Line #22 UsefulNotes/IslamicDress


1	Like many religions, UsefulNotes/{{Islam}} commands its followers to dress "modestly", and as a result, various items of clothing have developed that are now considered emblematic of Islam. There is often a great deal of confusion regarding these, both among Muslims and non-Muslims, as the wide variation in Muslim cultures has resulted in a similarly varied number of interpretations of both what must be covered to be modest and how to do so.
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3	Before we begin, we should note that Islam requires modesty of both men and women; it's simply that the requirements for men are rather more clear-cut and a bit more revealing than requirements for women. Men are required to cover at least everything "from navel to knee"; shorts are therefore technically banned.[[note]]Though if a male is able to find and wear shorts that fall below his knee, it is technically acceptable provided his navel is covered by the shorts or by a shirt he is wearing.[[/note]] Most Muslim societies tend to frown on men going bare-chested in public, as well. For example, some particularly fervent Muslim men opt to play sports wearing tracksuits. Furthermore, many men see it as ''sunnah'' (commendable tradition of UsefulNotes/TheProphetMuhammad) to wear some kind of head covering; this usually takes the form of a kind of skullcap called a ''taqiyah'' which looks rather like a large [[UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} yarmulke]].
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5	That said, it is true that the rules for women are rather more restrictive. Consensus among traditionalist clerics is that Muslim women must, while in public and while praying, cover their whole body except for the hands and the face. Some clerics are of the opinion that the hands and face except the eyes must be covered; others are of the opinion that feet up to the ankle can be shown (a relief in many Muslim countries where some poor folk cannot afford shoes or at least nothing less revealing than cheap plastic flip-flops). More liberal/reformist muftis are of the opinion that modesty must be determined relative to the society and can change over time; thus, in some countries, liberal but observant women might not wear a head covering in most situations, but carry one around for prayer and entering mosques (it is undisputed that Muslim women must cover their hair while praying; Jewish doctrine is much the same, Catholicism required this well into the 20th century, and this remains a requirement in Orthodox Christianity and some sects of Hinduism). And of course, Islam can be quite a personal religion; theoretically, anyone can interpret Literature/TheQuran and other religious texts for themself.
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7	And finally, we'd be remiss in not mentioning: [[HidingInAHijab these garments are really good for disguising your appearance]]. Even ordinary headscarves can make you look unrecognizable, so naturally there's a lot of room for making that look as good as possible.
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9	The result of this is a bewildering array of variations on the theme, causing confusion for many. The most common ones are what follow:
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11	!! Hijab
12	->Origin: Arabia
13	There are two meanings of the word "hijab". In Classical Arabic, the means "curtain" and is used in Literature/TheQuran to refer to the modest dress worn by women; the garment is called "jilbab" (see below), while the head covering itself is called "khimar" (also see below).
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15	The second, and more modern meaning, is to refer to a certain kind of head-covering, specifically, a relatively simple scarf that leaves the whole face uncovered. There are hundreds of ways to wrap and fasten these around the head, with the result that a woman's hijab can be very personalized indeed: loosely wrapped, tightly wrapped, showing a bit of hair, one-piece (a single cloth wrapped around the head) or two-piece (a common form in the UsefulNotes/ArabWorld and UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}}, with a tubular under-scarf worn rather like a hat, over which is layered a fairly thin scarf going over the back two-thirds or so of the under-scarf for a sort of two-tone effect), stuffed with starched fabric, and so on. The actual material can also vary widely, and can be quite prettily decorated indeed (for instance, rows upon rows of sequins are a perpetually popular decoration among young women).
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17	These have drawn criticism from conservative clerics on the ground that the decoration is immodest and therefore defeats the purpose of the exercise. The same criticism is, [[EnemyMine oddly]], often levied by Muslim feminists who want to ditch the hijab altogether. The same odd alliance also critiques the fairly common practice among young Muslims in the West and among the rising middle classes of the Muslim world of wearing this sort of hijab with clothes that technically fulfill the requirement of covering everything while still being quite revealing of one's figure (e.g. skinny jeans and [[SweaterGirl tight sweaters]]). As you might have guessed, this is the least conservative sort of hijab in most communities, asides from some old-fashioned ones that look like ordinary if floppy women's hats and for the most part went out of style decades ago.
