Muslim Women React: Real Talk on Hijab

Muslim academic Dr. ‪@SitaraAkram‬ and I delve into the Muslim reaction to my video, "Why I Don't Wear Hijab & Why It's Not A Sin," and the implications for Muslim women's empowerment, knowledge, critical thinking, and the state of the Muslim community.

Real Talk on Muslims, Islam and what it means to be a convert to Islam after 30+ years as a Muslim convert. I share wisdom, experience, and reflections from the life God curated for me as an American-born Taiwanese (immigrant parents) California-raised, Ivy-league educated Muslim convert married to a world renowned Islamic scholar!

About Me: I am the Executive Director of The Usuli Institute (https://www.usuli.org/), where we do amazing work to elevate ethics, critical thinking, social justice and beauty and humanism in Islam.

Check out our ground-breaking work on the Usuli Institute YouTube channel: @TheUsuliInstitute, especially Project Illumine: The Light of the Qur'an (The first direct-to-English Qur'anic Commentaries in over 40 years) here:    • COMPLETE QUR'ANIC COMMENTARIES: Project Il...  

We spent 15+ hours on Surah 33: Al Ahzab. You can find the detailed discussion of Verse 59 in here:    • Surah 33: Al Ahzab (Day 4) | Original Engl...  . Timestamps in the pinned comments of the video.

Excellent Resources for Understanding the Issues and the Evidence on Hijab:
Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl, Islamic jurist and scholar, delves deep into the historical evidence and issues surrounding the topic of hijab, the covering of Muslim women. Four-part series:
  / on-hijab  

Dr. Abou El Fadl's non-binding legal opinion (fatwa) on hijab: https://www.searchforbeauty.org/2016/...
Also see "The Hijab Discourses" here: https://www.searchforbeauty.org/fatwa...

Readings: The Search for Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books, Chapter 57 - "Corrupting God's Book," available online here: https://www.searchforbeauty.org/2006/...

In the same book, Dr. Abou El Fadl discusses the issues of hijab, 'awra, and khimar in several places, so you can find those references in the index if you have the hard copy of the book. This book is an absolute gem: https://bookshop.org/a/4598/978074255...

Also see Dr. Sitara Akram's YouTube channel ‪@SitaraAkram‬ and her series on hijab here:    • Hijab  

And the fabulous conversation between Dr. Sitara and ⁨‪@EramSaeedCoaching‬ here: https://www.youtube.com/live/7RYGX2vr...
and Dr. Sitara's reflections here:    • Reflection on the response to Hijab discus...  

Chapters:
0:00 Intro and Background
4:34 On Intentions and the Quest for Knowledge
10:30 On the Accountability of Speaking in Public
11:07 Grace's Intention and Convert Journey
14:00 The Ethic and Etiquette of Knowledge
18:20 Comparing Backgrounds
21:25 Salafism, Wahhabism, and Black & White Thinking
23:20 From Dogma to Knowledge
26:52 The Qur'an and Sunnah on Women's Clothing
30:06 Barriers for Women
32:10 The Core of the Journey
36:48 On Arrogance, Validation, and Petro Dollars
50:10 What the Hijab Video Reactions Revealed
52:28 The Power of Reason
59:55 On 'Awrah (The private parts of men and women)
1:01:00 Reasoning as a Gift from God
1:06:30 The Regressive Lens of Salafism
1:07:50 The Paradox of Salafism
1:09:27 Transformation through Knowledge
1:14:34 Mandatory Hijab as Bidah (Innovation)
1:17:00 What Are Your Foundational Beliefs?
1:28:20 Racism, Supremacy and Wealth Inequality
1:34:00 The Power of Muslim Women
1:38:15 The Search for Beauty in Islam
1:43:35 Weaponizing Islamic Law to Silence and Disempower
1:48:27 The Book of Moral Guidance
1:56:40 Permission to be free, to think and to question

IMPORTANT BOOKS BY KHALED ABOU EL FADL:
The Great Theft: Wrestling Islam from the Extremists
The Search For Beauty in Islam: A Conference of the Books
The Prophet's Pulpit Series: Commentaries on the State of Islam
The Palestine Sermons
Reasoning with God: Reclaiming Shari'ah in the Modern Age
Speaking in God's Name: Islamic Law, Authority and Women

#muslimconvert #islam #muslim #muslimrevert #usuli #americanmuslim #hijab