i dont appreciate how u have picturess with ur cleavage showing. this is haraaamm. while ur trying to promote islam u are also discouragin itt. pleasee delete them if u fear allah (subhanahu wa taala) and if u wear hijab CONSTANTLY it should never be taken off; so delete ur hair pics. im so sorry but im just trying to be a good muslim.. and if i dont have the guts to tell you then who will? im ean all these girls are commentin on ur pictures saying mashallah on ur CLEAVAGE? society has degrated. just tryina b a good muslim. al saalaamu aleikum, Reem

Raquel’s Response:

Assalamu Alaikum Reem,

First, please don’t apologize for your bluntness. Thank you for taking the time to write and for your good intentions. Bluntness, when it comes from a place of compassionate honesty, can be a truly healthy addition to communication. I sense from your line “just trying to be a good Muslim” that you are coming from what you believe to be a place of compassionate honesty. Thus, my willingness to respond. You apologized again in the latter half of your message- if you believe in your heart that what you are saying is your spiritual truth, then why apologize? For fear of offending me? Trust and believe, plenty of people have “the guts” to tell me what they think of my image!

However, sister, I must take issue with your demands that another person change her image based on your theological and spiritual assessment of what is and is not “good Islam”. I once believed that the hijab should be worn “all or nothing”- meaning worn absolutely all the time, or not at all. As I grew spiritually, I began to realize that this was based in cultural dogma and not a true relationship with God. Whether I veil or do not veil has become a conversation between my God and myself; not open to the expectations or demands of other people. It *is* ok to be a multifaceted woman. 

Further, Reem, the cultural specifications set up around hijab are not Qur’anically based. For example, Qur’an 24:31 leaves room for interpretation: “that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof”.  What must “ordinarily appear”? Does this vary based on the cultural norms of a particular geographical region or society? Saudi Arabia and Rio de Janeiro would, if we read this passage literally, have different measures of what “ordinarily appears” with regard to a woman’s body.

You say “society has degrated” - yes, society has done so with/to many things, but you didn’t say what you believe is degraded. Women? Yes. Women’s freedom to be at peace with their bodies, showing them when THEY wish? Yes- entirely degraded.

Long story short, Reem, I have no shame about my image, am completely at peace with my God (and I believe He smiles upon me, hijab or no hijab). To state that a photographic exploration of the feminine, and of the self, somehow “discourages Islam” is ludicrous. To be at peace with a pluralistic existence that is more deeply spiritual than any dogmatic, literalist life could be? I think that is the purest, bravest expression of faith.