It’s exhausting growing up as a Muslim girl, and I hated dealing with the obvious Islamic gender-bias and sexism in clothing.
My family fell in the cultural and discount Muslim categories, and I also grew up with girls from very Islamist families who were taught the hijab was an obligation on Muslim girls and women. They were never even allowed to take off their hijab, jilbab or niqab. Anything less was a ticket to hell and Allah’s punishments.
Regardless, it just felt like we were constantly trying to follow all the Islamic purity culture rules that our parents want us to follow to be good Muslim girls.
But those rules control access to our own bodies, hair, voices and choices, as if we’re born as sex objects for men, not actual humans. All to avoid the “male gaze” and save yourself for marriage! BONKERS! 🙄
And to make matters worse, those same purity culture rules that control us in our Muslim homes are also implemented as laws by Islamist Muslim governments. They restrict and police our freedom to wear whatever the f*ck we want in public too.
The Arabic/Islamic words used in these Haram Doodles:
Astaghfirullah “I seek forgiveness from Allah/God.” Used after doing, hearing, or seeing something considered wrong, sinful, shocking or inappropriate.
Mashallah “What Allah/God has willed.” Used to express admiration, appreciation, or happiness about something good, often with the idea of avoiding envy or the evil eye.
Subhanallah “Glory be to Allah/God” or “Allah is free from imperfection.” Used to express praise, awe, amazement or wonder.
