On Wednesday, the a federal jury awarded $20,000 to a Muslim woman suing Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) for refusing a Muslim woman a job based on her choice to wear the Muslim headscarf. More than the news article, the comments on it interested me.
Various readers said that the lady claiming against A&F, Ms. Samantha Elauf, knew that what kind of brand A&F was, what they were promoting, and referred to their ads as “racy” and “showing a lot of skin”, which should be unacceptable to a “practicing Muslim”. Although an interesting point, I have a few problems with this statement:
As an outsider, the reader is not in his right to state what is, in fact, recommended or approved behavior of a “practicing Muslim” just as much as a Muslim cannot comment on acceptable Christian/Jewish/etc. behavior. Forget an outsider; any Muslim does not have the right to judge or command certain behavior of another Muslim. But these misconceptions are our own creation – as Muslims we have allowed ourselves to dictate “Muslim behavioral norms”. We have seen countries order their citizens behind a veil (see: Iran, Afghanistan, etc.), which has made other nations order them out from behind it (see: France).
All this is because we have found it within our right, as Muslims, to tell each other what to do when it comes to dressing a certain way or behaving a certain way. This is not a debate of what is generally morally abhorrent, such as lying, stealing, killing, etc. but when we begin to dictate a certain preconceived general rule of what a Muslim or a Jew should wear or say, we take away the foundation of belief: free will.
The violence that is now commonplace in Pakistan is a result of liberties taken in dictating expected behavior. “Islamist Extremist ” (although I have an issue with that phrase) political parties have pushed their agenda in curbing the rights and movement of women in Pakistan, while advocating all this in the garb of religion.
All this is not to say that it is correct for A&F to have turned Ms. Elauf away based on her religious dress – an official condemnation of such discrimination must be made, and was made, by the federal court; but we must also see and acknowledge the flipside of the argument. A&F are entitled to promote a certain look just as much as Ms. Elauf is entitled to promote her religious belief.
The group “My Fellow American” is aptly advocating that Muslims are as much a part of the fabric of American society as anyone else and that they are allowed the same rights (including employment). Stories such as the one of Ms. Elauf remind us that Muslims are a part of America and ought to remind us that to respect the other side of the story and understand where they’re coming from as well. My Fellow American is looking for other such stories that remind us, as Mitch Albom put it, “You’re not a wave, you’re part of the ocean.”