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19	!! Khimar
20	->Origin: Arabia
21	Literally "veil" in Classical Arabic. This is the Qur'anic word for the headscarves worn by women, i.e. what people nowadays refer to as "hijab". However, in the modern world, this term has evolved to refer specifically to a slightly more old-fashioned and conservative sort of hijab, consisting of a square or circular piece of cloth with a hole in the middle for the woman's face, leaving it (again) totally uncovered, but with cloth nearly to the navel in some cases. Usually light-colored.
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23	!! Chador
24	->Origin: Greater Iran
25	An UsefulNotes/{{Iran}}-specific version of the khimar, with the difference of being much larger and usually black. It reaches all the way to the ground, and thus fulfills the Iranian government's modesty requirement; however, it is not required by law as is often stated in foreign media.\
26	Note that the word is not Arabic in origin, but rather Persian. In Persian, chador is the word for "tent", borrowed during the Sassanid period from Sanskrit ''chattra'', which means "shelter".
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28	!! Abaya
29	->Origin: Arabia
30	Not a head covering, but rather a loose-fitting, ankle-length sleeved robe, usually paired with a head covering. Most common in Arab countries; it is more or less required by law in UsefulNotes/SaudiArabia. It is not restricted to women; while the styles of abaya are different for men and women, they are considered to be the same kind of garment and have the same name.
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32	!! Jilbab
33	->Origin: Arabia
34	This word is used in the Qur'an to refer to the modest garment used by Muslim women. In modern times, the word is more often used to mean a variety of hijab designed for practical use; something than one can simply throw on the head if one needs to answer the door, say. They're not usually too garishly decorated, but some styles of Jilbab has made inroads with the Muslim fashion industry.\
35	In some countries, jilbab is sometimes called by different names. For example, in Southeast Asia, the veil is called "tudung" in UsefulNotes/{{Malaysia}} and "kerudung" in UsefulNotes/{{Indonesia}}, both being derived from the Malay word for "cover".
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37	!! Manteau
38	->Origin: France via Syria
39	A Western-inspired garment (the word is French) that fulfills the requirements for hijab, other than the head. It's just a long overcoat that conceals the legs and covers the arms. A headscarf and manteau is liberal public dress for women in Iran; they are also common among observant UsefulNotes/{{Syria}}n women.
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41	!! Battoulah
42	->Origin: Arabia
43	A metallic mask that covers the forehead, nose, and cheeks. Formerly used in the region surrounding the Persian Gulf; it is now worn only by elders and rural women.
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45	!! Niqab
46	->Origin: Arabia
47	A veil for the face, covering everything below the eyes, connected to a headscarf in various different ways. These are controversial even among relatively conservative Muslims, as the idea that women's faces must be covered is not particularly widespread. They are actually banned in some Muslim countries as a threat to public safety (not being able to see the face is a serious problem, after all), and one leading ''religious university'', UsefulNotes/{{Egypt}}'s Al-Azhar, actually banned them on campus, mostly for security reasons but also on the grounds that they were (get this) of dubious Islamicity. On the other hand, the Saudi religious police are known to harass women who do not cover their faces, even though it is technically legal. They have also caused problems for Muslims in the West; a woman in America who tried to get her driver's license photo while wearing one was denied for obvious reasons, and France, citing both cultural and security concerns, banned them entirely. The Niqab is only slightly more widespread in the Gulf, and they are more closely associated with traditional-leaning women.\
48	A variant of niqab is boshiya, where the veil completely covers the face, leaving no area for women to be able to see. If they want to see, they have to lift the veil. As you can guess, it's extremely impractical and is rarely worn these days.
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50	!! Haik
51	->Origin: North Africa
52	A variant of the niqab worn by Arab-Berbers in North Africa. Unlike the niqab, which is usually black, the haik is almost always white in color. It is believed to be a custom brought by Muslim Andalusians expelled during the Reconquista; a similar garment was recorded to have been worn by some Western European women during the Middle Ages. It is also not strictly a form of women's dress; Berber and Arab-Berber ''men'' have been known to wear face veils over the centuries as a practical garment to keep out the dust of the Sahara.
