Flying while Muslim
Under pressure...
I am my wife are planning a trip by air. I sort of have made up my mind and am going to live with the consequences, but I want to know what others think. Should my wife remove her hijab while we are flying in the US? Should I remove my Kufi? What if I need to wear a thobe for an event right after we disembark? Should I avoid the thobe because it will make the other passengers uncomfortable? Should we go through extra inconvenience to make sure others are comfortable and we are not dragged off to some small room for them to ask us a bunch of dumb questions?
GregAbdul
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Assalaamualaikam
Ah, that heinous crime of FWM (Flying While Muslim) - how dare we use a form of public transport... It's a really sad reflection of today's views that not only does this discrimination happen, but it's considered fine by so many people.
My advice would be to be yourselves. If we hide our faith, our identity, our personalities, then how will people get to know us - if people never meet us, then we'll always be strangers. Yes, there may be times when for our own safety we need to make compromises (eg. working in some environments requires people to adapt their dress to avoid injury), but we should have the same rights as anyone else to wear what we want when travelling.
With regards hijab, I'd suggest your wife tries wearing an amira-style one or a style that can be secured using a hair clip rather than pins - when the "random searches" are requested, you're asked to remove anything sharp (and yes, the search includes the hijab most times). So, wearing a pin-free style means avoiding the whole drama of: "Yes, there are pins in my scarf... No, they're not offensive weapons... No, I'm not taking it off in public, you'll need to find a private room...". Saves time and reduces stress.
Midnightmoon
IslamicAnswers.com editor
I travel often and see how different people are treated at the airport and on the plane because of their looks. My personal opinion is that being Muslim is in our hearts. Dressing normal and not wearing a hijab to make our own experience more comfortable will not change our respect and love for our religion. Idk where you are traveling from and to but in the end I would do what you both are comfortable with. I know I myself worry when I see someone getting on a plane with me that looks suspicious because you never know what someone is capable of. Even with people who are sick or from Asia, I pray that I do not catch whatever they have and neither does my child.
In the end, its what you feel comfortable doing.
Sub7anaAllah... Where are we going with this? Will it not be soon enough that we will meet with our Maker yet we try to appease people by compromising our deen?
Laila, who is there to tell us what dressing normal is? Which one of these two institute normal'ness hmm? wearing full covered clothing vs skimpy clothing?
Or wearing hijab vs not covering your head?
Which one should be considered normal?
Let us not downsize our deen to make the kuffar happy or feel "safe". Who are they? are they not normal people like us created by the One and Only Allah SWT?
“...and not display their beauty except what is apparent, and they should place their khumur over their bosoms...”
If we make ourselves "comfortable" to appease the law of humans in this world, then who would make us comfortable on the day of judgement for abandoning the law of Allah SWT?
NEVER COMPROMISE YOUR DEEN FOR A MERE HUMAN....FOR THAT VERY SAME HUMAN WILL ABANDON YOU WHEN IT IS TIME TO FACE ALLAH SWT.
Talk about discrimination "people from Asia".... Aoudhubillah, Allah SWT is Al-Shafi...The Healer. He is the One who created the diseases and only He can cure. You cannot run away from what is destined to come to you or your child. So never discriminate a person...no one from Asia can make you sick if Allah SWT has not willed it. Actually you might get sick from where you are sitting without any infection from a person.
Don't let the media influence your believes or thoughts. Have faith in Allah SWT and nothing can ever go wrong.
And Allah SWT knows best.
SisterZahriya
Ah, yes, the loaded question. I personally wear hijab and do travel by air, and never ever have I considered taking it for travel. Nor has my husband ever requested it (if he did, I think I would kindly explain to him that I do not feel comfortable doing such a thing). However, I do not regularly wear an abaya and never a niqab. When I am in a muslim country I would wear niqab and not hesitate, however being in the west it does intimidate others and so I wear just a hijab with modest clothing. I will throw on an abaya sometimes when running to the store or to my children school for drop off/pick up, but I make sure to wear a colorful hijab on top so I'm not wearing all black, which people do find intimidating.
