The Netherlands may become the first European country to ban Muslim face veils after its government pledged to outlaw the wearing in public spaces of the niqab, or veil, and the burka, or full-length cloak covering the head. Rita Verdonk, the immigration minister, signalled that the government would now push for a total ban, even though the legislation would be likely to contravene Dutch religious freedom laws.
While Britons, a strong opposition to the use of the Muslim veil in schools and face covering in public is revealed today in a new opinion poll for the Evening Standard. Nearly 90 per cent of respondents say that Muslim teachers should not be allowed to wear a veil when teaching. And 84 per cent say that Muslim pupils should not be allowed to wear a veil at school.
Jack Straw has criticized the Islamic custom of wearing a full facial veil and urged Muslim women to remove it when talking to him in his district office in northwestern England. The veil, he wrote this week in his local newspaper, The Lancashire Telegraph, is “such a visible statement of separation and of difference” as to jeopardize British social harmony. His remarks have ignited a furious national debate over political correctness and religious identity.
In another report, female Muslim doctors must be prepared to remove their veil to treat patients effectively, under new guidelines. Religious clothing must not present a barrier to building trust and communicating with patients, the General Medical Council said. Doctors should be prepared to set aside personal and cultural preferences, advised the document, Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice.
The Turkish parliament recently adopted a government bill lifting a decades-old ban on wearing the hijab - a headscarf used by Muslim women to cover their hair. This revolutionary change has already caused fierce disputes between different classes of Turkish society, and may eventually split it altogether.
Today, the hijab -- or "the veil," as it's referred to in the Western media -- has taken on a multitude of meanings, perhaps more than it was ever meant to carry.
While some Muslims consider it an expression of modesty and piety, others say such emphasis on the scarf as a religious symbol is overstated. And while some Westerns recoil from the sight of any form of Muslim dress as a symbol of terrorism and aggression toward non-Muslims, many feminists, mostly American but some Muslim, invest the hijab with another kind of significance -- oppression of Muslim women. That last assumption has been fed by television images of women in Afghanistan, shrouded in the burqa, being beaten for showing an ankle or part of their face.
Because the Quran's injunctions are open to many interpretations, Islamic laws in different countries vary widely in what they define as modest dress -- from the extremes of Afghanistan to the sartorial freedoms of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and even Iraq. Even in countries where the hijab is not required, today more younger Muslim women are covering their heads.
In its purest form, scholars stress, Islam is the most progressive of all religions when it comes to women's rights. The Quran permits them to own their own businesses, to inherit wealth, choose marriage partners or divorce them, although those freedoms have been severely curtailed in some countries, depending on local customs and traditions.
The burqa is not a religious invention, but rather one with roots in the pre-Islamic cultures of Persia and India. In fact, scholars note that middle-class Muslim women in the seventh century began covering their heads because it was the tradition of the Christian Byzantines, who wanted to distinguish themselves from the masses.
The Quran's direction to women to "draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty" except to the male members of their families was a protective response to the slave trade that existed before Islam, rather than a patriarchal one.
Yet, wearing the Hijab doesn't mean just putting a piece of cloth on your head; it is an attitude, a way of thinking and a behavior. Basically it constitutes an Islamic way of life; it is a statement which indeed should portray a certain attitude.
A Muslim woman should wear a long skirt and a scarf on her head, but if she flirts constantly and is not well mannered, then she can't be really described as wearing the Hijab (Clothes should be long, loose and not see through, after which any style of clothing is applicable). The whole idea involves conducting oneself with dignity at all times. The Hijab depicts a statement, and that is something one should be continually aware of. It identifies the woman as a Muslim (Yet it is not just a symbol). Hijab does not restrict the Muslim woman from doing the kind of things she want to do, it is a blessing because it makes her watch her behavior continuously. Anything (with the blessings of the Almighty, is possible) -studying, working etc. -provided it is within the bounds of Islam (Halal). However, sometimes the decision to wear the Hijab is not very easy for some women, and this could be a result of external pressures, notably family and friends. Unfortunately, some Non-Muslims, or Muslims who don't have good knowledge about Islam, consider wearing the Hijab being too "extreme". But what helps a Muslim woman and actually makes her enjoy wearing the Hijab, is the belief in Allah and the conviction that she's doing this only for the sake of Allah.
