Suggestion
Suggestion is the name given to the psychological process by which one person may guide the thoughts, feelings or behavior of another.
When I see a woman with Niqab on and a lot of eye makeup especially if she has beautiful eyes I fail to see the point of wearing the Niqab at all. (see photo above) Niqab is supposed to be to be an act of modesty and concealment. When you put tons of eye makeup on it says the complete opposite. It suggests that you want to show your beauty instead of concealing it. I prefer not too see the Niqab on at all in this case. It's just utterly ridiculous.
Scholars and country's and people
Some scholars have mentioned that the most appropriate niqab is one that covers the eyes also or has very small eye openings. Many niqabis may support the niqab in spite of the eye makeup because they feel it supports their belief in wearing niqab. But the problem is not in the Western world. Surprisingly it's in the Middle East where the wearing of Niqab doesn't really need popular approval.
This summer I had the opportunity to travel to 3 country's in the Muslim world. Syria, Jordan and Kuwait. Surprisingly and almost embarrassingly in Syria a country with definite questionable practices there was not a single niqabi with eye makeup to be found. (But you see other things) In Jordan you didn't see many niqabis but those you did see were wearing it properly. In Kuwait however, a country in which most it's citizens are educated, and where Islam is taught in it's most correct form, you see this type of thing all over the place! Subhanallah! Are Syrians more modest and is their sense of ghayba or jealousy stronger than that of the people in Kuwait? I wonder! What could be the possible reason for this? I think low self esteem has something to do with it and as far as men are concerned I think many are compromising. They are saying 'hey at least she covers, that's good enough'. On the other hand pressures created by society's (everywhere east and west) that put images of beautiful sexy looking women around every corner of our lives doesn't help. This is everywhere but actually is less in Syria because the country has very little import. So images from advertisements are really only coming in through the TV. There is also some influence from the Lebanese who flood their borders to work and vacation throughout the year. The Lebanese are huge criminals of the exploitation of women. (Through a Muslim perspective nothing personal of course).
My self esteem
Being pretty, dressing up, applying lots of makeup and all of the nice feminine things that we women like to do and should do is something that should be reserved for the home and for our husbands. We should not share our most beautiful possessions with the entire world. If we do then we should examine why we wear hijab and/or niqab to begin with. It feels wonderful to know you reserve all of your most secret and wonderful things for your husband alone. What pride it gives me to be this way! What pride it must give my husband and his family! When we please them we please Allah. Make no mistakes about it. Pleasing them pleases Allah. Doing this in turn is good for me, good for everyone around me and then society as a whole. Less adultery, less divorce, less disease, less...not gone completely but it will be less.
It's very good for my self esteem because when I don't need the approval from society about my sexuality then I seek approval on my merits as a human being. That's good for your and my personal growth. I'm not a scholar but I am a sister. Send this to a sister you love! The grass is not greener on the other side. Be proud of who you are.
Badreya