Long story short, in my opinion, making others feel comfortable does matter, and we should try to be conscious of their feelings, but not while compromising our beliefs. So work around your usual dress and keep it Islamic, but maybe tone it down. The amira hijab is a good idea, or wrap a hijab sans the pins if it doesn't fall off. as far as a thobe, maybe you can keep that in the bag and pull it out when you get to your destination. I personally do not see a kufi being a big deal but then I also don't think a yamaqa (Jewish hat) is a big deal. I do not know how others would perceive that.
Leave the rest up to Allah and ask Him to make your travels safe and easy.
And remember to read Ayatul Kursi before you embark on your journey for safety.
Good Luck,
Your Sister in this awesome deen
MashaAllah... Great advise and I totally agree 🙂
So i mistyped above....
Never have I ever considered taking the hijab off for travel.
Gun rights exist in the US, and open carry is allowed in many states however many of us choose to conceal carry instead for the comfort of others. Even if you have a right to do something you can still exercise not to do that thing for the comfortable for others. Do what you feel is right but either way I would say there's nothing wrong with it. Yes it can become a slippery slope but the reality is that no one knows your choice not to wear such conservative clothing except for you. Therefore since society is not aware of it they won't form an opinion about it. However if you proclaim to everyone that you chose to dress a certain way simply to avoid discrimination on an airplane it becomes a social issue and possibly a problem for others later. I'm not saying I am right about the subject however this is the impression that strikes me when I think about this issue .
Look , if any non muslim visits any muslim country wearing bikini , then immigration or people of that country may not like this, so if u dress as a muslim may not be liked by the non muslim or immigration of US or any other non muslim country. So ask the immigration department of that country if your dress is allowed there. I think it's not necessary to visit US for muslim if there is no emergency , because social values changes according to ur working value.. U see an Indian Sheiikh person who wears head turban etc. is not being attacked in any non muslim country, but muslim covering their head or body is being attacked...because US and muslims are enemy . So why visiting an enemy country if there is no emergency?
Have you ever heard of Nuns being asked to remove their habit (head covering for Nuns) to make people more comfortable? And comparing Bikinis to a Hijab isn't a right comparison as one can wear a Hijab professionally, but you can't show up in the office in a bikini.
yeah it's true that it's not comparable , but hijab is an offense for kaffir , u know that. Whatever dresses the Chsitian nuns wear does not make any reaction to the kaffir or non muslim or so called Chistians because nuns are the Protectors or Gods or Almighty to them ( nauzubillah) . But muslim hijab wearers are not protecter of any one nor Gods or anyone like Gods. So we must think ourselves among general people and under common law.
Muslim women do not wear hijab to protect Allah swt--that made no sense to me.
And I've worn a hijab for the majority of my life and if people have a problem with it, they need to deal with it, not me.
And most Churches have a picture of Mother Mary wearing a hijab--when anyone does bring this topic up I always ask them what they think about Prophet Jesus' Mother and how she is always depicted with hijaab--and no one has a problem with this--usually any argument against the hijaab crumbles after this.
Finally, whatever happened with your Auntie, I don't know. I can tell you that discrimination exists but it starts to shatter really quick when a person is able to verbally defend themselves. This is unfortunate, but true. Anytime someone has harassed me they usually thought I couldn't speak any English and when I retorted and gave them an earful, they have absolutely no ground to stand on because they weren't expecting that.
There are many people that would get treated the way that your Auntie did and they could be dressed like an American--but English might not be their first language. There are many non-Muslim non-Hijabi Black, Oriental, Mexican, (etc) who would get treated exactly like your Auntie got treated and religion and hijab wouldn't be an issue. Also, if your Auntie was travelling alone--I definitely would recommend that.
Finally, when I have travelled overseas to my Muslim country of birth, I could go into an endless list of how I was mistreated as a woman in a way that I never get treated here--what's the point though?
I understand what you are saying, but I hope that you understand that many other people get mistreated too--and many times, as a Hijabi I have never been mistreated either--it's a little more complicated than just saying that the Hijab is the issue.
