Talking Burqas, Niqab and What to Wear As A Muslim Woman

Beyond the Veil| AOC has tracked the burqa and niqab debate for over a year. A few weeks ago, the NYT wrote in the Female Factor What the Head Scarf Means, When Everyone Wears One.

89 percent of Egyptian women between 15 and 29 now wear the veil, which I believe doesn’t mean a full-face covering in this case, but a head scarf. The article — although short —  digs deeply into the connections between veils and identity for Muslim women.

With so many women covering their heads, the natural next step is to cover one’s face entirely or abandon the veil — if one is using clothes to make a religious statement about values, behavior expectations and identity.

As an antidote to all the conversation about Muslim women and their clothes (or lack of them) Fatemeh Fakhrale wrote an interesting op ed piece for CNN: The media is obsessed with how Muslim women look.

We have written on many occasions that burqas and niqab are rooted in patriarchal tribal laws and not the genuine hadiths of the great Prophet. This is the argument advanced by the Daily Independent Lagos in Nigeria: As Debate Rages Over Niqab.

Anne of Carversville writing about burqas is here: Burqas & Beyond