Can she say that? Or will Australia’s smart set forthwith denounce her for “Islamophobia”?
“‘I hate the niqab’: Ex-Muslim who runs an atheist blog says she ran away from home after her mother forced her to wear the ‘dehumanising’ face covering,” by Stephen Johnson, Daily Mail Australia, February 20, 2018:
An ex-Muslim woman has described how she ran away from home after her mother had spent years forcing her to wear a niqab.
The apostate, who writes an atheist blog, courageously told her story at the Secular Party of Australia’s Losing Your Religion conference in Melbourne earlier this month.
The woman, who chose to remain anonymous to protect her identity, told the audience her Muslim-convert mother removed her from school when he was in her early teens.
‘She did not deem the school environment as an Islamic one and it was time for me to learn how to be the perfect Muslim wife and mother,’ she said in her speech, which was also posted on her blog site The Nullifidian.
‘At thirteen she “encouraged” me to put on the niqab which I wore until the night I left home.’
After years of being forced to cover her face, she detests the Islamic garb which originated in Saudi Arabia.
‘I hate the niqab. It is one of the most dehumanising and alienating pieces of clothing a woman can wear,’ she said.
‘It puts a literal barrier between her and the rest of the world.’
She also recalled begging her mother for permission to show her face in public, only to be called the Arabic term for a ‘b**ch’.
‘She would refuse saying that I was a disappointing her or be cruel and say I would look like a sharmoota or whore,’ the woman said….
Barbara Marrs says
This from someone who has lived this way of life. Why any woman would willingly convert to Islam is a mystery.
On the TV show JAG there was an episode that dealt with the issue.
Is this the only way a ‘man’ who is so insecure can build himself up is to demean women?
CRUSADER says
“Wear Hijab Day”? Asra Nomani exposes the global PROPAGANDA …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYykIgZj70M
Asra Nomani discusses the oppressive politics of the hijab and exposes the global propaganda campaign …
Lydia Church says
We need an international “Take off your hijab” Day!
: D
StellaSaidSo says
Excellent idea, Lydia!
Roger Macgowan says
Every day should be “take off the hijab day”.
CRUSADER says
Aren’t the Iranians working on that?
White Wednesdays….
Why Iranian women are wearing white on Wednesdays – BBC News
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40218711
A new social media campaign against a law which forces women to wear a headscarf is gaining momentum in Iran. Using the hashtag #whitewednesdays, citizens have been posting pictures and videos of themselves wearing white headscarves or pieces of white clothing as symbols of protest….
Iranian movement ‘White Wednesdays’ finds solidarity with U.S. …
https://www.nbcnews.com/…/iranian-movement-white-wednesdays-finds-solidarity-u-…
Iranian journalist and activist, Masih Alinejad marched in solidarity with women in New York to elevate the plight of oppressed women in Iran.
DG says
Yes….I am sure we will get the American Feminist Movement to lead the way for these totally abused women.
Mayhem
JMB says
“Why any woman would willingly convert to Islam is a mystery”, I hope this is not too far off topic but here is a possible reason, especially in Europe where many women lament the fact that males have been reduced to P.C. non-events. The reaction by some women is to get involved with Islam, once again they see the male restored to his position of head of the house and yes, she becomes a woman again albeit permanently pregnant and confined to the kitchen, . But here in Australia with out unique lifestyle where outside of the office, casual dress is the order order of the day a Hijab and all of those other medieval robes are just totally unsuitable especially when the mercury hits 40deg C and the humidity is up round 100%. Muslim woman must hate these clothes..
gravenimage says
JMB wrote:
“Why any woman would willingly convert to Islam is a mystery”, I hope this is not too far off topic but here is a possible reason, especially in Europe where many women lament the fact that males have been reduced to P.C. non-events. The reaction by some women is to get involved with Islam, once again they see the male restored to his position of head of the house and yes, she becomes a woman again…
…………………………….
JMB, your claim that Islam “restores [the male] to his postition of head of the house” is appalling. In Islam the woman is worth half of a male, can “marry” little girls, practice polygamy, beat his wives, indulge in summary divorce (the “Triple Talaq”), and even “Honor Kill” his wives.
