In Western culture, it is taboo to be covered from head to toe, excluding the face, in the midst of the summer heat, but this is a reality that Muslim women know well in their daily lives. The Muslim religion is very strict and governed by the Koran. Many consider it oppressive, but those who practice it see it as a religion that frees them from the temptations of the world. Modest dress serves to protect Islamic people who practice it faithfully from adultery and other forms of illegal sexual relations that lead to the breakup of families and the corruption of society. "The Perforated Sheet", written by Salman Rushdie, humorously addresses the very concept of wearing a Hijab in Islamic culture told from a male perspective, while "The Women's Swimming Pool", written by Hanan Al-Shaykh, introduces a serious point of views on the treatment and practice of veiling women, from the perspective of an Indian Muslim woman. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay "The Perforated Sheet" is a short story told from a male's point of view. The story of the sheet begins when Aadam Aziz, a doctor, breaks his nose while praying to Allah. Allah is the name of God in the Islamic religion and requires Muslims to pray five times a day. Also, when Muslims pray, they sit on their knees on a mat and bow to kiss the ground. While Dr. Aziz prays, he bends down and hits his abnormally large nose, breaking it. After doing this, in a fit of rage, he “resolved never again to kiss the earth for any god or man” and renounces his religion (Rushdie 1712). This absence of religion creates a lasting “hole” that leaves the good doctor vulnerable and gives him an intense need to fill it. The story continues and Doctor Aziz begins treating a young woman named Naseem Ghani. The disadvantage, however, is that he is only permitted to treat her through a sheet, and "in the center of the sheet a hole had been made, a rough circle about seven inches in diameter" (Rushdie 1721). This sheet was requested by Naseem's father, Ghani, to keep her covered and modest. This sheet symbolizes the Hijab, as it hides the entire body except the face, which in women is about seven inches in diameter. Naseem honors his father, his family and God by keeping his body covered and following his father's wishes so that he can get married to a doctor. While it seems like a good thing, this analogy makes fun of the idea of ​​wearing a Hijab, as it would be foolish for a doctor to treat their patient through a small hole. The irony of the situation is the fact that Naseem is very religious and is considered by her father to be a "good" and "decent" girl while Dr. Aziz is more than likely an atheist (Rushdie 1721). This is a plausible idea since Salam Rushdie is an atheist, Muslim and student of Islam. This sheet is very symbolic in another way too. It is stained with blood which represents the phrase from the Quran: "Recite, in the name of the Lord your Creator, who created man from clots of blood" (Rushdie 1712). Rushdie humiliates Muslims by continuing to make fun of the Hijab making it comic relief for Rushdie's audience, as shown when Dr. Aziz enters Naseem's room and the sheet is lifted by three "wrestlers [who]...grip their their muscles, in case he was going to try something imaginative” which confused Dr. Aziz and made him frantic about how he would do his job, but he was reassured by Ghani that this way he would keep her “modest”. three years, Dr. Aziz treats Naseem through the sheet and “[yesfalls in love]", but not with her mind, her morals or her values, but he cares for her in a different way. He desires her in the parts of the body he has seen and the parts he wishes to see. He is fascinated by the mystery that hides the sheetprovides, as many people do with religion. Many people follow a religion because of the mystery it provides. It provides a possible explanation for what happens when we die and gives us rules and guidelines for how we should conduct our daily lives. Dr. Aziz is a prisoner of the thought of what lies behind the sheet and what his kind of heaven might be. Aadam Aziz went to the Ghani house many times to see Naseem and carefully and carefully examined his body in sections of seven. inches, proceeding from the bottom to the top of his body, excluding some sensitive areas Aziz began "to think of the perforated sheet as something sacred and magical" satiating his thirsty desire to fill the hole he had created through abandonment. of religion (Rushdie 1723). This shows an objectification of Naseem by Dr. Aadam Aziz, since he fell in love with her for her smell and the softness and beauty of her skin, not for her intelligence or her thoughts, which is what it makes us human. It was a love of body parts and mystery, but not of the whole person and not of the way Naseem Ghani thinks or acts. All this leads to Rushdie's final blow to the Hijab which was the exclamation “what a nose!”, made by Naseem Ghani when she finally managed to see the doctor who has treated her all these years (Rushdie 1723). The doctor was a very ugly man and was not comparable in appearance, mind or power to Naseem as she was a very beautiful, young and sweet girl. In contrast to the previous male view of Hijab, the story written and told from a female perspective, “The Women's Swimming Pool” shows the difficulties that many Indian Muslim women face. The story begins told by a narrator, of age to work in the tobacco fields, who is "exasperated" and has had to "wear [a] dress with long sleeves, [and a] headdress" in Lebanon's intense summer heat. (Shaykh 1728-30). Her grandmother is her guardian and is very devoted to Islam, yet she is against the trip to the women's pool by the sea but still goes to keep an eye on her granddaughter. The narrator wants to go so badly and this intensifies as she recites in her head “I can't wait, I won't eat, I won't drink, I want to go now, now” (Shaykh 1732). Then the narrator pushes his grandmother to leave so they can go to the women-only pool, located in the town of Zeytouna. This idea of ​​an all-female pool is a culture shock for Grandma. For her, swimming in public with the possibility of being seen is too big a risk to take. When held to Muslim women's standards that she must be covered in such a way that only her face, hands and feet are revealed, and her clothing must be loose enough so that the shape of her body is not obvious, which does not it is possible to be compliant if a woman wants to go swimming. The grandmother insisted on going with the narrator to the women's pool instead of her friend Sumayya. Sumayya was the one who told the narrator about this pool and got it into her head that he needed to visit it expressing how wonderful it was. The grandmother in this situation supports the strict Muslim rules in this story and does not want to see the narrator take the wrong path. He wants the narrator to remain faithful to Islam and not alter his future path. Once arriving in Zeytouna by a taxi driver, the narrator goes on the hunt for his long-lost swimming pool by walking around town asking about his swimming pool..