A Simple Reflection on the Hijab Issue

Assalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. So, I'm a man, and I get it, that might make some people dismiss what I say. But from my view, the whole fuss about the hijab-like the khimar that covers a woman's hair, neck, and ears-seems way more complicated than it really is. I feel a lot of this struggle comes from the influence of Western culture and history, rather than the actual essence of it. Back before World War I, women in Muslim lands wore hijab, niqab, and burqa as a normal part of daily life. It wasn’t seen as something extra or only because they were Muslim; it was just what people wore, like how wearing a shirt is just normal. Even non-Muslims wore styles of covering that we might call hijab today. And actually, back then, many women wore more covering like niqab and burqa rather than just the khimar. The change to just the khimar or no covering mostly came after colonization and cultural shifts. I also think secular and anti-Islam movements pushed people toward less modesty. For example, in some secular governments like Iran and Turkey, women were even stopped from covering their hair. In other Muslim places, people started adopting non-Islamic laws and customs, which the Prophet ﷺ warned us about (Sahih al-Bukhari 7320). So, women who wanted to stop covering weren’t forced-they just stopped, like if someone decided not to wear pants anymore because no one made them. The beauty industry doesn’t help either, making women feel like their value is only in how they look. This creates pressure and insecurity, making them want to be noticed even more, beyond what fits our natural instincts. In my opinion, the real fix is teaching girls and women to see hijab as simply a part of their everyday clothes-like how covering the legs is a must, covering the hair should be too. Hijab isn’t like a Jewish kippah worn as a symbol by choice; it’s commanded for women from the start of puberty. Maybe one reason many women have a "hijab journey" instead of just accepting it like wearing regular clothes is that they weren’t taught it’s a must from the beginning. They might think of it like how nuns wear habits by choice to be religious, but in Islam, hijab is obligatory from puberty. Again, I’m just sharing my thoughts as a man, and I know some might not value that. But I believe if we change how we think about this, it will help a lot in the long term. Of course, I’m not ignoring concerns about safety or special cases, just speaking generally. What do you all think?