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e prepared for a life of marriage and work while in your teens, nor would any sister of yours be
ready. And believe me, both of you would feel as though you had been cheated by your parents if we
really did carry out such a plan. You would likely feel that you had been deprived of a chance of
living a proper life, a life of education, of decent work, of building a family at the appropriate time.
Basically you and your sister would hate me and your mother for having brought you into the world
and then sent you out long before you were ready to leave home. In the same way that you would not
like this for yourself, think of all the young girls who are married off far before it is appropriate—
based on the argument that the Prophet married a young Aisha. Remember that possibilities for life
achievement were radically different in seventh-century Arabia. In the twenty-first century, we should
be shocked and angry at depriving a young girl of her chance in life. Use your sense of empathy and
think about these injustices in the name of your faith.
Remember also that today Islam is a religion in transition and in conflict with itself. There are
other models of how Muslim women can live and be true to our common faith. There are Muslim
women who have looked into the origins of the veil and have come to the conclusion that there are no
hard-and-fast rules on the veil—let alone the burqa. Many men have come to the same conclusion.
Women are called on to be modest within Islam. But the veil is a pre-Islamic tradition. There are
multiple ways to interpret modesty. The veil is simply one of a number of interpretations. And if there
is flexibility on the question of the veil, then the burqa is simply a tradition and not religion.