A Muslim woman’s veil may be looked at in different perspectives. It first speaks about her faith, that she is Muslim. It has several names to it – hijab, niqab, abaya, burqa or chador. Many Musllim women wear this veil in different ways. Some just wear a simple scarf that covers the head and neck. The others wear a full cloak, where you may see only the eyes.
The Western media has termed it “the veil”. A lot of coverage for this has been done, and several meanings have been passed around, though it is not meant to be so. Some women in the Muslim society say they use it to be modest, because the Koran says that all women of Islamic faith should be dressed modestly.
Some say that it is show they are pious. This is sometimes over rated as an Islamic symbol across the world. In several countries like in France, they do not believe in people expressing religious symbols very openly to the society. There was a lot of objection in the 1970s about Muslim women wearing head scarves in the country.
Though a lot of these women did refuse to remove them, wearing of the Muslim women’s veil was banned later. Many Muslims protested against this, but could not do much, as the country’s main aim is to give all her citizen’s religious freedom, and expression of religious symbols mean that they might be forcing their thoughts upon several others.
The way the Muslim woman’s veil is worn, varies from country to country. In Afghanistan, it is a known fact across the world, that all women of the Muslim community must be covered from head to toe. If they do show a bit of their bodies, even an ankle, they are beaten up. These activities have led to people saying that women belonging to the Muslim religion, wearing scarves mean they are oppressing them.
It is mentioned in the Koran, that all women of the Muslim religion must be dressed modestly and lower their gaze. But it is not mentioned specifically that they should wear a hijab. This may have evolved with the religion over the years. In countries like India, many Muslim women do not cover their heads. A lot of views have surrounded the use of the veil.
Some Muslim converts believe that the wearing of the veil is a great freedom. They say that this allows them to cover their beauty, in a way that they do not have to worry about make-up and dressing up the hair. A lot of feminist movements in Muslim communities have been fighting to totally ban the use of the veil in their religion.
For many Muslim women in America, the use of the veil has resulted in discrimination post 9/11. They are being held morally responsible along with the rest of the Muslim community for what happened to the Americans. This may happen in foreign countries, but Muslim countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh elected women into power at one point of time.
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