Allah said in the Qur'an:
Let us set the record straight. According to Rabbi Dr. Menachem M. Brayer (Professor of Biblical Literature at Yeshiva University) in his book, The Jewish woman in Rabbinic literature, it was the custom of Jewish women to go out in public with a head covering which, sometimes, even covered the whole face leaving one eye free. He quotes some famous ancient Rabbis saying," It is not like the daughters of Israel to walk out with heads uncovered" and "Cursed be the man who lets the hair of his wife be seen....a woman who exposes her hair for self-adornment brings poverty." Rabbinic law forbids the recitation of blessings or prayers in the presence of a bareheaded married woman since uncovering the woman's hair is considered "nudity". Dr. Brayer also mentions that "During the Tannaitic period the Jewish woman's failure to cover her head was considered an affront to her modesty. When her head was uncovered she might be fined four hundred zuzim for this offense." Dr. Brayer also explains that veil of the Jewish woman was not always considered a sign of modesty. Sometimes, the veil symbolized a state of distinction and luxury rather than modesty. The veil personified the dignity and superiority of noble women. It also represented a woman's inaccessibility as a sanctified possession of her husband.
The veil signified a woman's self-respect and social status. Women of lower classes would often wear the veil to give the impression of a higher standing. The fact that the veil was the sign of nobility was the reason why prostitutes were not permitted to cover their hair in the old Jewish society. However, prostitutes often wore a special headscarf in order to look respectable. Jewish women in Europe continued to wear veils until the nineteenth century when their lives became more intermingled with the surrounding secular culture. The external pressures of the European life in the nineteenth century forced many of them to go out bare-headed. Some Jewish women found it more convenient to replace their traditional veil with a wig as another form of hair covering. Today, most pious Jewish women do not cover their hair except in the synagogue. Some of them, such as the Hasidic sects, still use the wig.
What about the Christian tradition? It is well known that Catholic Nuns have been covering their heads for hundreds of years, but that is not all. St. Paul in the New Testament made some very interesting statements about the veil:
Among the early Protestant reformers, Martin Luther's wife, Katherine, wore a headcovering and John Knox and John Calvin both called for women to wear headcoverings. Commentators such as Matthew Henry, A. R. Fausset and A. T. Robertson also wrote that women should wear headcoverings. Headcovering, at least during worship services, is still promoted or required in a few denominations. Among these are some Anabaptist denominations, including the Amish, some Mennonites, and the Apostolic Christian Church; some Pentecostal churches, including Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith; and the stricter Dutch Reformed churches. Though most other Protestant denominations have no official expectation that women cover, some individuals choose to practice headcovering according to their understanding of 1 Corinthians 11.
The Roman Catholic Church omitted the requirement in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The requirement had originally been introduced as a universal law for the Latin Rite of the Church in 1917 with canon 1262 of its first Code of Canon Law. This canon mandated that, in church, women should cover their heads.
From all the above evidence, it is obvious that Islam did not invent the head cover. However, Islam did endorse it.
While Britons, a strong opposition to the use of the Muslim veil in schools and face covering in public is revealed today in a new opinion poll for the Evening Standard. Nearly 90 per cent of respondents say that Muslim teachers should not be allowed to wear a veil when teaching. And 84 per cent say that Muslim pupils should not be allowed to wear a veil at school.
Jack Straw has criticized the Islamic custom of wearing a full facial veil and urged Muslim women to remove it when talking to him in his district office in northwestern England. The veil, he wrote this week in his local newspaper, The Lancashire Telegraph, is “such a visible statement of separation and of difference” as to jeopardize British social harmony. His remarks have ignited a furious national debate over political correctness and religious identity.
