Don’t compare hijab to headscarf of Christian nuns: Nun to KT Jalil

Jalil shared the post comparing nuns’ headscarves to hijab. Daughters of St. Joseph (DSJ) Sister Sonia Therese came up with a note against this. The post begins with a loving reminder not to compare the hijab worn by young Muslim women to the head covering (veil) worn by Christian nuns.

read also: Kerala Blasters players’ vehicle has advertisement pasted without permission: MVD seeks explanation from owner

Post full form,

Former Minister Shri K. T. Jalil yesterday on Facebook ‘Hijab, nun dress and courts’. A nun’s reply to a post titled:

First of all, a loving reminder to former minister Mr. Jalil that he should not compare the hijab worn by young Muslim women with the head covering (veil) worn by Christian nuns. Because the headdress of Christian monks is not something that anyone slaps on at a young age. Christian monastics No one wears this veil or monastic garb unless they have completed 19 years of age.

If a young Christian woman wants to become a nun and goes through the steps of a monastery, she will say, ‘Have you caught me today? The authorities of a monastic church will not say, ‘It is enough for you to wear this sun and clothes and live here from now on’. Because there are some obligations that she has to go through. That is, for at least 5 years, one should clearly learn what sannyas is in the light of God’s word.

Sanyasya is a way of life that she chooses only with complete freedom (not under the coercion of anyone) only if she has a firm conviction that she can follow what she believes in life after clearly learning what the rules of the Sanyasha are and what is the dress code of the respective Sanyasha and why she wears it.

There are more than 420 monastic congregations (including various provinces) in Kerala today, living different spiritualities. Among them there are those who wear a headscarf along with an ankle-length or knee-length dress, those who wear only a saree without a headscarf, those who wear both a headscarf and a saree, and those who wear only a churidar. The dress codes of each monastic order are different. We have no qualms about being a little flexible according to time, country and culture. That is, we move forward, not backward.

In this country where any woman who has completed the age of 18 is free to marry (I remember reading a few months ago that there are more than 20,000 young women in Kerala who are forced to marry from the age of 15 even though the constitution says 18), not even a single Christian woman can fast as a nun before the age of 19. reminding And among the nuns who take their first fast at the age of 19 or 20, none of them do the daily fast before the age of 24. One can be recognized as a true nun only if she performs daily fasts.

During the 6 years from the first vow to the eternal vow, the new nuns have every freedom to go back if they feel that they should leave the sannyasa. Even after daily fasting, if any nun feels the desire to leave the sannyasa and get married, no one can force them. Likewise, no one beheads them or chop off their limbs.

“According to the Constitution of India, adopting a preferred mode of dress is not wrong. You have written in your post that it is a fundamental right. Then why are you so upset and grumbling at the Christian saints..? Kerala High Court has ruled that even the government has no power to change the uniform code of individual institutions.

When Christian monks go to study in any college, if that institution stipulates that they should not wear monastic clothes, none of us would ever insist that I can study there in monastic clothes. Or none of us bothers them with provocation and marches saying that they should break the law in an institution where 3000 children study for a nun. In an institution with a uniform code, if the law of the monastic church does not permit the adoption of that uniform, one will study at some other institution. We don’t have a regressive style of rallying people for a uniform.

We do not hide our faces in any way even when we wear long clothes and head coverings. Because hiding the face is tantamount to erasing that person’s personality. And it is not for fear of anyone’s lustful eyes that Christian monks wear monastic clothes and headscarves. On the other hand, a long robe with long sleeves has been worn by unmarried virgins and princesses for centuries. (Judeo-Christian tradition, right?) These long-robed nuns are a testament to the hordes of people running around with nothing but sex and pleasure.

That is the testimony that there is another life beyond the pleasures of this world. A reminder that the gains and pleasures you gain today are just futile. A nun who knows this fact never wears the monastic garb as an ornament. It has not been forgotten that in this last day some people wear the Christian monastic garb as an adornment for the sake of name and fame, attacking the Catholic Church.

Horrible protests are taking place in Iran today against the mandatory dress code enforced by Iran’s sovereign, who came to power in the 1979 revolution. Perhaps it is not a news that none of the protests in Iran get the attention of the Kerala media. There was a lot of pain when the western media exposed the bravery of hundreds of young people who braved death to say that they would not allow their freedom to be suppressed.

Dress should not be imposed on anyone, regardless of religion or lifestyle. And for an adult to grumble and blame a life partner who has chosen with complete freedom is an encroachment on her fundamental freedom.

So with a reminder to learn to respect each other-

affectionately,

C. Sonia Therese d. S. J.

NB: Former Minister Shri K. T. I am writing these lines here because my mind whispers that if I do not give a reply to Jaleel’s post on Facebook yesterday, it will be the biggest offense I will do to the living monk. the nun