Why is the hijab so rare among Pakistanis?

[SaeedinPakistan]

Re: Why is the hijab so rare among Pakistanis?

@qtc88

I don’t mean to sound judgmental, but it is in my opinion that one of the reasons for Pakistan’s economic/regional/political downfall is due to secularism and a drive away from the “Islamic Identity”. It’s time to go back to it.

I thought it was because of poor economic policies. And Pakistan is not secular. The mosque and state aren’t separate. The constitution does draw it’s inspiration from the Shariah. You’d understand how theocratic this country is if you lived here.

I say this because I observe it first hand whenever I visit Lahore. My cousins pray because they feel obliged (parents say so and it’s just a norm). They wear the dubatta only when they have to (yes, even middle/low class people who go out being modest and covered all the time will not wear the hijab at a wedding).

They’re forced to conform, you got that part right. The condescending, in your face preachy “I’m better than you kinds” are judging you all the time so people have to pretend, just to avoid any unnecessary attention. If you don’t want to be killed by a lynch mob, you pretend.

So this selective following of Islam bothers me a lot. The overwhelming majority (over 95%) are Muslim so why do you guys have a problem when I use Pakistani and Islamic identity interchangeable. It should be very obvious that my post is directed towards the Muslims residing in Pakistan.

Well that’s life. A lot of things bother me too, but I don’t judge other people’s way of life.
Yeah the majority of Pakistanis are Muslims. But all of them don’t belong to the same sect. Every Muslim’s level of religiosity is different. Some people obsess over religion while others don’t.

Even in places other than Pakistan itself, I find that Pakistanis are less likely to wear the hijab and that’s just a norm. Our desi parties almost always involve the showing of the hair. And although our traditional clothing can be perceived to be more modest than not, that idea is also subjective.

I feel that Pakistanis worldwide will prosper if they just make the external hijab the norm. But of course this should only be added when there is internal modesty within oneself. May Allah taala guide us all. I am not perfect. Far from it actually. So this is a reminder to myself before any of you. We should all attain for thorough modesty and haya.

And how is Hijab going to fix all our problems?