Hijab und die Hobby-Sheikhs || Hijab and the hobby sheikhs

Photo: Manki

Was ist Hijab und wo im Qur'an ist vom Gebot, Hijab zu tragen, die Rede? Die Britin Amena Khan, die durch ihre Hijab Tutorials (unter Muslimen) ein bisschen berühmt geworden ist, schreibt dazu in einem Blogpost von vor einem Jahr. Wichtiger als die Qur'an-Zitate und -Kommentare selbst (kann man ja jederzeit selbst nachschauen; davon abgesehen gibt es verschiedene Übersetzungen, unterschiedliche Kommentare - und von den Hadithen, die uns schließlich auch als Quelle dienen, war jetzt noch gar keine Rede) finde ich den Paragraphen, mit dem sie die Übersicht einleitet:

What is hijab and where in the Qur'an is the requirement to wear hijab mentioned? Amena Khan from the UK who has become a bit famous (amongst Muslims) thanks to her hijab tutorials explored the topic in a blog post about a year ago. More important than the quotations from the Qur'an and the commentaries (which as a matter of fact you can look up yourself; besides, different translations and commentaries taking a different stance do exist - and we haven't even spoken about hadiths which also serve us as a source...) is, in my opinion, the paragraph she wrote as an introduction to this overview of Qur'an verses on the topic:

"I have literally ‘copied’ the verses below, without adding my own reflections on it. The reason why I won’t add my own ‘interpretation’ of it is because in matters of Islam, I feel that giving our own little fatwas on matters discussed in the Qur’an is a hefty responsibility that I admit I am not even the tiniest bit capable of taking on. 

My knowledge is extremely limited and that’s why I ask people to be careful of arguing with scholarly opinion in the public domain; it’s one thing to interpret something yourself and to consequently practice an understanding based on what your heart feels drawn to, but another thing completely to claim that is “what Islam says” and to present and preach it as such. 

Not only do you risk misinterpreting and then spreading that flawed understanding, but a false sense of arrogance can overcome you when you feel like you are “qualified” to give out rulings. This is why, when there are differences of opinion about matters, you never find respectable scholars argue about their differences or slander one another in a public or private domain. 

ALL scholars, regardless of whether or not we “agree” with them, deserve respect insofar as their opinions are derived after years of studying the deen, and dedicating their lives to gaining knowledge from their pious teachers.

So, whilst I understand the ayahs on hijab a certain way for myself, I do so based on the word of Allah and the interpretation given by scholars. I don’t expect for everyone to have the same understanding as me, however, I always encourage people to do what personally feels right for them whilst keeping their intentions in check."

Ich habe lange gebraucht, zu verstehen, dass es extrem problematisch ist, zu verkünden, dass "der Islam das" zu einem Thema "sagt". Ja, manchmal ist es so einfach, aber in vielen, so vielen Situationen sind die Dinge ein bisschen komplexer. 

Vielleicht gibt es einen Qur'an-Vers zum Thema oder einen Hadith, von dem du noch nie gehört hast, vielleicht hat diese Fiqh-Schule eine Meinung zu dem Thema, mit der eine andere Fiqh-Schule kein bisschen übereinstimmt ... und vielleicht gibt es ganz einfach Raum für Interpretation. Das ist absolut in Ordnung (und essentieller Teil des Islams ... und des Lebens), so lange wir nicht vorgeben, mehr zu wissen als wir es tatsächlich tun. Weil die meisten von uns einfach nicht das Wissen haben, zu bestimmen "was der Islam" zu einem bestimmten Thema "sagt". 

Also lest, studiert, nehmt in Bezug auf eine Frage eine Meiung an, entscheidet euch, welche Erklärung euch am logischsten erscheint - aber seid vorsichtig, sehr vorsichtig, wenn es darum geht, andere zu beurteilen oder zu erklären, dass es "das ist, was der Islam sagt" - außer ihr seid tatsächlich Gelehrter...

It took me a long time to understand that it is extremely problematic to declare that "this is what Islam says" on a topic. Sometimes, yes, it is that easy, but in many, so many situations, things are a bit more complex. 

Maybe there is another Qur'an verse on the topic or a Hadith you have never heard of, maybe this school of fiqh agrees on something that another school of fiqh completely disagrees with ... and maybe there is tout simplement some room for interpretation. That's fine (and an essential part of Islam ... and life) as long as we don't pretend to know more than we actually do. Because most of us simply do not have the knowledge to judge "what Islam says" on a given topic. 

So read, study, adopt an opinion on a given question, decide which explanation sounds most logical to you - but be careful, very careful with judging others or explaining that "this is what Islam says" - unless you are indeed a scholar...

Hier geht's zum gesamten Artikel von Amena. || You'll find the original article by Amena here.

.