The Hijab And I

'Doubts, ambiguities, contradictions - each is integral to every tradition or heritage. Disquieting perhaps, integral nevertheless. No tradition is without them; none can be without them. And contrary to what dictionary definitions might lead one to believe, one is not just born into a tradition or heritage; one has to claim it and claim it all, the 'good' with the 'bad.' Only after claiming the whole can one proceed to the real task concerning one's heritage, namely to challenge it and be challenged by it. Otherwise, one only lets oneself be deluded by 'myths and inventions,' a particularly threatening possibility given the politics of identity that is as much raging here in the United States as in South Asia.' (Ambiguities of Heritage, 1995). C. M. Naim is Professor Emeritus in the Department of South Asian Languages & Civilizations, University of Chicago, where he taught from 1961 to 2001. ISBN 978-969-648-011-2