Hijab

An Iraqi girl wearing a headscarf.

Overview

Origin

The word hijab is used in the Qur'an to denote a partition, or a curtain, but in modern usage often refers to a woman's headscarf. This is often done amongst Muslims for females over the age of puberty.

The word ḥijāb, or a derivative, appears eight times in the Qur'an and never connotes any act of piety or headscarf. It appears as an "obstacle" (7:46), a "curtain" (33:53), "hidden" (38:32), a "wall of separation" (41:5, 42:52, 17:45), "hiding" (19:14) and "prevented" or "denied access to God" (83:15).

Perspectives

For most Muslims, the headscarf, a symbol of hijab, is worn in the presence of adult males outside their immediate family; it is not necessary when females or males are within their immediate family. However, some Muslim scholars and activists maintain that the practice of covering the hair with a hijab is not mandated in Islam.

Types

The hijab as a headscarf can come in several different types, such as an ordinary veil, which only covers the head, a niqab, a burka also known as an abayah, which covers the entire body, and any form of covering used to veil. There are many styles to wear. The Quran however has no requirement that women cover their faces with a veil, or cover their bodies with the full-body burqa or chador.

Hijab mandate

The hijab as a headscarf is currently required by law to be worn by women in Iran and Afghanistan. It is no longer required by law in Saudi Arabia since 2018. In Gaza, Palestinian jihadists belonging to the Unified Leadership (UNLU) have rejected a hijab policy for women. They have also targeted those who seek to impose the hijab.

Hijab ban

Other countries, both in Europe and in the Muslim world, particularly France, have passed laws banning some or all types of hijab in public or in certain types of locales. Austria, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain and Norway have varying levels of hijab ban.

References

  1. ↑ Mark Juergensmeyer, Wade Clark Roof, ed. (2012). "Hijab". Encyclopedia of Global Religion. Vol. 1. SAGE Publications. p. 516. doi:10.4135/9781412997898. ISBN 9780761927297.
  2. ↑ El Guindi, Fadwa; Sherifa Zahur (2009). Hijab. The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195305135.001.0001. ISBN 9780195305135.
  3. ↑ Murphy R.F. 1964. Social distance and the veil. American Anthropologist. New Series, 66, No. 6, Part 1, pp. 1257–1274.
  4. ↑ Brenner S. 1996. Reconstructing self and society: Javanese Muslim women and "the veil". American Ethnologist, 23, (4) , pp. 673–697.
  5. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/21/as-muslim-women-we-actually-ask-you-not-to-wear-the-hijab-in-the-name-of-interfaith-solidarity/
  6. ↑ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2015/12/21/as-muslim-women-we-actually-ask-you-not-to-wear-the-hijab-in-the-name-of-interfaith-solidarity/
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ Wear, Muslima. "Muslima Hijabs". Muslima Wear. Archived from the original on 2021-12-04. Retrieved 2021-12-02.
  9. ↑ Tristam, Pierre. Does the Quran require women to wear the veil? About News. Archived 2014-10-11 at the Wayback Machine
  10. ↑ "'Why didn't you wear a hijab?' Taliban militants shoot 21-year-old Afghan girl". News Track. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ Mail, Daily (15 September 2019). "Rebel Saudi women appear in public without hijab, abaya; onlookers stunned | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  13. 1 2 "Women, the Hijab and the Intifada". 4 May 1990.
  14. ↑
  15. ↑
  16. 1 2 Bislimi, Bekim (October 3, 2024). "Kosovo At The Center Of Europe's Ongoing Hijab Debate". Radio Liberty. Retrieved December 26, 2024.