The Attraction Of Authentic Islam

It is surprising that throughout recent decades, “conservative” religious values and practices have spread among many Muslims around the globe. In particular, the progress Muslim women have made in incorporating traditional practices into their daily lives by personal choice—particularly choosing to veil, is astonishing. Through looking at the works of Leila Ahmed’s A Quiet Revolution and Sadek Hamid’s “The Attraction of Authentic Islam,” this spread of traditional values proves to be true and surprising at the same time. Salafists are fundamentalists who strive to retreat back to the traditional ways of Islam. Hamid’s article discusses Salafism and its effect on Islams in the early 90s until present day. The article explores why these young British youth are embracing this kind of Islam. The author explains that the religious mosque is
This is the main reason it is surprising that conservative religious values among Muslims are being spread around the world. If Muslim women are able to freely decide whether or not they want to wear a veil, why are they still being restricted? Laleh Bakhtiar translated the Quran and caused an uproar of dispute among men. Her translation of verse 4:34 changed the meaning of the word “daraba” which used to translate to “beat” or “hit” to “go away from” (Ahmed 266-267). Her translation uses one of the few translations given, and she has solid evidence as to why she chose to translate the way she did. Men were very upset and some even wanted to change it back. The surprising aspect of it all is that traditional views are coming back, yet Muslim gender inequality is still wavering back and forth from progressing in certain aspects to regressing in others. The fact that a Muslim woman is able to choose how to dress, but cannot change or alter the Quran for a better, more accurate translation shows that a progression is possible, but still needs some