. This happens because one thinks since she is observing pardah so she must be religious so she must be good. Though this is a flawed assumption but this is how it goes. A girl in veil is no more pious than a girl without a veil - their character is dependent upon their acts.

Now this assumption takes a really 'mean' twist and the mindset says that since the girl is wearing lipstick or high heel, she definitely is of bad moral conduct and the person observing her gets the license to do 'anything'. I am not saying it happens but IT WILL HAPPEN if the same mantra is kept repeating.

Zakir Naik is also a 'proponent' of this philosophy. According to him 'if there is a girl who is wearing mini skirt and a girl who is wearing hijab and they both pass through an area where they are some ruffians - who do you think would be more prone to be attacked? Naturally the one wearing mini skirt is more at risk.' I find it extremely sick. Its not dependent upon the dress but the sickness of the attacker. If the attacker is sick then it does not matter whether a girl is wearing hijab or mini skirt.

This is the worst kind of preaching for 'pro islamic dress'. Don't adopt this line that if a woman is wearing high heels and lipstick then she is more prone to be raped. No one should be granted the licence to rape a woman wearing lipstick or high heels and I fear this approach will lead to such acts.

Unfortunate.

'Veil'

Islam does not enjoin any particular dress for men and women as according to Quran the best dress is that of Taqwa (7:26) i.e. of righteoussness/ modesty. Only one verse talks of specifics and that is (24:31) which states what areas should be covered whereas (33:59) does not talk of 'veil' as specific dress rather a garment that would cover a woman's body.

Whenever it is said that 'veil' is not mentioned in Islam, it is assumed that one is proposing that veil/ covering or protection of any sort should be abandoned. A sort of clash between secular and islamists camps. This is not the case at all as no one is suggesting that they be done away with. Clothing and subsequently 'veil' are all cultural issues. Muslims in Indonesia, Pakistan , Saudi Arabia and North Africa dress differently and accordingly to their culture. The Tuareg of West Africa, mainly muslims, have the most distinct symbol of veil called Tagelmust. Its a blue indigo coloured veil and interestingly 'men' use veil and women do not! this does not make them 'non-muslims'.

Quran does not go into specifics of dress because this would be illogical in the diverse multi-cultured world. So if anyone wants to use burqa/ veil they are more than welcome but it should not be imposed upon people as specifics of God which obviously it is not. A dress should conform to norms of decency (as stated in Quran) irrespective of 'what' it actually is.