This & That, Ceci et Cela

“It is widely believed that the hijab (headscarf) is an ancient Muslim Tradition. It was in fact invented in Lebanon in the 70′s by the Shia Sect so that the Shia women can be differentiated from other Islamic women. The design of the scarf itself is based on older European scarves that women used to wear. I think it is wrong to say that the hijab is Islamic tradition when in fact it is a recent thing. Much older Islamic artwork portrays women not wearing it at all”.
So does wearing it = patriarchal interpretation of Islam?

“The veil is not a uniquely Islamic convention; the practice has a long history in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Catholic nuns engage in the practice, of course, and there are several references to the practice in both the Old and New Testaments (King James Version). Ironically, the representations of veiling in the Bible is much more problematic than those in the Qur’an or the Hadith, because the Judeo-Christian sources imply that women should be covered because they were viewed as not being equal to men. I Corinthians 11 (3-10) offers one example ” For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.”

To each its own, if the woman thinks a veil will give her the identity she has been looking for, all power to her as long as she does not think she is the sole representative of the religion. Islam encompasses women who wear Burkha, veils, skirts, or pants.

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