Islam vs culture

Hijab‑wearing women playing drums is not accepted by conservative religious groups in an Islamic country

The father of hijabi drummer Haji Nazia Samanta was forced to apologize. Such “audacity” — a young woman playing drums in a society dominated by strict religious norms! And that too after performing Hajj, while wearing hijab? Why would people in a socially conservative religious environment accept that? She learned to play drums because her father wanted her to, but now her father has apologized to the conservative crowd. They have a business — if the conservative public boycotts them, they will lose customers; the girl has to live in society, and they must remain within their religious community. Caught in the middle, trouble arose. Why was there a need to play drums? If it were Madani, Kashmiri nasheeds, rubaiyat, or sulasas, both father and daughter would have been praised; God would be pleased, and the Prophet Muhammad would have sworn by his child‑bride Aisha and prayed for them, and after death they would supposedly enter paradise. There is still time — they can join the Kashmiri serial!

When I first went to Malaysia, I saw that walking through Bukit Bintang’s Changkat Bukit Bintang or Jalan Alor in the evening meant almost bumping into female massage workers, pub workers, and bar girls — two streets away from the Bangladeshi “Roshna Bilash” restaurant. I saw some Arab men leaving their wives at the reception and entering full‑service massage centers with Korean or Filipino women. After the “happy ending,” they might leave their wives waiting and enter a bar. I once asked a Bangladeshi shopkeeper, “Brother, how does this work? Don’t their wives mind?” He smiled and said, “They are like this.” In Pattaya’s gay‑town area, Arabs are frequent visitors; they book many hotels there. Once I was looking for a hotel and ended up in an awkward situation because I didn’t have a male partner with me — those hotels weren’t meant for solo travelers like me. The main customers of Pattaya’s handsome, large‑chested ladyboys are said to be Arabs.

I was saying — the fathers like Samanta’s, who surrender their individuality to the conservative religious culture and bow their heads, who spend huge amounts of money on Hajj and Umrah — their reality is exactly this.

Earlier, actor Mosharraf Karim once faced backlash from conservative groups and had to apologize because he said on a TV program that women’s clothing is not responsible for rape. Some religious interpretations blame women’s clothing and movement for rape; if a woman travels without a male guardian and is assaulted, some interpretations hold the woman responsible. Safa Kabir also had to apologize because she said she does not believe in the afterlife. Tasnia Farin is clever — she calls herself a humanist, but she never has to apologize because the conservative public does not even know what humanism is.

Malaysia is a Muslim‑majority country; corruption, adulteration, terrorism, and mob violence are far lower there. Economically, it is progressing. In my view, the living environment is better than in America or Europe. Women there wear hijab, and many also wear shorts. Hijabi women work jobs, sing, play instruments — without restriction.

In Bangladesh, music is now considered a grave sin. Showing films is considered insulting religion. Some interpretations forbid showing women’s faces, forbid perfume, forbid speaking with a smile. Sports, literature, art, culture — all discouraged. Such interpretations restrict the development of talented girls like Samanta; seeing their joy is perceived as a threat to control. Silencing a cheerful, lively girl is seen as increasing “religious beauty.” Yet they would gladly accept her as the third or fourth wife of a preacher, serving his “faith‑rod” — that is considered ideal.

In some madrasas, some religious teacher or student assault or rape other children — what is called rape — and conservative groups still defend it. Many do not even consider it rape; they call it “homosexuality.”