The idea that this is *restoring* the values of the West is just sickening calumny. When were these *ever* Western values?
And the idea that a female “becomes a woman again” when forced to immure herself in a Niqab, when she is beaten, or when she is murdered is grotesque–as is the idea that many Western *want* to be beaten and abused.
There are, no doubt, problems in the West, but the idea that the savagery of Islam represents a resoration of Western values is mistaken *at best*.
Richard says
JMB, I agree with you. Males in the West are brought almost to the point of castration. and if they show any sexual interest in a woman (and no, I don’t mean rape!!), they are attacked almost to the point of destroying them. A recent pole showed Millennial women would prefer marrying a Baby Boomer man than a Millennial man – almost certainly for just that reason. No, those women don’t want to be beaten or mutilated, but the idea of finding a man like Omar Sheriff intrigues them. They do not think of him with a rusty razor blade in his hand. Nor do they think of a life of servitude. But they do think of a life where a woman can be treated as a woman (according to past Western values), and not where her children will be asking her for sex-change operations Also, we have the problem of the disintegration of Christianity, which has now has many emptying churches reduced to feel-good social clubs. At least Islam denounces sins. No, I am most certainly not applauding either Islam or the monsters it produces, but (hopefully) not all Muslims are like that – and if they are, many Western women don’t know it. In America right now, I am what is considered the lowest form of life: a white, male heterosexual Christian.; and I’m sick of it. Until Western men rise up and act like men, of course Western women will look elsewhere. Only too late will they discover that their Red Shadow is the fires of hell.
Frank Day says
I’m white, English, male, heterosexual, and working class,
There’s nothing you can tell me about discrimination, It’s been open season on the likes of myself for 40 years t least.
CRUSADER says
“Red Shadow”
lyrics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWUzuhuUHeU
StellaSaidSo says
JMB, you make a very good point re the attraction of some Western women to Islam. Political correctness has feminised many Western men, and – superficially at least – the Muslim male looks strong and decisive in comparison.
CRUSADER says
good point and good observation
Westman says
That is truly ironic – feminists creating the male that women don’t want; PC, indecisive, passive, and incapable of providing physical security.
Roger Macgowan says
I saw a woman walking with a pusher and totally dressed in black and thought to myself, “take that stuff off you stupid girl before you get heat stroke”.
Vlad says
According to Albert Einstein:
There are 2 things that are limitless.
1. The Universe
2. Human stupidity
And I am not sure about the Universe
A. Einstein.
J D S says
She used the word “dehumanizing” for being forced to wear the niqab…May I suggest that THE WHOLE IF ISLAM is dehumanizing.
If one looks at Islam,as she does, from the inside one can see really what Islam is doing to the humaneness of those locked in FEAR in this sick so called religion. I do mourn the fact that she has not yet found peace with Jesus. Pray for her.
PPP1 says
interesting how such devout and religious mothers have no better way of encouraging their daughters to wear a niqab other than threatening them not to act like whores…
StellaSaidSo says
Islam appeals to the weak and the stupid.
Apostasy appeals to the smart and the strong.
Congratulations to this young lady for breaking free of her shackles.
gravenimage says
Hear, hear, Stella!
CRUSADER says
REALLY?
A world that looks like some aliens have invaded?
THAT’S what Western Liberals want to envision?
Z says
Could she send this to the people in Illinois who put up a billboard that said hijab ‘makes women important?’
mortimer says
This brave ex-Muslim woman is TAKING HER LIFE IN HER HANDS by speaking out. I respect and ESTEEM her. She is a hero for all who love freedom.
The UN Declaration of Human Rights demands that we all have the right to CHANGE OUR RELIGION and that ISLAM IS NOT ABOVE that declaration.
Angry Aussie says
I have a very sweet Iranian ex Muslim friend who endured Islamic dress for many years. She is of the firm belief all Imams in the West need to be jailed, mosques bulldozed, Islamic clothing made illegal, and Muslims deported.
Her own mother insisted she urgently travel from one city interstate, in the middle of the night, in winter, to the city her mother lives in. When she arrived, her mother opened the door, called her a bitch for shunning Islam, and slammed the door in her face.
