Page 58 - ELITE PLUS MAGAZINE VOL10

also be fashionable and beautiful, providing a good image of Muslims.“Many women who first felt hassled by the hijab now have turned to wearing it because it looks good. There are a few Islamic communities that have a different perception, however there are also some spiritual leaders or imams who back up my idea of fashion. I’ ve learned that some people interpret modesty wrongly. Actually, modesty does not mean poor but not excessive. I’ m grateful that people who agree started to create a Hijaber Community in Indonesia representing an image of Muslim women with finesse and brains.”Apart from its new role as part of modern fashion, the hijab is also worn out of a strong belief in Islamic principles. Even though most female Muslims in Indonesia have the freedom to wear hijabs as they prefer, social regulations limit this at times.Certain professions such as police officer, waitress or flight attendant are prohibited from wearing a headscarf while on duty.“We can’t deny that there are women in Indonesia who really want to wear jilbab but they can’t because their husband and parents don’t let them,” said Nadia Asma, a writer who launched her 50th book before participating in the Frankfurt Book Fair 2015. “A while ago, people were touched by the willingness of Indonesian female police and military officers to fight to be allowed to wear the hijab when on duty. In some schools in provinces where Muslims are the minority, the principals don’t let their children wear a hijab. The same thing happens for Muslim females who work as stewardesses and television hosts in some companies. And if you work in certain movie theatres, those female workers canwear hijab only after office hours. For me, not letting women wear a jilbab is discrimination. Women should be able to dress in the way they wish. Jilbab is just a way to dress up.”Although Ms Asma was brought up in a family where her mother was strongly against the hijab, she decided to start putting on a headscarf when she was 15. Like many Muslims at the time, her mother had the idea that the hijab made women look unattractive and made it harder to find a job or husband. However, penalties at school or other factors never hindered her determination to dress the way she wanted to.“When I was in high school, the principle forced me to take off my jilbab since I was the first one there who wore one all day long, while other students had to take it off when they were in class,” she said, giving examples from 25 years ago. “My56 Elite+