September 19, 2005

Response to a Comment regarding my Sania Mirza Post

Steve came by the other day, and had an interesting comment regarding my Sania Mirza post. I've decided to post my response here, and also at my Learn About Islam blog.

Thanks for your comment, Steve, and I hope you'll make more in the future, insha'allah.



Steve wrote: "I think a reasonable person can debate what kind of clothing is acceptable under Islam. I know dozens of Muslims who ruitinely wear shorts and skirts, and at the same time affirm most of the basic principles of Islam."

Those shorts-and-skirts Muslims must be young. :) Yeah, I've heard of cases up in Malaysia where a young woman might go out in public wearing something skimpy but also wearing a hijab. Go figure. Still, there are clearly defined dress codes for both Muslim men and women. Those women who wear the shorts and skirts are not following the dress code. While they may "affirm most of the basic principles of Islam," Islam is not a "pick and choose," cafeteria-style religion. Muslims should (ideally) follow all aspects of Islam as much of the time as possible. As my wife would say, "We strive to be better Muslims."


"That being said, whats at issue is whether or not the actions of this tennis player is worthy of a 'fatwa.'"

A fatwa in and of itself is merely an opinion, and does not necessarily have to be obeyed. Most people who ask for a fatwa normally ask for themselves (i.e., they have a particular situation they would like resolved, and they are looking for guidance in the form of a fatwa). That someone asks, "What about the type of clothing a female tennis player wears in public, like Sania Mirza?" seems a little odd, but is still not out of the realm of the ordinary. In that regard, Ms. Sania is worthy of a fatwa, as is any other Muslim in the world.


"I completely agree that an Islamic council should be more worried about things like Wahhabism or the Mujahadeen than tennis attire."

In all honesty, the vast majority of fatawa that are issued deal with very mundane, daily life issues. There's nothing wrong with an Islamic council dealing with the bigger issues (many Muslims wish they would), but most of their work deals with very small issues.


"However, it is the position of some Islamic scholars that if the purpose of rules and regulations regarding attire is to not attract attention to ones self, then covering up in conditions such as western society and or tennis courts might actually defeat the intended purpose of such modesty..."

Possibly, but... The purpose of the dress code, of course, is for modesty; it's not necessarily not to attract attention to one's self. While a pro female tennis player might attract attention initially by, say, wearing a sweat suit instead of a skirt and blouse, don't you think the fuss might die down fairly quickly (within a year's time at the most)? Is women's beach volleyball popular because we value the women as athletes...or because they wear bikinis? Was Anna Kournikova as popular as she was because of her tennis skills (her having never won a Grand Slam tournament) or because of her looks?

6 comments:

Jibonjatri said...

I don't know whether it's because it's too late at night or I am just drained out of energy proving stuff for homework; I was having hard-time following your stand about this issue. But your last paragraph was really captivating and really made me wonder.
Let's not talk about Sania Mirza but take it to a general level and talk about any female tennis player. Do you think they could be a little bit modestly dressed and still play? I mean, instead of having so short a skirt, how about something like those basketball shorts? Do you think that would affect their performance badly? I always wondered why they had to wear things like that!
Also, I agree with you completely that (I don't know if that was your opinion) the Fatawa peoplee should not be so worried about this one particular girl when we definitely have bigger issues.
What upsets me most is the fact that the non-Muslims are getting a kick out of it. I, myself, was not aware of this until my professor started talking about this. That does not make me proud. If the Muslims didn't make it a big deal, I don't think it would get that much media attention.
I am not sure if I am making any sense. I am somewhat delirious right now. But just couldn't help commenting on this.

Jibonjatri said...

OK, I am back. Re-read the post and the previous one, understood this better! :p (cover my face in shame)

Here is my opinion. I hope most people will know that she does NOT represent the regular/typical Muslim women. The media is making a big fuss about it. It's sad that she is being fodder for profit and gossip both in the Muslim and non-Muslim communities. Islam is definitely not a religion of "pick and choose" (as you have mentioned). But I guess ( to make upto 70 excuses for a fellow Muslim) she just ain't strong enough to sacrfice all this at her age. I am not sure how her parents let her do that. But, inshaAllah, she will make a huge u-turn one day.
But still, I think, when we don't go after every single wretched Muslim that live a dangerous un-Islamic life, I don't think we need to really issue a fatawa about her, given the fact we have a lot worse Muslims around here. Only my humble opinion.

Anyway, it's a nice post!

JDsg said...

Thanks for the links, Adarsh! I hope to refer to one of your posts soon, insha'allah.

JDsg said...

PseudoArab wrote: "Let's not talk about Sania Mirza but take it to a general level and talk about any female tennis player. Do you think they could be a little bit modestly dressed and still play? I mean, instead of having so short a skirt, how about something like those basketball shorts? Do you think that would affect their performance badly? I always wondered why they had to wear things like that!"

Good questions. Let's think about this. Tennis can be characterized as a sport that involves the mobility of one's legs (to move around the court) and the mobility of one's arms (or at least one arm, to swing the racquet). Both types of mobility require speed, frequently in short bursts. So far, so good? What other sport requires both the speedy mobility of arms and legs, frequently in short bursts? How about baseball? And they, of course, wear both pants and (frequently) long-sleeve shirts. (The only MLB team to have worn shorts, the Chicago White Sox, hasn't worn them since the late '70s. In fact, today's trend among baseball pants is to wear them all the way down to the ankle, in a "no sock" look.) So, would wearing sweat pants or, as you mentioned, basketball shorts, really affect the performance of any tennis player (male or female)? I sincerely doubt it.

"If the Muslims didn't make it a big deal, I don't think it would get that much media attention."

I agree.


"But I guess (to make up to 70 excuses for a fellow Muslim) she just ain't strong enough to sacrfice all this at her age. I am not sure how her parents let her do that. But, inshaAllah, she will make a huge u-turn one day."

At the age of, what, 19? No, most women her age aren't strong enough for the sacrifice. I see it every day (although, to be fair, I also do see a decent number of very young (late teens-early 20s) Muslimahs who dress appropriately. Yes, insha'allah, she'll make that U-turn, but perhaps not for many years to come. Actually, here's my real worry: Sania's at the start of her career and will have another, what, 5-10 years as a professional, insha'allah? I don't think this issue is going to go away any time soon.

Thanks for visiting and your comments! :)

Anonymous said...

"I hope most people will know that she does NOT represent the regular/typical Muslim women."

That's incorrect. The vast majority of Muslims are not religious and do not go about in full hijaab. Let's not delude ourselves here.

The bigger problem is that people do not see the wisdom behind what they're practicing. They don't identify with God in a way that enables them to do what God has commanded. That disconnect is what scholars should be looking into. Short skirts and simply outward manifestations of this disconnect.

Jibonjatri said...

Safiyyah;
Totally agreed. I guess I meant to say that doesn't *represent* traditional Islam: the way it should be practised.
Even though I don't mean to be all judgmental, I guess we could say something based on what people practise. So, if a person NEVER prays (which, by hadith, is a distinguishing factor between belief and disbelief), I am not sure if I will be comfortable with his claim that he is a Muslim. So, when you say vast majority of Muslims do NOT practise, even though I agree with you 100000000% but I am still not going to be comfortable with their claim of being a traditional Muslim given the fact they don't practise the tradtion of Islam. I know I know, I am going to an extreme and being judgmental and it's not good. But, it upsets me, nonetheless.

I guess, it's, at the end of the day, really about level of "taqwa".