RAB Source Entry 2- Afrah Mohsin

Part 1- MLA Citation 

Khan, Ashley Pearson. “Opinion: The Hijab and Our Right to Choose.” Muslimi, 13 Oct. 2022, https://muslimi.com/opinion-the-hijab-and-our-right-to-choose/ 

Part 2- Summary

The opinion piece “The Hijab and Our Right to Choose” by Ashley Pearson and Khan is about how Muslim girls should have the right to wear or not wear the hijab. Some countries use their government to control women by forcing them to follow specific rules. The author mentioned Mahsa Amini how she was beaten to death by the police because she wore the hijab “incorrectly.” In Islam, you can’t force people to follow the rules because it will actually make them move away from it. As what happened with Amini, the police arrested and beat her to death, but that actually made other girls protest and take off their head scarfs. Nothing can be fixed with force. The Quran says that women should wear the hijab, but it’s still a choice to wear it or not. Khan did not grow up Muslim or meet any Muslim women, until she went to college and met a hijabi woman from Saudi arabia. Her field influenced her to study Islam and learn more about the real meaning of hijab. Khan discovers that the hijab is a symbol of faith and modesty. a woman should freely choose to wear the hijab; and no one should force them to put it on or off. After Khan reverted to islam, she chose to wear the hijab, it was her personal decision. She explained that it made her feel protected and safe when she wore the hijab.

Part 3 –  Reflection

I agree with the author’s point that seeing someone do something can influence us to learn more about it. In the story, Kahn talked about how her hijabi friend who wore the hijab made her want to know what hijab is to Muslim women which ended in her accepting Islam and wearing the hijab. When I was 8 years old I wasn’t wearing a hijab. One day I met a girl in my school for the first time and she was wearing the hijab. It was a new thing for me because none of my friends wore it at that time. I asked her how she feels when wearing it and she said that she really loves it. After I went home that day I asked my mom if I could wear it to school. I started wearing it to school to match my friend. When I grew up I knew what hijab meant for Muslims and loved it even more. I know that if I was forced to wear the hijab instead of choosing to put it on myself I wouldn’t feel connected to it as I do right now. The right way to make someone love or follow something is to explain why that thing is important or why they should follow it because forcing is not the right response. And yes, the Quran says that women are supposed to wear it but a person can’t force women to wear it. We are not the ones who judge people on what they follow or not.  

Part 4- Rhetorical analysis

The article “The Hijab and Our Right to Choose” is an opinion piece. The purpose of this article is to explain that hijab should not be forced by the government or family. It’s a complete choice that women should make. The audience for this article is everybody because people need to know that some girls are wearing it because they are forced and some girls are wearing it because they want and choose to wear it. The author uses logos as an appeal to show that in Islam nothing is being forced, she used a verse from the Quran. “let there be no compulsion in religion” (Quran 2:256). Khan also used pathos to appeal to other women around the world who converted to islam. And to connect to women who are forced to wear it or take it off because of their government. The author uses ethos because she studied Isam, and the hijab. She went to Islamic classes, and discussed hijab with other women. The occasion that this opinion piece was written is to express her thoughts about what was happening around the world about hijab. When girls in Iran were protesting against their government to end hijab enforcement. And the hijab band that was happening in France. The author Ashley Pearson and Khan is an American convert who lives in Canada. Khan is a content creator. She was also the ambassador of world hijab day in 2017, and organized her own event to celebrate world hijab day. The article was published on the Muslimi website. Muslimi is a Canadian organization. They have many online platforms like youtube, facebook, and their own website. It’s a reliable source because the articles and stories they share are based on the quran. For example, if a non-Muslim wants to learn something from their website, it is true because they are not just making up ideas. 

Part 5- Notable Quotable

Forcing anything upon people will drive them away from the matter and create animosity. The death of Mahsa Amini in Iran was a tragic example of that. Because of forced doctrines and hunger for power, the lines of culture and religion blur so much that the impact on Islam is negative.  ( Ashley Pearson and Khan)

The hijab is the subject of many conversations worldwide as governments have used it as a tool to enforce their own ideologies and beliefs. ( Ashley Pearson and Khan)

Society wants to argue about oppression and women’s rights, especially Muslim women. The truth is, in Islam, people have many rights and freedoms. The two pillars of hijab and anti-hijab are dominated mainly by a patriarchal system restricting women’s right to choose. ( Ashley Pearson and Khan)