Read the following article:
http://news.yahoo.com/alabama-police-officer-charged-assaulting-indian-man-062639725.html
Some man called about a suspicious person in the neighbourhood who he thought was a 30-year old black guy--but instead it turned out to be a senior citizen from India--dressed like an American!--He ended up getting assaulted by a policeman--no Hijab involved--so perceptions and lack of English (I'm not saying it is right though) play an en even bigger role than the Hijab issue.
To the OP:
I suggest that you both go ahead and inn shaa Allah all will be fine. Wearing a hijaab isn't against the law. Be assertive, be cooperative and be yourselves. We all pray for your well-being, inn shaa Allah.
Sr. Midnightmoon's advice was awesome.
No my auntie does not look like what u said " Mexiacan or Black " etc. She was wearing hijab and we have our own land and country were we do not treat people badly, we treat foreigners as guests, other wise they not criminals. In immigration foreigners from abroad are not treated randomly as criminals , and women are treated though she is criminal by female airport staffs. But my auntie was asked about her religion first and she was compelled to remove her hijab , she was a noble person , not a criminal. U may love US as your own country but we or my auntie r not refugee or did'nt go there to live in other country, she just went to see her son who was a student there. U may say now that different country has different manners.... That's the thing that I also want to say that which we call an offense in my place it may be a beautiful verse in other place,,, like , mt auntie was treated or searched by dogs at the airport , but though she asked them that she is a muslim and she stays away from dogs , but they din't care they continued search, may be this humiliation or dirty thing is liked by u because this normal for u , but it is not accepted by us.
Sr. Rabiya,
I didn't say that your Auntie looked like a Mexican or a Black person--I said that people of different races get treated just like your Auntie did and they do not wear Hijab. I think you have misunderstood a lot of what I said.
I don't love U.S. or any country for that matter because Nationalism isn't accepted in Islam. Anyways, instead of drawing out this conversation into "good people" and "bad people" and where they can be found, I will end it here and wish you and your Auntie all the best, inn shaa Allah.
Actually u had some misinterpretations , I started talking about the main issue , that is a couple will visit US wearing hijab and muslim dress, the first obstacle they will have to face is the immigration, my intention was to tell them that in immigration the responsible people are not well behaved like other country , they make strange approach in searching process which is unacceptable and which is against Islam. It was not about how u are treated inside the country.Mexican and Black issue is their own issue , because Mexio and US have common border , or similar culture or religion, even Black have their high interest in staying in US.
But people whor foreigner and who are normal good people , why immigration will be hard for them only for wearing hijab or muslim dress? And that happened to my auntie , not only her , An Indian film actor who is a muslim and he was interrogated for a long time for his muslim name !!
I think u also understood what I want to say. I am also happy as u r happy in US . Thank You. Allah Hafez.
Rabiya I dont think you have ever been to US. Your ideology about US is soooooo wrong. I have lived here most of my life as a Muslim and cover fully, yet not once have I felt like I was treated like an enemy. Far from it. I love this country and treats me well as a Muslimah. Guys! please stop believing in the media. It's NOT all true.
Zahriya, I have never been in US, but my auntie went there and faced very cruel , wrong, dirty and unacceptable behaviour during the immigration at the JFK . we were shocked to hear that. She was compelled to remove her coverings , then she was interrogated rudely and for hours. She is a muslim and old, still they didn't show any mercy to her for her comfort after travelling so long way travel. People behave like this only with enemy. She cried and then she promised not to go their again even to see her only son. U being a US resident can find other country people as WRONG , from our country even non muslims face same wrong behaviour at the airport because they are citizen of muslim coutry. One of our artist (non muslim) faced same behaviour in US airport some years ago . What can this be called ? Enemity or what?
Wear your kufi and let your wife wear her hijab. Be yourselves and let your taqwa be your shield. You will feel better about yourselves afterward, even if you have to go through a little hassle.
Wael
IslamicAnswers.com Editor