Summary: Like women of other faiths, Muslim women take time for study circles away from the mosque. They gather at each otherrsquo;s homes, read and discuss a chapter of the Qurrsquo;an. Muslim Voices had the chance to sit in on one of those sessions recently. After their study was over the women - who chose to remain anonymous - talked about what their religion, what their faith, means to them. ldquo;It means everything,rdquo; the woman who hosted the study circle said. To Hijab Or Not To Hijab One of the key points the women discussed was just how to best express their faith. For several of them taking up hijab ndash; dressing modestly and wearing head coverings ndash; was an important step. ldquo;I spent a good amount of time not doing the hijab,rdquo; one woman said, ldquo;but I was praying all the time, so that helped memdash;it pushed me to do it. I didnrsquo;t want to do it first because I wanted to be like everyone else. But I didnrsquo;t really feel at peace with myself until God guided me, I took the decision, and that was it.rdquo; Their faith, however, goes beyond the hijab. It represents a deeper commitment to ldquo;understanding that Muslim means one who submits to God in a peaceful way,rdquo; another woman said. ldquo;In Arabic it comes from the word salam, which means lsquo;peacersquo; and tasleem, which means lsquo;submissionrsquo;.rdquo; Equal In The Eyes Of Allah One common misperception about Muslim lives is that duty to submit to Allah makes them somehow less than men. Which leads to the idea they are all oppressed and looked down upon but these women have a different view. They mentioned that there are some places where Muslim women arenrsquo;t treated well, but that mistreatment isnrsquo;t exclusive to Islam. One woman saying that every culture has these problems. ldquo;If there are people who misuse power to abuse women in the name of the Koran or the Bible, or whatever, that is definitely wrong,rdquo; she said. ldquo;But everyone knows that; even the people who do this. I think deep down everyone knows this, and this knowledge of deep-down knowing this is given by God.rdquo;
