Since the September 2001 W.T.C incident, Muslims and Islam have become the world's unjustified target of war, oppression, destruction and discrimination. These targeted attacks, aimed at intimidating and breaking down the strength in the diin and iman of our Muslim Brothers and Sisters, has in fact had the very opposite effect.

With the dramatically increased magnitude of discrimination expressed against the most visible of Muslims, Hijabi Muslimahs, many of these women have not, out of fear of discrimination, taken off their hijab, but instead they have found within themselves a desire and strength to boldly wear their hijabs and Islamic modest dress. 

And Allah (swt) has said in the Holy Qur'an:
"30. Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them. Lo! Allah is Aware of what they do.
31. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent, and to draw their veils over their bosoms, and not to reveal their adornment save to their own husbands or fathers or husbands fathers, or their sons or their husbands sons, or their brothers or their brothers sons or sisters sons, or their women, or their slaves, or male attendants who lack vigour, or children who know naught of women's nakedness. And let them not stamp their feet so as to reveal what they hide of their adornment. And turn unto Allah together, O believers, in order that ye may succeed." 
(an-Nur 24:31)

As stated in an-Nur, the guarding of modesty by all Muslims, men and women, and the wearing of Hijab for the believing women has been decreed by Allah (SWT) and taught through the traditions of our Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and his Holy Progeny (AS). 

As the religion of Allah (SWT) has steadily become the prime target of modern day, many Muslims have become more diligent in studying, practicing and defending their religion, and consequently, many young Muslimahs have started wearing Hijab in an attempt to make efforts to deepen their faith and understanding of their religion Islam.

In the United States of America, the number of Muslimah college and university students wearing Hijab has increased, as noticed by the Muslim student leaders and professors who have stated that more women are wearing hijabs and taking more of an interest in their religion. This is particularly the case on campuses of colleges such as Georgetown University, the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia. The Hijab has become a more common sight on campuses in New York and California as well. 

Not so long ago, many Muslim women in the United States of America were nervous about wearing the Hijab for fear they would be physically attacked, but as they have felt the increased prejudice they have instead gained strength by calling attention to their religious identities, instead of just blending in. 

Physical attacks on Hijabi Muslimahs are, however, a very real fact, as was the case in Australia one year prior to the September incident where a Hijabi Muslimah School Teacher was attacked twice on account of her wearing Hijab. As a consequence of this discrimination, including the anti-Muslim Doctors' also deliberately injecting an overdose of medicine, this Muslimah discontinued her work in Australia and is now teaching very successfully in a South-East Asian country.

Since last year, however, the constant echo of the words "terrorist" and "Osama bin Laden" have solidified the determination of Muslimahs to represent their religion without fear or intimidation. As stated by an Engineering graduate of George Mason University in the U.S.A. "I have changed so much after 9-11, and I think a lot of young Muslim women who felt we were being called terrorists really found ourselves researching our own religion and wanting to wear hijab."

Some Muslim women see it as an important tradition and part of their spiritual and cultural development as Muslims and others wear it only after marriage. Some others do so because their mothers wear it and they feel they also should wear it and other Muslimahs who have in the past felt they were not spiritually or socially ready, have found the motivation within themselves toward their religion in this time period to choose to wear hijab.

Sonia Patwary, who is 18 yrs old and also a student at Virginia Commonwealth, in the United States of America, said she has studied her faith since September 11th 2001, and is soon going to start wearing the hijab. She went to many Muslim student conferences and thought about it all year before deciding.

Patwary has also stated that "The tragedy of 9-11 and the Palestinian cause made me think about all of the propaganda out there about Muslims. And I really thought about what my religion meant." She said that before she put on a hijab, she had to build herself intellectually as a Muslim. She started to wear the hijab before Sept. 11, but she said the attacks made her faith and pride in being a Muslim much stronger.

In this family's personal experience, since the W.T.C. incident, the wearing of hijab has become absolutely solidified. I was personally offered a lot of money for a job position requiring the removal of Hijab, however I did not accept the position. Another issue involving the removal of hijab was concerning a ruling by Ayatullah Milani, in which the hijab is to be removed up to any number of times prior to marriage in front of the prospective marriage partner, however I personally chose to not marry the man who demanded this. 

The W.T.C. incident has effected Muslimahs very deeply, and perhaps it is not understood how and in what way the women have reacted to the current world situation. It may be that the Scholars need to take into consideration these changes and issue the fatwas in accordance to the current situation, trends and resultant effects.  

In recent times, man, woman and child, Muslims have been in-discriminatorily attacked and killed, therefore it is important that the whole Muslim Ummah unite to fight the oppressive and despotic rulers of our time, as all that differentiates the believing people from one another is their excelling in virtue, piety reverence, spiritual and ethical qualities. Islam proclaims that in God's eyes there is no difference between man and woman as each is a precious soul. On the Day of Judgement each soul will be judged, regardless of sex, according to the fruits of their actions, by the above criteria. 

As Allah (SWT) says in His Holy Qur'an:

"To whosoever does good, the reward is better than the deed." 
al-Qasas 
28:84

The non-Muslim women of the modern day, who feel they have become liberated, self-empowered and no longer objects only to serve men, have in fact fallen victim to subversive propaganda of all kinds, in which the mass media, particularly cinema and TV, play so tragically fateful a part. Rather than being what they see as free from the oppression of men's desires, they are in fact presenting themselves as public visual slaves of men's desires.

The huge contrast to this, which is seen as one of modern day's greatest threats, is the modest and completely empowering dress of the Muslim women. As decreed by Allah (SWT) the All-Knowing, All-Wise, this modesty frees the Muslimah and protects her from the oppressive desires of non-believing men as her physical form is not visible to the public eye. This modesty retains the Muslimah's piety, personal power, moral excellences and dignity.

www.victorynewsmagazine.com