In another report, female Muslim doctors must be prepared to remove their veil to treat patients effectively, under new guidelines. Religious clothing must not present a barrier to building trust and communicating with patients, the General Medical Council said. Doctors should be prepared to set aside personal and cultural preferences, advised the document, Personal Beliefs and Medical Practice.
The Turkish parliament recently adopted a government bill lifting a decades-old ban on wearing the hijab - a headscarf used by Muslim women to cover their hair. This revolutionary change has already caused fierce disputes between different classes of Turkish society, and may eventually split it altogether.
Today, the hijab -- or "the veil," as it's referred to in the Western media -- has taken on a multitude of meanings, perhaps more than it was ever meant to carry.
While some Muslims consider it an expression of modesty and piety, others say such emphasis on the scarf as a religious symbol is overstated. And while some Westerns recoil from the sight of any form of Muslim dress as a symbol of terrorism and aggression toward non-Muslims, many feminists, mostly American but some Muslim, invest the hijab with another kind of significance -- oppression of Muslim women. That last assumption has been fed by television images of women in Afghanistan, shrouded in the burqa, being beaten for showing an ankle or part of their face.
Because the Quran's injunctions are open to many interpretations, Islamic laws in different countries vary widely in what they define as modest dress -- from the extremes of Afghanistan to the sartorial freedoms of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and even Iraq. Even in countries where the hijab is not required, today more younger Muslim women are covering their heads.
In its purest form, scholars stress, Islam is the most progressive of all religions when it comes to women's rights. The Quran permits them to own their own businesses, to inherit wealth, choose marriage partners or divorce them, although those freedoms have been severely curtailed in some countries, depending on local customs and traditions.
The burqa is not a religious invention, but rather one with roots in the pre-Islamic cultures of Persia and India. In fact, scholars note that middle-class Muslim women in the seventh century began covering their heads because it was the tradition of the Christian Byzantines, who wanted to distinguish themselves from the masses.The Quran's direction to women to "draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty" except to the male members of their families was a protective response to the slave trade that existed before Islam, rather than a patriarchal one.
Yet, wearing the Hijab doesn't mean just putting a piece of cloth on your head; it is an attitude, a way of thinking and a behavior. Basically it constitutes an Islamic way of life; it is a statement which indeed should portray a certain attitude.
A Muslim woman should wear a long skirt and a scarf on her head, but if she flirts constantly and is not well mannered, then she can't be really described as wearing the Hijab (Clothes should be long, loose and not see through, after which any style of clothing is applicable). The whole idea involves conducting oneself with dignity at all times. The Hijab depicts a statement, and that is something one should be continually aware of. It identifies the woman as a Muslim (Yet it is not just a symbol). Hijab does not restrict the Muslim woman from doing the kind of things she want to do, it is a blessing because it makes her watch her behavior continuously. Anything (with the blessings of the Almighty, is possible) -studying, working etc. -provided it is within the bounds of Islam (Halal). However, sometimes the decision to wear the Hijab is not very easy for some women, and this could be a result of external pressures, notably family and friends. Unfortunately, some Non-Muslims, or Muslims who don't have good knowledge about Islam, consider wearing the Hijab being too "extreme". But what helps a Muslim woman and actually makes her enjoy wearing the Hijab, is the belief in Allah and the conviction that she's doing this only for the sake of Allah.Allah said in the Qur'an:
"Oh Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters, and wives and daughters of the believers, to extend their outer garments around themselves, so that they would be distinguished and not molested. And God is All-Forgiving, All-Merciful".
(Qur'an, 33:59)
"For Muslim men and women, for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast (and deny themselves), for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in God's praise -- for them has God prepared forgiveness and great reward. [ Quran 33:35 ]
"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty......And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms...." (Quran 24:30,31).Is there such thing as the veil in the Judaeo-Christian tradition?
