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| Interpreting Veils | The Burqa |
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| The Burqa
The burqa comes in many variations, but in its most conservative
form, it thoroughly covers the face of the person wearing it, leaving
only a mesh-like screen to see through. This woman is wearing the
conservative burqa that the Taliban regime requires women in
Afghanistan to don outdoors. The burqa is thought to have originated in
the Arabian peninsula and can still be found there today. They are not
always as conservative in form as the one shown here and often allow
parts of a woman's face to show through.
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The Hijab
The word hijab refers to the variety of styles in which
Muslim women use scarves and large pieces of cloth to cover their hair,
neck and sometimes shoulders. As shown on this Muslim
woman, the hijab often leaves the entire face open. The hijab is the most common form of headcovering for Muslim
women.
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| Interpreting Veils | The Hijab |
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| Interpreting Veils | The Chador |
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| The Chador
The chador is the full-body cloak Muslim women in Iran are
expected to wear outdoors. Depending on how it is designed and on how
the woman holds it, the chador may or may not cover the face. The
chador was forbidden in Iran under the reign of Mohammad Reza Shah, who
was brought to power with help from the United States and sought to
modernize the country. After the shah was exiled during the Islamic
Revolution in 1979, the chador became required wear for all Iranian
women. Many Iranians today subvert their dress-code by wearing
Western-style clothing beneath the chador.
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Hindu Veil
Hindu women also wear a veil, a practice that highlights the
fact that veiling is not exclusively Muslim. Traditional and orthodox
Hindu women, such as this one, will cover their heads and at least
partly obscure their faces in the company of unrelated adult males.
Sometimes veiling is accomplished with a loose end of the woman's sari,
and sometimes it is done with a scarf-like fabric known as the dupatta.
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| Interpreting Veils | The Hindu Veil |
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| Interpreting Veils | The Pakistani Niqab |
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| Pakistani Niqab
Many Pakistani Muslims, such as this one, wear some form of
veil. This woman is wearing the niqab along with a bandana that reads,
"God is great!" The veil existed before Islam existed, but it has been
embraced and spread by the religion. Not all Muslim women wear veils,
but among those who do, styles vary wildly, from simple kerchiefs and
elaborate head scarves to full face-and-body coverings.
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Moroccan Niqab
The niqab is the form of Muslim veiling that comes closest to
what is actually meant by the English word "veil." English speakers
tend to use the word veil as a catch-all term that covers all types of
Muslim head and body coverings. The niqab, worn in black by
this Moroccan woman, is a veil in the true sense of the word. It covers
everything below the bridge of the nose and the upper cheeks, and
sometimes also covers the forehead.
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| Interpreting Veils | The Moroccan Niqab |
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