As an ex-Muslim, who doesn’t believe in Atheism either, I guess my current spiritual identity would fall under an Agnostic, since I don’t believe we have enough evidence to prove the existence of a god, just like we can’t prove that one doesn’t exist outside the realms of our current knowledge and understanding of our world, so I landed on Agnosticism.
Anyway, as a person who has studied Islam and other religions quite deeply, down to the very words and actions on a daily basis on Muhammad himself, I feel like I can add my 2pence on this matter.
I personally find the hijab or head covering to be an insult to Muslim women and this is why. The logic for the hijab in Islam is because men in ancient Arabia would get turned on and couldn’t control themselves whenever they saw beautiful women showing their hair, or maybe parts of their legs were showing, so because of this, Muhammad instructed women to cover up and wear the hijab, all under the guise of “dressing modestly”. You read that right. Because men couldn’t control their hormones, women were instructed to cover up head to tow in the scorching Arabian dessert heat. You really don’t need to be a rocket scientist to appreciate how insulting this is to women, and how it goes towards actually proving that such a god cannot exist and such a prophet cannot be genuine, but alas, those are my own conclusions of years of study and hundreds of such examples which simply cannot be anything remotely linked to “god”. At least not in my eyes.
However, and this part is a big however, many many women who do wear the hijab do so out of choice. It’s a traditional, cultural, historical thing for many and even if it said in Islam that it is 100% optional and no punishments for showing hair, millions of woman would still wear the hijab simply out of choice, for their own reasons, for modesty, for style, or just to cover up and feel more comfortable in an environment with a lot of men maybe. It’s their choice and you, me and nobody else has a right to tell them not to. So while I’m no longer a Muslim or believe in its teaching, I will defend people’s rights to practice it and women to wear their hijabs, I believe in freedom for all. Just don’t preach to me about it and don’t bother other people. I hate evangelists, people who think they have all the answers and can’t wait to spread the word. No, just keep it in your church and mosque thank you.
My ultimate point in all this is this, seeing Ana or Pharah with a headscarf on doesn’t bother me one bit because again, just like Mary the mother of Jesus always has a headscarf on, for many women it’s a cultural or traditional thing and doesn’t always have to equate to Islamic oppression and forced hijab laws.
I am an opponent of Islam and its teachings for my own reasons. But I’m no against women deciding what they want to wear if its their own choice and not forced on them.