The men are vile. The women are the equally as vile.
gravenimage says
Yes, Angry Aussie–many Muslim women are as bad as the men.
Your friend was probably lucky that her family did not try to “Honor Kill” her. That scenario you mention, where a “desperate” family member urges an apostate to come home–and the victim assumes they are needed–ends in an even worse manner. I hope your friend does not fall for this again.
Sarah says
It seems to me that when it comes to the niqab or burka or hijab – any of those Islamic coverings, that women fall into either one of two categories: Those who are forced and those who merrily wear them because they’ve swallowed the nonsense, hook line and sinker.
As for those who are forced – well, you bunch need to revolt. The first step is to permanently abandon that cesspit belief system. Go do all that and then get back to me and I’ll gladly support you to the hilt, then.
As for those who willingly choose to wear it – you are disgusting women, you are part of the problem and as far as I’m concerned, go be happy living in a religion and culture which absolutely seethingly despises you just for existing and dictates that you spend your life submitting to that disgust and scorn. Honestly, I have no empathy, tolerance or support for any of those women.
What I won’t stand for, are these Western women who are not Muslim and who on the basis of ‘but I have such great Muslim friends!’ have gotten it into their head’s that these coverings are somehow ’empowering’ or at the very least, these coverings should never be criticized. And any idiot who calls themselves a Feminist but who does not rail bitterly against Islamic dress for women is nothing more but a traitor and hypocrite.
Yeah, you can go wear your pussy hat with pride, sweetheart, while you moan about a non-existent gender wage gap, meanwhile women in your own country (and overseas) are getting their genitals hacked off and are forced to cover up – wholly because of the overriding principle that if they don’t, they are free game for a good raping and/or beating – and it will be their fault if it happens – because they didn’t cover up.
The whole Islamic covering nonsense will not be solved until women, en masse,walk away from Islam. It’s as simple as that. Islam offers WAY too many benefits for the men of the Middle East, Asia and African regions to ever get large swathes of them to abandon it. But the women – if they walk – Islam itself will crumble soon enough.
gravenimage says
Good post, Sarah.
dumbledoresarmy says
I see the Islamic female coverup as *both* a Slave Rag *and* Gang Colours.
Within Islam it functions to designate a Muslim female as an “owned” female… and the flip side of that is that *any* female who is NOT wearing Islamic dress is viewed as .. **uncovered meat**, no matter how modestly dressed she might be, by *Infidel* standards. (A further wrinkle on this one is that even amongst Muslims, if a particular degree of coverup becomes the norm, any Islamic female who is *less* covered up is *also* in danger of being viewed as Uncovered Meat and Lawful Prey by any Muslim ‘man’ who decides he wants some cruel fun; and even the most heavily-covered-up Muslim female, if out alone without her male Owner or his representative riding herd on her, also runs the risk of being viewed and treated as Lawful Prey).
But it *also* functions as Gang Colours… with much the same sort of significance as a Swastika arm-band flaunted, by the wearer, in front of those she views as Untermenschen.
There is a classic article that appeared in Jerusalem Post some years ago. It is entitled simply “Ban the Hijab”, and in it the author offers a summary – with extensive citations – of the work of a dissident Iranian-French (possibly apostate) lady, one Chahdortt Djavann, who is very emphatic about the *political* agenda of the hijab (in whatever form, even the seemingly-innocuous headbag/ ‘headscarf’ that deceptively mimics the nun’s wimple but means something entirely different).
Here’s the link – I hope it still works.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Outlaw-the-hijab
Here are the opening paragraphs:
“The veil, argues an Iranian-French writer, reflects a refusal to integrate.
(And indeed, it does! – dda)
“In her book Que Pense Allah de l’Europe?, Iranian thinker and French writer Chahdortt Djavann presents first the views of the proponents of the veil.
‘There are those Muslim women who say (or who have been coached to say – dda), “The veil represents my religion, my culture and my identity. It is a sign of modesty, of self-respect, of submission to God. It is a religious duty written in the Koran… [I wear it] out of my own free will…”
‘She also presents the opinions of European intellectuals who defend the veil on the basis of “the right to be different” and “religious freedom,” and who ask, for example, “If body-piercing and displaying one’s navel is allowed, how can the veil be banned?”