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54	!! Çarşaf
55	->Origin: Turkey
56	Sort of a cross between niqab and chador, it appeared in the Ottoman Empire as a reaction to the Tanzimat reforms of the 19th century. Like the chador, it is a loose garment that hung all the way to the ground, and like niqab, it covers the face except for the eyes. Since Turkey has been a secular state since the aftermath of UsefulNotes/WorldWarI, it's virtually extinct there, although it may be seen in a handful places as prayer garment.
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58	!! Burka
59	->Origin: Greater Iran
60	[[SpellMyNameWithAnS Or burqa or burkha...]]. Traditionally associated with Afghanistan, this garment is much like a chador, but rather than leaving the face clear, it covers the whole face, leaving a net or mesh of cloth around the eyes so the woman can see. This is by far the most conservative garment of the bunch, and one of the most controversial; several Muslim countries have banned it in schools or even outright. It is also banned in France, as a result of banning anything that wholly conceals one's face. Note that the infamy of burka is mainly because most Western media (particularly those of the right-wing or ignorant kind) tend to lump ''all'' Islamic veils under the blanket term of "burka" (hence, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkini burkini]], a veiled female swimwear).\
61	The word is ultimately a loan word from Arabic and is rooted in the equestrian world, where burka refers to the blanket worn by horses to keep themselves warm. However, the veil known as burka doesn't exist in Arabia; English borrowed it from Hindustani during Mughal times. In keeping with the rules of purdah (literally "curtain" in Persian), aristocratic Mughal women were rarely seen in public and kept their living quarters separate from men and guests. If they did show up, they would be seen completely covered from head to toe.\
62	There also exists a heightened form of burka called the paranja. Until the UsefulNotes/RedOctober, urban Tajiks and Uzbeks of [[UsefulNotes/TsaristRussia Russian Turkestan]] wore a burka-like garment that has, instead of simply a mesh, a long leather cloth made of horsehair that hung all the way to the knee. After 1927, the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet government]], under the policy of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hujum hujum]], forbade any practice seen as expressing religiosity and/or seclusion of women. Today, most people from the former Soviet Central Asia consider the paranja as an outdated custom.\
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64	!! How often does one use them?
65	As a style that can be variously interpreted, different Muslim women apply the dress differently, not only according to personal opinion but whether the government sanctions them or not. There are precisely two countries that mandate women within their territory to wear head coverings and modest dress while in public. Those are:
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67	* Saudi Arabia
68	* Iran
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70	(Interestingly, they are at each other's throats in every possible arena from geopolitics to economics to culture.)
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72	Keep in mind that this applies to ''every'' woman, Muslim or not. While cynics would quickly dismiss it due to the two countries being supposedly "all-Muslim", that's not the case at all. Iran, as an example, has a large (and ancient) community of Armenian Christians (100,000+), plus smaller groups of Zoroastrians and Jews, who mostly obey this law without question since head coverings are mandatory for the services of their communities.
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74	As for what kind of hijab is used, the situation is generally like this:
75	* Moderately religious Arab women usually wear hijab or khimar with a modest dress of their choice; women from the Arabian Peninsula would specifically wear the abaya, for example. More conservative women wear the niqab, while old aristocratic Arab women may continue to wear the floppy hats (except when they're praying, when they may wear a simple scarf or a ''khimar''). This is not a fixed rule, though; [[UsefulNotes/{{Lebanon}} Lebanese]] women, due to having substantially more Western influence, rarely wear the hijab except those who live in really rural ones or when they pray (if they pray, since Lebanon has a relatively high rate of non-observance). Some parts of UsefulNotes/{{Morocco}} outright ''frown'' upon women who wear them (as it's a sign of of "Arab colonialism", since Berber identity is embraced upon there), although again women still cover to pray.
