Cloth and climate change
Isn't what is really irrational the belief that any piece of (the) material can conceal us from our own actions in full sight of the Divine?
I share a body with our ancestors we call women.
These Muslims wrapped beautiful batik cloth over their chests (the action of berkemban), and went to the river together. They wore it when they didn't have to worry about being presentable. They wore it to cool off on a hot afternoon. I imagine being in nature like that must have felt something like heaven.
We are robbed of rivers to go to for the divine gift of earth to soothe us.
More and more spaces where women can relax from being presentable have been seized from us, public and private. Now every space is a space for emotional labour, to be hyperaware, to police each other in. Even our mental space, our capacity to be full khalifahs on earth is being challenged, reduced to just how simple men would see us. And so we are shamed for the danger that our bodies and collective dignity are in. Heaven is a distant reward, hell breathes down our exposed necks until then.
