Reply to Muslim women speak out against the hijab as an element of political Islam

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]PP, if your contention is that men sometimes lust, yes, they do, and probably no more in Muslim cultures than any other culture.

But as I said earlier, hijabi women are trying to prevent the sin of gazing, which is far less egregious than lusting. So it would follow that, yes, they are also trying to prevent lust. [b]

The goal is to try to prevent the unfortunate and undesirable wanton sexual behaviors that are corrosive to society.

Both men and women are commanded by God in the Quran to "lower (their) gaze" but women wear hijab to prevent sin, their own as well as mens. Wearing the hijab reminds women, also, that they should control themselves.

Western society with it's linear equality ideology has deemed it shameful that a woman should have to take on the burden of covering herself to help maintain a moral society. Muslims feel no shame with this. What is the alternative? A society where men do lust openly and women do satisfy their lust, such as what we often have in western societies.

The Quran doesn't mention a woman needs to cover her hair, but if a woman chooses to embrace hijab for modesty reasons, more power to her.[/quote]

What is the alternative, you ask
- Religious men and women simply exercise self-control. 
Or, 
- Men cover themselves too, sharing the burden instead of having such an unequal burden placed on women.
- The idea that both sexes should be free to make their own moral choices, without societal expectations about covering, also seems attractive to me, if not to you.

If promiscuity is the fear, then the veil is not going to solve it, even if it's imposed on everyone by law. Speaking of the KSA, a Gallup poll showed that 24% of Saudis are not religious or are convinced atheists (for a variety of links, search "irreligion in Saudi Arabia" on Wikipedia). Presumably, lots of Saudis aren't very worried about promiscuity. Somebody else pointed out that promiscuity happens despite the veil.

More broadly, many believe that God gave people "free will", a concept that I believe is more developed in Christianity than in Islam (inshallah and all that). Free will is about making conscious choices to do what's right--not about having righteousness imposed on you by a large piece of fabric. This is consistent with the first alternative, above, that religious men and women should simply exercise self-control.
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