Faith and the Hijab

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Recommended: gender as it relates to religion

I started this quest upon signing up for the class that I really wanted to learn more about Islam and its followers. I have always felt that there has always been a misconception about the religion and the people. For me, I feel like I have been very ignorant to many things in connection to Islam. One of the things that had always struck out to me from the religion was why women wore head coverings. I found it not the oddest thing but most certainly I never quite understood. So when we had a chance to research something that pertained to Islam I thought that that would be the best thing for me research about. Since I never really understood why women would wear head coverings, for the longest time I thought that it wasn’t a voluntary choice. I had a conception that men were very dominate over women and that the men of the countries made them wear these head coverings. Then also remembering 9/11 I also remember seeing the violence that men had toward women in Iraq. To me the head coverings were a sign of male domination and the women submission. At least these were my ideas before actually starting any research. So my ultimate quest was to find out why women in Islam wore their head coverings. Along with, what where the origins of the head coverings, are there obligations? Do all woman have to wear the head coverings. Why are there several different head coverings? Finally what objections are there against women wearing the head coverings?

Why Hijab and the Origins

The word hijab translates into to hide or to conceal. It is a head covering, usually a scarf, that covers the hair and the bosom and at most times leaves the face exposed. The origins go all the way back to the prophet’s time, when the Quran was being written. ...

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"A Brief History of the Veil in Islam." Civic Dilemmas Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

Chopra, Sehmina J. "Liberation by the Veil." Liberation by the Veil. The Sabr Foundation, 22 Feb. 2008. Web. 19 Oct. 2013.

Fairchild, Caroline. "Court Sides With Abercrombie In Oklahoma Hijab Lawsuit." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Oct. 2013. Web. 19 Oct. 2013.

Quran Explorer. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran/

Sacirbey, Omar. "Muslim Clerk Wins Hijab Fight against Abercrombie and Fitch | Religion News Service." Religion News Service. Religion News LLC, 9 Sept. 2013. Web. 19 Oct. 2013.

"The French and the Hijab." German Marshall Fund Blog. N.p., 8 Apr. 2013. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

"What Is Hijab?" Islam A Closer Look RSS. Young Muslims, n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2013

"Why Hijab?" Al-Islam.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2013.

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