Malaysian activist fights for freedom

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Harassed and placed under investigation by religious authorities — activist Maryam Lee is a highly controversial figure in Malaysia.

Her crime? Speaking out about her decision to stop wearing the hijab and criticizing what she sees as institutional patriarchy in Islam.

Most in Muslim-majority Malaysia follow a moderate form of the religion and wearing a headscarf, known locally as a “tudung” and used to cover the head and neck, is not mandatory.

But experts says the nation has become more conservative in recent years and today most Muslim women wear one.

Maryam, who was made to wear a headscarf from the age of nine, says she realized in her mid-20s that she was conforming to a social expectation rather than a religious requirement and decided to remove it.

“All my life, I had been told that (wearing the headscarf) is mandatory and if I don’t wear it, it’s sinful. And then I found out that it actually wasn’t, so I felt very cheated — like all your life you’ve been told one thing, and it turns out to be a lie,” she explains.

It was a difficult personal decision but when she went public, detailing her story in her book “Unveiling Choice,” she faced a vitriolic backlash and death threats.