Muslim Fathers have to Man Up

There is a crisis in the Muslim community when it comes to our daughters – a crisis of self-esteem.

We were already a different culture before 9/11 – a very different tradition than regular western society. We are different in many ways, especially in the way we dress and in the commitment we have to modesty. Now it is almost twenty years after 9/11; however, the hatred, the animosity and the spiteful language that comes out of the people’s mouth against Islam has increased tenfold or hundredfold, What was already difficult to follow has now become something hateful… and our daughters are in the middle of that! It does not matter if they go to public schools or even Islamic schools. When they go to college in hijab, they see girls there without one and a thought runs in the mind of those young Muslim girls: “Why can’t I dress like that? Anything fun is Haram… she looks so pretty – why can’t I look pretty like that?”

All this crosses her mind. She is afraid to say it but it crosses her mind. She is depressed, because she feels that she looks ugly because of her Hijab. “People make fun of me… why are we such a backward society? I don’t even know why I have to wear it…”

This is a serious problem, because it is a trend setting from inside. Even if it is not from outside, especially from inside it is a big problem, as the heart is not submitting to Allah (swt). This happens only when we do not give our sons, and especially our daughters, enough self-esteem.

To read the rest of this article, and more, subscribe to Hiba Magazine