76	* While Iranians are obliged to wear headscarves, those who are not that religious are permitted to simply drape them around their head, leaving the front part of the hair uncovered [[RussianFashion babushka]]-style. This Iranian style of wearing hijab has sometimes been derided for being insincere and half-assed, however. It has also been popularly adopted by other countries with significant influence of Iranian culture, such as UsefulNotes/{{Pakistan}} (e.g. ex-PM Benazir Bhutto), UsefulNotes/{{Afghanistan}}, and certain parts of UsefulNotes/{{Iraq}}. Meanwhile, conservative Iranian women would wear the hijab properly (i.e. with the hair covered), or go further by wearing the chador.
77	* The Muslims of the Indian subcontinent (except for Pakistan) and Southeast Asia mostly wear the jilbab variation.
78	* Despite being frequently bragged upon by Western media, burka is ''never'' widespread outside of some ultra-conservative circles in Afghanistan and Pakistan, specifically those that have a history of fundamentalist groups. And its reach stays there -- fundamentalist groups of other places apply different headscarves because burka, as described in its entry above, is culture-specific to the Iranian world.
79	* Sub-Saharan UsefulNotes/{{Africa}} varies. The West African Muslims don't wear the hijab (at least not the "ordinary" one), while the East African Muslims, being influenced more by Arab traders, wear it, usually in the form of abaya and hijab.
80	* UsefulNotes/{{Turkey}} (in)famously used to ban hijab in public places. While it is no longer the case, the hijab is not widespread. Its influence may arise more frequently the farther one goes to the Asian portion of the country, i.e. closer to the rest of the Middle East.
81	* In Muslim-majority countries where observation of religion is not prominent, such as the Balkans or the former Soviet countries, ''not'' wearing the hijab is the norm.
82	* For immigrant communities in the rest of the world, the rule depends on what country they came from. Note that second-generation (and beyond) Muslim women in the West usually do not wear any kind of head covering outside of prayer unless they are particularly pious.
83	* An interesting example is the community of Black Muslims (i.e. converts to orthodox Islam and their descendants in the Black community, as distinguished from African immigrants on one hand and the Nation of Islam on the other) in the United States (and to a lesser extent in Canada). Black Muslim women are seen with a variety of Islamic dress, ranging from not wearing Islamic dress except headscarves at prayer to hijabs or khimars with abayas or manteaus to full-on niqab (this last being particularly common in UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}}, which has a surprisingly large community of Black Salafis). Since this community arose from conversion within the past century, the path of Islamic dress among the Black Muslim community seems to follow the religious orientation of the local community's most influential preachers rather than any historical affinity (there being none).
84	* Caucasian converts (especially from the UK and United States) seem to differ on Islamic dress based on their situation and whom they take their teachings from. Some Caucasian converts being steadfast in their faith but feel unable or unwilling to wear Islamic clothes outside the Masjid (Mosque) until they feel it's comfortable and/or safe to do so, or slowly adopt Islamic clothes over time when they feel more comfortable doing so. Similar to the Black Muslims, each individual Muslim's individual dress can differ widely, especially from woman to woman from not wearing any visible Islamic outfit at all to fully wearing niqab, body length khimar and gloves. Many Caucasian female converts take up the niqab because of which preacher and/or particular madhab (Islamic School of Jurisprudence) they learn from and feel it's more in keeping with pleasing their creator, though some also wear it because it more solidly identifies themselves as Muslim and keeps away unpleasant staring of curious Muslims and non-Muslims who see a Caucasian Muslimah wearing Islamic dress without the face veil preventing the person(s) seeing the woman's skin color. As for Caucasian male converts, their dress, provided covering from the naval to the knee, is acceptable both inside and outside the masjid, so little to no change is required (though some questions may be asked to male converts whom have visible tattoos that were put on before their Shahada, despite most Islamic scholars won't require tattoo removal post conversion, they just aren't allowed to add any new ones); though many Caucasian males might take up the thobe and kufi or other visible Islamic dress to display their faith both to non-Muslims and other Muslims. (especially in the Masjid, where unless you attend that one regularly, you may get asked if you are "interested in Islam" by fellow Muslims despite having been a convert for years!)

Context UsefulNotes / IslamicDress