‘In response, Djavann points out that no regime has ever forced women to go about with their navels showing, whereas the veil is imposed upon several hundred million women around the world.
‘**She writes that the veil cannot be presented as a personal choice, disregarding centuries of Islamic history.** (my emphasis – dda)
‘She adds that it is inappropriate to probe the motivations of every young girl wearing the veil when **what is at stake is a political agenda** (my emphasis – dda).
‘Djavann explains further: “The veil has never been innocent or innocuous. It has always signified the submission of women to men and the denial of legal rights to women in Islamic countries.”
She stresses that while the Islamists (sic: the sharia-pushers, the pious orthodox Muslims – dda) did not invent the veil, they have turned it into a weapon and made it the symbol of their cause.
‘ADDRESSING THE growing phenomenon of veiled women in Europe, Djavann points out its centrality to Islamist propaganda:
“The political, ideological and psychological impact of the veil goes far beyond its appearance… If this weren’t the case, why would the Islamists make it their main focus?… It constitutes a constant call to order by Islamic law.””. END QUOTE FROM ARTICLE.
A bit further along, the article offers another very telling quote from Djavann – “…the veil is the symbol, the flag and the keystone of the Islamic system”.
To repeat.
Here are the ipsissima verba of a woman who, as a young schoolgirl, experienced and witnessed forced veiling of all females in the immediate wake of the Khomeini takeover – the return to Real Islam – in Iran.
“The veil has never been innocent or innocuous. It has always signified the submission of women to men and the denial of legal rights to women in Islamic countries.”
“It [that is, the Islamic ‘veil’] constitutes a constant call to order by Islamic law.”
“…the veil is the symbol, the flag and the keystone of the Islamic system”.
In other words: the Islamic female Slave Rag, whether it be the slave-hood (Islamic headscarf, and various permutations that do still permit the face to show), the slave-mask (niqab), or the slave-sack (burqa), is probably best understood, if worn by Muslim females from a Muslim colony that has established itself in a non-Islamic country, as equivalent to the black flag of jihad. It is like a Nazi sympathiser or Nazi party *member* wearing a Swastika armband down the street in Britain or France or Poland in 1938.
It is an implicit sneer and hiss of “sharmuta! whore!” at *every* free non-Muslim woman – no matter *what* age, no matter *what* she is wearing – that the proudly-sharia-flag-wearing Allah Gang camp-follower encounters in the course of the day. The message to the unislamically-dressed infidel woman the wearer encounters – **even if that kuffar woman be an Amishwoman or an Orthodox Jewish woman in full traditional attire, or a Catholic nun in her habit** – “I am a modest Islamic woman and *you* are a dirty filthy Infidel slave-whore!”
gravenimage says
Fine post, DDA.
Shirley Cameron says
My thoughts exactly Sarah, I honestly cannot understand any woman wanting to convert to an ideology that will send them back to a century that absolutely hates women, regards her as nothing more than a chattel to be used and abused by a male, depending on his mood of the day!! Modern day feminazis have absolutely no idea when they defend this abominable ideology, it especially gob smacks me when I see gays defending this cancer on the world……when they will be put to death for being gay……the mind boggles with the stupidity of idiots.
Gjallarhornet says
Looks like the ‘It a woman’s free choice to wear a niqab’ just permanently collapsed …
We told you all along the argument was a lie. Now you’ve got the proof.
Jay says
Unfortunately we don’t have a local version of Greet Wilders. If we did the niqab would be banned by now. Corey Bernard and Peter Dutton come close but no cigar. Pauline Hanson, Jackie Lambie and George Christensen lack Wilders ‘polish’.
gravenimage says
Still glad to see there are *some* in Australian politics resisting Islam.
dumbledoresarmy says
“….Corey Bernard and Peter Dutton come close but no cigar. Pauline Hanson, Jackie Lambie and George Christensen lack Wilders ‘polish’.”
WEll… gotta work with what we’ve got, for a start.
