LETTER TO THE NEW YORK TIMES:
I'm sorry Shaista Aziz, but you are not "...as British as fish and chips". ("Me myself and my hijab", New York Times, March 21).
You wear the hijab because Muhammad tells you to. And he tells you to because, he says in the Koran, you would otherwise be "harassed" by we evil men who cannot be trusted to control our lascivious desires. That is a calumny. We men are entitled to feel every bit as offended as you are by those who look at you askance for wearing the hijab. Being as "British as fish and chips" also means mutual trust. Men are not lusting to "harass" you if you do not wear your religious garb. To suggest otherwise is offensive. It's un-British.
To be clear, here is what the Koran says about the veiling of which you, Ms Aziz, feel so proud:
Those who harass believing men and believing women undeservedly, bear (on themselves) a calumny and a grievous sin. O Prophet! Enjoin your wives, your daughters, and the wives of true believers that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad): That is most convenient, that they may be distinguished and not be harassed.
By veiling herself with the hijab, Ms Aziz promotes this hateful idea that all men are simply uncontrolled sexual brutes. Some may believe this, but it's simply not true for the majority.
Shame on Ms Aziz for trying to wring sympathy for her backward and sexist narrative.
PF, etc...
