“Al-Qaeda’s Al-Sahab media wing released a video featuring a speech by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri titled ‘The Battle of the Hijab’. In the video, Al-Zawahiri addresses Muslim women and warns them of the war raging against the Islamic nation that seeks to force them to abandon their religion and hijab (‘head covering’).”
The hijab is a major subject of debate in Western countries; many feminists and other Leftists don’t admit its incompatibility with Western principles of equality between men and women. It is a symbol of oppression; women in Islamic countries can face punishments for not wearing it, ranging from lashings and imprisonment even to murder. It signifies a critically important aspect of Islamic law: the inferiority of women. So as Al-Zawahiri put it, to resist the hijab (and niqab) is to wage war against the Islamic ummah. Contrary to many Muslims telling Westerners that head coverings for women are not a religious requirement, only a cultural one, it is explicitly mandated in the Quran:
(Quran 24:31) And tell the believing women to reduce of their vision and guard their private parts and not expose their adornment except that which appears thereof and to wrap [a portion of] their headcovers over their chests and not expose their adornment except to their husbands, their fathers, their husbands’ fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their women, that which their right hands possess, or those male attendants having no physical desire, or children who are not yet aware of the private aspects of women. And let them not stamp their feet to make known what they conceal of their adornment. And turn to Allah in repentance, all of you, O believers, that you might succeed.
If a woman does not cover, she is fair game to be assaulted:
(Quran 33:59) O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused.
And while Al-Zawahiri calls out what he deems to be the “sins” of America, he makes no mention of historic and present-day atrocities committed in the name of Islam and in accord with its teachings.
“Addressing Muslim Women, Al-Qaeda Leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri Deems Western Battle Against Hijab To Be Part Of War On Islamic Ummah,” MEMRI, August 13, 2019:
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On August 7, 2019, Al-Qaeda’s Al-Sahab media wing released a video featuring a speech by Al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri titled “The Battle of the Hijab.” In the video, Al-Zawahiri addresses Muslim women and warns them of the war raging against the Islamic nation that seeks to force them to abandon their religion and hijab (“head covering”).[1]
The 12-minute video, which is the fourth episode of his da’wa (“preaching, invitation”) series, shows the Al-Qaeda leader in the usual setting, in what appears to be a studio, sitting behind a table on which a Quran is open. Al-Zawahiri begins by addressing “Muslim sisters,” particularly those who wear the hijab, saying the current war rages against the Islamic ummah at all levels – militarily, politically, ideologically, culturally, educationally, or economically and others. He says: “The reason behind this war is the danger the Muslim ummah poses to the existence of the modern global system, which is controlled by the leading [international] criminals.”
Comparing the Islamic nation with other non-Islamic nations, he says that the nation of Islam is a nation of monotheism, chastity, and jihad for the sake of Allah, while other nations believe in polytheism, lechery, and invasion. He then accuses other nations of “trying by all means to exclude the Islamic ummah or cause it to deviate from this religion and its shari’a.” He says that non-Islamic nations wage wars of ideas and ideologies and other types of wars, and that they want Muslims to abandon their monotheism and become “secularists, irreligious, atheists, Christians, communists, and utilitarians,” desert chastity, purity, virtue, and integrity, and indulge in lust and pleasures.
In a stark criticism of the United States and Western countries, Al-Zawahiri says: “Isn’t it awfully strange that those who bombarded Japan with atomic bombs, killed five million people in Vietnam, occupied our countries, smashed the Ottoman state, planted Israel in our midst, divided us into more than 50 countries, are stealing our wealth and even the wealth of the whole humanity, are disregarding the destruction of our planet by climate change for their our own interest, are supporting every tyrant and corrupt powerful leader in our countries, and then lecture us about human rights, freedom, civilization, and justice?”
“Is it not strange that the world is controlled by five criminal powers through their international legitimacy, and then they lecture us on democracy and equality?” he asks.
Addressing Muslim women, Al-Zawahiri says that they stand on the frontlines of such wars. He also warns them that non-Islamic nations want Muslim women to abandon their “religion, commitment, chastity, modesty, hijab, and morals,” adding that they also want Muslim women to be atheists, irreligious, and secularists with no morals and principles.
He then praises the role of Muslim women in the Islamic community and their steadfastness, patience, and suffering, especially if their sons or husbands are killed, arrested, or lost. He commends Muslim women and girls who supported their male siblings who participated in jihad, incited them to take part in protests against oppression and tyranny, or suffered due to their imprisonment.
Al-Zawahiri goes on to say: “Oh noble and honorable women, you are one of the first targets in the war against our Islamic ummah. They will try to reach your faith and conviction using every loophole so that they can penetrate [your faith].”…