Send them *all* copies of the Barnabas Fund booklet “What is Sharia?” It’s short, clearly written, brief, nicely got up – professional job – and scholarly, with a couple of impeccablly solid Islamic sources listed at the end. And it sets out the main areas in which sharia violates universal human rights (notably by the apostasy and blasphemy ‘laws’). If they read and reread it, and keep it up their sleeves – with a spare – at all times, they should be able to give solid answers to stupid questions from uninformed Islamophile reporters and equally uninformed Islamophile fellow-pollies.
Another useful item for a background briefing would be Conor Cruise O’Brien’s “The Lesson of Algeria: Islam is Indivisible” (google it; it can be found online, last I looked. I made a copy and keep it on my hard-disk but I would recommend *printing off* multiple copies on *paper* and keeping them somewhere). He writes in beautifully plain language that I think Bernardi and Christensen, at least, would be well able to comprehend.
And for Bernardi and Christensen… send them 1/ Mark Durie’s “Which God?” and “The Third Choice” and 2/ Sam Solomon’s “Al-Hijra: The Islamic Doctrine of Immigration”. If you want… read through those books first and place post-it notes, like bookmarks, at those passages of critical significance, so that the busy pollie can find them easily.
Jay says
Sorry I meant Geert Wilders
gravenimage says
A hero of mine.
Jayell says
“An ex-Muslim woman has described how she ran away from home after her mother had spent years forcing her to wear a niqab.”
Just what the hell do these people think they are doing going to Australia? Or anywhere civilised?
dumbledoresarmy says
The really awful aspect of this case is that the mother wasn’t a ‘cradle Muslim’ of migrant ancestry. The mother was a *convert*.
gravenimage says
Australia: Ex-Muslim forced to wear niqab for years says “I hate the niqab”
……………………
So much for the idea that wearing this hideous rag is voluntary.
Brava to this brave woman for leaving Islam–and for speaking out!
simpleton1 says
“Free ! Free at last !”
“Free to choose life !”
“Free to reason, think, and to be”
“Not owned by a man”
“ Not owned by Mohammad”
“Not owned by Patriarchal communities ”
“Not owned by a “pious” master”.
“Not owned by ancient ideology”.
David Grisez says
I think that both the niqab and the burka both look hideous. These garments have the purpose of oppressing women in Islam. They are both a security risk because the person wearing the niqab or the burka can not be identified. There could be a man under these garments. I one time saw a woman who was wearing a niqab in a grocery market in Van Nuys, California. It was a surprising sight. It seems to show that Islam is all around the United States.
dumbledoresarmy says
Phyllis Chesler, who in her foolish youth married a charming Afghan Muslim ‘student’ whom she met at university, and foolishly went with him to (1960s) Afghanistan – pre-Soviet invasion, pre-Taliban – has experienced the Burqa. She had to wear it. She was made to wear it, the instant she stepped foot in Afghanistan (she got out of Afghanistan alive, by the skin of her teeth). For more, see ‘An American Bride in Kabul’, or else ‘My Afghan Captivity’.
*She* describes the burka as a “sensory deprivation chamber”. It has *real* physical effects upon the wearer… effects that damage the wearer’s mental and bodily health. Muffled hearing and vision make it *dangerous* to negotiate crowded streets – or just about anywhere. In effect, a woman is rendered partially-deaf (head muffled) and partially-blind (by removal of peripheral vision; and the long heavy folds of fabric trip her up and also are likely to catch on things. Vitamin-D deficiency is an issue for most hijab-wearing females… and the younger they are forced into the full coverup, the worse it is likely to be.
