穿戴希贾布是否赋予女性力量？穆斯林女性主义者谈到这一点时，往往诉诸“选择”的概念：穆斯林女性之所以获得力量，是因为她能够选择自己的穿着方式。权力来自于选择本身。但如果“赋权”指的就是这种意义，那么一个女人如果选择穿比基尼或其他服装，同样应当被视为赋权，因为这同样是基于她的选择。

Is wearing the hijab empowering? When Muslim feminists say this, they explain it by appealing to the notion of choice. A Muslim woman is empowered because she can choose to dress as she wants. The choice is what confers the power. But if this is what is meant by empowerment, then if a woman chooses to dress in a bikini or something else, that would be equally empowering since it is based on her choice.

当年轻的穆斯林女孩在这种"赋权"观念中长大,她们选择完全放弃希贾布,这难道令人意外吗?既然重要的是选择和自我赋权,何必还要戴希贾布呢?穿时尚的衣服、显得性感、让男孩子注意到自己,这些在我们社会里普通女性或少女看来,确实感觉更有力量得多,远比遮盖自己、被人盯着看等等更让人觉得有力量。

Is it any wonder that young Muslim girls who have been raised on this notion of empowerment choose to forego the hijab entirely? Why bother with the hijab when what is important is choice and feeling empowered? You can feel really empowered wearing fashionable clothes, looking sexy, getting guys to notice you. That feels a lot more empowering to the average woman or teen girl in our society than covering up, getting stared at by people, etc.

所以，咱们别再用“赋权”这类老生常谈了。就算它在某个时候对某些人还有点道理，归根结底，它带来的弊端远远多于益处。

So let’s drop the “empowerment” cliches please because, even if it did make sense to some people at some point, at the end of the day, it has done a lot more harm than good.

讽刺的是，如果我们真想从赋权的角度来谈论头巾（hijab），其实有一种非常明显且有说服力的方式。事实证明，遮掩自己、隐于人前、使自己不受公众目光的注视，被普遍视为一种赋权。想想中央情报局、军情六处以及其他秘密的情报机构吧。它们的很大一部分力量，正来自于其隐身于公众视野之外。

What is amazingly ironic is that, if we really want to talk about hijab in terms of empowerment, there is a very obvious and compelling way to do so. As it turns out, covering yourself, hiding in plain sight, shielding yourself from public view is universally understood as empowering. Think of the CIA, MI6, and other secret, covert agencies. A large part of their power comes from being out of public view and being hidden.

世界上最有权势的人往往远离公众视线。他们回避八卦小报和作秀式的拍照机会。例如，美国最高法院的大法官以极少抛头露面而闻名。世界上最富有的人与政治人物之间的许多会面，都是在闭门之内进行的。

The most powerful people of the world stay out of public view. They avoid the tabloids and the photo ops. The US Supreme Court judges, for example, are notoriously private. Many of the meetings between the world’s richest people and politicians happen behind closed doors.

这并不是什么新鲜事。历代苏丹和国王早已把避开平民的目光练成了一门艺术。在普通人面前露面被认为会有损身份。若他们不得不穿过寻常街巷,一些奥斯曼苏丹甚至会戴上面纱以免被人看见。这与现代政客和统治者乘坐车窗贴膜的黑色豪华轿车之举,并无二致。

And this is not something new. Sultans and kings of the past made an art out of avoiding the gaze of the commoner. To be seen by regular people was seen as diminishing to one’s status. If they had no choice but to travel through common streets, some Ottoman sultans would even don the veil to avoid being seen. This is not unlike modern politicians and rulers riding in their black limos with tinted windows.

但不知为何,如今的人们认为把一切都赤裸裸地展示给所有人看才是赋予力量。何其愚蠢,何其违背常识。他们不仅暴露自己的身体,甚至把自己私生活中的隐秘细节也公之于众。社交媒体让陌生人走进你的家变得越来越容易。这恰恰与赋权相反,这是把自己变成他人目光的奴隶。你不但没有掌控别人对你的了解,反而将其免费奉送,等于把灵魂的钥匙交到了别人手中。

But for some reason, people today think that baring it all for all to see is what is empowering. How foolish. How contrary to common sense. Not only do they uncover their bodies, they even display the intimate details of their private lives. Social media makes it increasingly easy to let strangers into your home. This is the opposite of empowering. This is enslaving yourself to the eyes of others. Instead of controlling the information people have about you, you give it away for free, handing them the key to your soul.

所有社会都懂得隐私的价值，但在今天，由于女权主义这类腐朽思潮的影响，这一观念已被我们彻底侵蚀。从这个角度看，我们可以思考hijab（希扎布）可能蕴含的智慧。与男性相比，女性确实有更多值得他人觊觎之处，尽管男性也有许多需要遮掩的东西。但从某种意义上说，女性最终有更多需要隐藏的信息。她们更容易受到他人，无论是男性还是女性，那种掠夺性目光的伤害。这仅仅是因为真主赋予女性的品质。那么，面对这些资本，女性难道应该把一切都无偿奉献出去吗？她们可以这样做，但那将违背理性和常识。这不仅会是一次重大的机会损失，还会使她们在无数方面面临受伤害的风险。

All societies understand the value of privacy but this is a concept that has been thoroughly eroded for us today due to the influence of corrupt ideologies like feminism. Seen in this light, we can reflect on a possible wisdom of the hijab. Women, as opposed to men, certainly have more that can be coveted, though men have much to hide as well. But women ultimately have more information to hide, so to speak. They are more vulnerable to the predatory gaze of others, whether those of men or even women. This is just due to the qualities Allah has given women. So given these assets, should women just give away everything for free? They could, but that would be contrary to reason and common sense. Not only would it be a major lost opportunity, it would also make them vulnerable to harm in a thousand different ways.

事实上，过去的女性深知不让公众看见自己的高尚价值，并且她们将这种力量用于个人目的，无论是社交、经济、家庭还是政治方面。然而，现代学者和研究者却简单地认为："那些可怜、无权、没有声音的穆斯林女性和她们的面纱。多么有辱人格，多么压抑，多么悲惨！"殊不知，真正生活在悲剧之中的是他们自己。

Fact of the matter is, women in the past understood the high value of not being available for public view and they leveraged this power for their personal ends, whether social, financial, familial, or even political. But modern academics and researchers simplistically think, “Those poor powerless, voiceless Muslim women and their veils. How degrading. How oppressive. What a tragedy!” Little do they know that they’re the ones living a tragedy.

当然，我们都知道，穿戴希贾布的根本原因在于顺服真主，虔诚而真心地遵行祂的命令。真主至知。

And of course, we know that the ultimate reason one wears hijab is to be obedient to Allah and follow His Commands with devotion and sincerity. Allah knows best.