A new article by MPAC exposes the persistent misrepresentation of Muslim women in Western media, particularly those who wear hijabs. The piece argues that the portrayal of these women as oppressed victims is a deliberate tactic to undermine Islam’s growing appeal, ignoring their achievements and agency.
On the website of the Washington and Los Angeles-based organization MPAC, an article titled “The Misconceptions of Muslim Women” has been published. This article addresses the derogatory stereotypes and misconceptions held by the West about Muslim women, particularly those who wear hijabs. The image presented of Muslim women is one that suffers from wearing a hijab, similar to what France has done regarding the hijab. The independence, personal agency, and power of women are ignored, and Muslim women are depicted as subjugated beings.
The West’s Strategic Manipulation of Islam’s Image
Following the September 11 attacks and the catastrophic collapse of the Twin Towers—an event many American officials admit was a premeditated plan to incite war in Iraq and tarnish Islam’s image—the West witnessed an unexpected phenomenon: an increase in Westerners converting to Islam. Despite numerous insults and accusations stemming from American politicians’ political games, Muslims in Western countries, especially in America, faced countless harassments. However, the lifestyle and behavior of Muslims attracted many Western citizens’ attention and interest, drawing them towards Islam.
The West has realized that committing self-made atrocities and attributing them to Muslims not only fails to advance its planned Islamophobia but also leads to failure. Therefore, it has changed its strategy towards Islam.
The Empowering Influence of Veiled Muslim Women
The global attention towards Islam and veiled Muslim women is due to their active participation in various fields such as sports, science, medicine, and politics—especially by women from the Islamic Republic of Iran with Islamic attire. This has led Western women to reconsider their lifestyles and become interested in Islam. They saw multifaceted Muslim women with human perfection—flourishing individually, within families, and socially—and developed a desire for this Islamic way of life.
Hijab: From Symbol of Faith to Tool of Oppression
Thus, it is natural that the West’s strategy would be to confront the image of active veiled Muslim women. To ultimately blur or erase this powerful image of veiled Muslim women; they label her hijab—a symbol of Islam—as a source of subjugation and colonialism to portray Islam as patriarchal and anti-women. They overlook that educated and scholarly Muslim women—especially those from the Islamic Republic—following their leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s strategy are actively engaged in “Jihad Tabyin” (clarification struggle) alongside their fellow Muslim sisters in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Oman, Palestine, Egypt, and other Arab countries about women’s honorable rights in Islam and Islam’s logic regarding women.
It won’t be long before this strategy also fails just like America’s post-9/11 Islamophobia strategy did!
author: Soghra Ashouri