Let us set the record straight. According to Rabbi Dr. Menachem M. Brayer (Professor of Biblical Literature at Yeshiva University) in his book, The Jewish woman in Rabbinic literature, it was the custom of Jewish women to go out in public with a head covering which, sometimes, even covered the whole face leaving one eye free. He quotes some famous ancient Rabbis saying," It is not like the daughters of Israel to walk out with heads uncovered" and "Cursed be the man who lets the hair of his wife be seen....a woman who exposes her hair for self-adornment brings poverty." Rabbinic law forbids the recitation of blessings or prayers in the presence of a bareheaded married woman since uncovering the woman's hair is considered "nudity". Dr. Brayer also mentions that "During the Tannaitic period the Jewish woman's failure to cover her head was considered an affront to her modesty. When her head was uncovered she might be fined four hundred zuzim for this offense." Dr. Brayer also explains that veil of the Jewish woman was not always considered a sign of modesty. Sometimes, the veil symbolized a state of distinction and luxury rather than modesty. The veil personified the dignity and superiority of noble women. It also represented a woman's inaccessibility as a sanctified possession of her husband.
The veil signified a woman's self-respect and social status. Women of lower classes would often wear the veil to give the impression of a higher standing. The fact that the veil was the sign of nobility was the reason why prostitutes were not permitted to cover their hair in the old Jewish society. However, prostitutes often wore a special headscarf in order to look respectable. Jewish women in Europe continued to wear veils until the nineteenth century when their lives became more intermingled with the surrounding secular culture. The external pressures of the European life in the nineteenth century forced many of them to go out bare-headed. Some Jewish women found it more convenient to replace their traditional veil with a wig as another form of hair covering. Today, most pious Jewish women do not cover their hair except in the synagogue. Some of them, such as the Hasidic sects, still use the wig.
What about the Christian tradition? It is well known that Catholic Nuns have been covering their heads for hundreds of years, but that is not all. St. Paul in the New Testament made some very interesting statements about the veil:"Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonours his head. And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonours her head - it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head" (I Corinthians 11:3-10).St. Paul's rationale for veiling women is that the veil represents a sign of the authority of the man, who is the image and glory of God, over the woman who was created from and for man. St. Tertullian in his famous treatise 'On The Veiling Of Virgins' wrote, "Young women, you wear your veils out on the streets, so you should wear them in the church, you wear them when you are among strangers, then wear them among your brothers..." Among the Canon laws of the Catholic church today, there is a law that requires women to cover their heads in church. 82 Some Christian denominations, such as the Amish and the Mennonites for example, keep their women veiled to the present day. The reason for the veil, as offered by their Church leaders, is that "The head covering is a symbol of woman's subjection to the man and to God", which is the same logic introduced by St. Paul in the New Testament.
Among the early Protestant reformers, Martin Luther's wife, Katherine, wore a headcovering and John Knox and John Calvin both called for women to wear headcoverings. Commentators such as Matthew Henry, A. R. Fausset and A. T. Robertson also wrote that women should wear headcoverings. Headcovering, at least during worship services, is still promoted or required in a few denominations. Among these are some Anabaptist denominations, including the Amish, some Mennonites, and the Apostolic Christian Church; some Pentecostal churches, including Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith; and the stricter Dutch Reformed churches. Though most other Protestant denominations have no official expectation that women cover, some individuals choose to practice headcovering according to their understanding of 1 Corinthians 11.
The Roman Catholic Church omitted the requirement in the 1983 Code of Canon Law. The requirement had originally been introduced as a universal law for the Latin Rite of the Church in 1917 with canon 1262 of its first Code of Canon Law. This canon mandated that, in church, women should cover their heads.
From all the above evidence, it is obvious that Islam did not invent the head cover. However, Islam did endorse it.
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