tim gallagher says
I applaud this courageous women for breaking free from misogynistic Islam. In the past few days on the TV news in Australia there has been vision of some woman wearing the full hideous black tent going in and out of court. I think she was one of those creatures who refused to stand for the judge because she “only stands for Allah”. My thought was, why would anyone who dresses in this monstrous way, be allowed to settle in a civilised nation. I thought of all the people who developed western civilisation, the Enlightenment thinkers like Voltaire, Locke, Jefferson, et al, and then the idiotic politicians think it’s a good idea to let some barbarian in this hideous type of garment into an enlightened country. It’s insane. Maybe the women once used to dress like a human being and has since taken to wearing the hideous black tent. A truly revolting sight. The former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, made a speech calling for much reduced numbers of migrants into Australia. This may stop the invading Muslim hordes to a degree. I don’t live in a city, which I’m very glad about, but recently visited Sydney for a couple of days. Hideously overcrowded roads, shops, etc. People are getting very sick of living in such overcrowded cities, the friends I was visiting told me several times. I was glad to leave the city. Of course, to me, the main thing is why would our idiotic politicians ever choose Muslims as migrants over Buddhists, Christians, Jews, etc. It’s about risk management. Taking MUslims in is always a bigger risk. The other groups present almost no risk. I wish the woman in this report a wonderful life as an enlightened ex-Muslim.
StellaSaidSo says
Agree on all points, timgallagher.
The increase in the number of niqab/burka body bags on our streets is alarming. We must ban this hideous garment from all public spaces. If the wearers and their owners insist on preserving a barbaric 7thC custom, they do not belong in a civilised 21stC society, and should return to their sh*thole of origin immediately.
Freedom says
You mention Voltaire.
This brings to mind the misattributed Voltaire quote “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
This is a very noble gesture BUT ——
In light of the teachings of Islam this brings us to a conundrum.
On one hand we have Islam which has a doctrine that calls for the death of unbelievers.
And on the other hand, we have that noble quote.
Bringing the two together we have ———–
I disapprove that you want to kill me BUT I will defend to the death your right to say it.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm ??
I can just see Bertrand Russell rolling his eyes in utter dismay.
Logic writhes in keen despair
When ones thoughts are given air
tim gallagher says
Thanks for the comments, StellaSaidSo and Freedom. The main point for me is that I look at all the hard won progress, in all different areas of human life, individual freedom, a good level of human rights for both men and women, in western societies, and plenty of wise people thought long and hard and devised these ideas and wars were fought and lots of people lost their lives fighting for these ideals and they built our civilisation and then I see ( and, to me, it’s still a shocking and disgusting sight when you come across some woman wearing the full black tent in a shopping centre or some other place) a woman wearing these hideous throwback garments and I just think “What the hell is that doing here?” It’s just completely wrong. It doesn’t belong. But, it reminds me of the question Robert Spencer often asks, “Are we diverse enough yet?” Our idiotic political leaders don’t seem to have any appreciation for our western value system because they aren’t defending it very strongly. On that Voltaire (or whoever it was) comment, Freedom, I really don’t have much tolerance for Islam or MUslims at all. I’ve felt for years that the tolerance is all one way. I think we allow them too much freedom to spew their hate for us. They exploit our tolerance. So, for me, to hell with defending their right to say their vile garbage. Then again, I just wouldn’t let them in the country to start with. That’s he only solution I can think of.
MFritz says
And there many more like her. You just don’t hear these voices in public. Because they don’t fit into the “agenda” of the msm and politics in many Western countries.
Matthieu Baudin says
“…‘I hate the niqab. It is one of the most dehumanising and alienating pieces of clothing a woman can wear,’ she said… It puts a literal barrier between her and the rest of the world.’…”
Well there you go, this headgear puts on display the ‘us and them’ division and hostility that characterises Traditional Islam. This young woman’s comments are straight out of ‘The Emperor Has No Clothes’; everyone knows she’s speaking the truth yet very few can bring themselves to spell it out because of all those looking on. She says that her mother is a convert to Islam; well isn’t that a sobering reality, that someone can adopt a life changing ideology, throw away their self respect and reverence for freedom and then set about abusing their daughter through a never ending need for conformity.
Hogdude says
If you’re uncomfortable in hajib, take it off.
Cheer Bear Girl says
I would hardly call the niqab liberating if the refusal to wear one is paid with violence.
Niqab or Hijab are both prison garb.
ronyvo says
She is in Australia. She is free to wear whatever she wants. Like any controversial subject one needs to be very strong in his/her belief in order to be adamant in standing against the tide.
I know how hard it is to be against the family tradition especially in the Muslim faith. But, I know many Muslims who apostated from Islam to be Christians.