MY HIJAB REFLECTS MY IDENTITY RATHER MY RELIGION

Year 2019, Volume: 3 Issue: 2, 209 - 217, 31.08.2019

Omar Mizel

Abstract

The question of the hijab resurfaces time
and time again, as various parties raise the issue and its relationship with
Islam and other faiths. Notions including liberty, terrorism, persecution,
fanaticism, democracy are addressed, among many others. It has been recently
noted that the number of Palestinian university female students (PUFS) wearing the
hijab is on the rise. This study seeks to explore the reasons behind this
behavioral phenomenon.

The purpose of the study is to understand
how PUFS wearing the hijab view Hijab; it seeks to answer a central question,
“How do these female students justify their choice of wearing the hijab?”, and
“How do these justifications differ according to their socio-educational
context?”

The study consists of 25 in-depth
interviews with female students studying at a mixed Arab and Jewish College.

The study revealed that the perception and
justification of wearing the hijab is not only religious. It also expresses a
social, cultural, economic and political perception. The notion of traditional
Hijab, as a means of suppressing a woman’s freedom, is no longer valid. On the
contrary, PUFS indicate that wearing the hijab harmonizes with modernization
and contributes to Moslem women’s adaptation, wherever they are, serving as an
essential factor for their engagement with the society.

Keywords

Hijab, islam

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