Muslim women challenge stereotypes

It's easy for non-Muslims to forget that there are places where Muslim women live lives of frivolity and fun: shopping, reading fashion magazines, and traveling to Europe. But on social media, a world community of fashion-conscious Muslim women is difficult stereotypes of Muslim women as submissive and powerless.

In Indonesia, where Instagram is one among the fastest-growing social media platforms, these so-called hijabers create a picture of the best, modern Muslim woman. She observes the instructions of the Koran, but is energetic and visual on the earth in line with her own ideas.

The Muslim fashion industry has developed particularly quickly in recent a long time. Starting from its roots in Turkey, the hijaber phenomenon has grow to be an integral a part of the culture in our region in recent times.

In 2010, distinguished Indonesian Muslim fashion designers Dian Pelangi, Ria Miranda, Jenahara and Ghaida Tsuraya founded a hijaber community in Jakarta. In the seven years since then, the Hijabers community has grown rapidly, establishing official branches in several major Indonesian cities.

Public Islam

The Indonesian hijaber community is a component of a broader Islamic consumer culture that has played a growing role in Indonesian public life because the early 2010s. Public Islam is an increasingly crowded field that features public intellectuals, televangelists, soap operas, boy bands, and elegance leaders, all positioning themselves with various degrees of antipathy and affinity for each other. Islamic intellectuals, for instance, look down on televangelists.

Hijab wearers are keen to distance their veiling style from the simpler veils of yesteryear – often called the jilbab, a single piece of material that covers the pinnacle and is secured under the chin with a security pin. The hijab itself often consists of two pieces of material – an inner and an outer layer – and falls looser and layered across the shoulders.

Unlike the jilbab, the hijab is the veil of selection for the well-heeled, style-conscious, creative and assured Muslim woman. The hijab is way more than simply an emblem of Islamic piety. It signals a tech-savvy, energetic and mobile Muslim woman from the center class.

Indonesian hijab supporters have promoted this brand image through social media, print media, hijab wearing guides and face-to-face meetings. They produce coffee table books filled with photos of glamorous models and offer expensive courses for aspiring hijab wearers to learn the techniques of donning the hijab. Koran recitations and charity events are also a part of the network's activities.

Faith and fashion

In interviews with Alila, hijab wearers said that they viewed imparting Islamic teachings as their primary responsibility as Muslim women. They also said they believed they were being identified as Muslim women through Instagram.

On Instagram, hijab supporters mix glossy images of Muslim women traveling and dealing with moral messages inspired by the Quran. In one post, Syifa Fauziah is seen searching the back window of a automobile, the sunshine falling softly on her face and her chin resting evenly on her perfectly positioned hand. The accompanying message is: “If we do not fear Allah, who will we fear?”

In one other post on the Hijabers Community's official account, three folded prayer rugs are shown on a washer, accompanied by a message urging Hjabers to “do good deeds” by taking the prayer rugs home from work to scrub them.

In one other case, “hpsiswanti” attempts to convey the importance of avoiding activities that distract Muslim women from prayer by posting an image of itself as a six-armed praying figure with two arms folded in prayer and the remaining 4 hold a phone, a handheld remote control, a makeup brush and a shopping bag.

In other posts, the hijabs link Quran-inspired messages with international travel and outdoor sports. In one, pratiwanda published a map of Europe with stars marking the countries she visited during a backpacking adventure while studying in Leeds. The accompanying message reads: “Allah, please allow me to add as many more stars as possible to Your blessed earth.”

Other posts show Ghina doing archery and Irene riding horses. Both images are accompanied by messages quoting a hadith endorsing these activities:

Prophet Muhammad SAW [Sall Allahu alay-hi wa-sallam, meaning “may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him.” It is a standard Muslim expression of love and respect for the Prophet.] said, “Teach your children swimming, archery and horseback riding.”

In an interview with Alila, Ghina casually shared:

I all the time try to put in writing captions that relate to the Quran, but in point of fact the photographs I post are nearly my on a regular basis life.

For some, this subsequent addition of Quranic messages to a roster of normal on a regular basis activities could possibly be a sign of the superficiality of hijab religious identity. This is, in reality, a standard criticism of Muslim women, including hijab wearers, who have gotten increasingly visible because the Muslim fashion industry grows. Just as Western Instagrammers are criticized for being superficial and promoting unrealistic ideals, Muslim women who enjoy public attention are sometimes viewed with disdain because they associate their faith so closely with shopping and clothing.

But for us, the hijaber phenomenon, and particularly its current Instagram-fueled chapter, opens up opportunities for girls to claim authority in matters affecting Muslim women's bodies. Far from evoking a clash of civilizations, the hijab phenomenon signals a world during which Muslim piety is inextricably linked to the worldwide consumer economy.