No ban on Uygur dress - China, and other stories

Uygur Muslim women in traditional dress in Kashgar. Photo: AFP

"There is no ban on Uygur dress, police deputy says at congress | South China Morning Post"

Just "discouragement", they say. Interesting how things are looked at in different places around the world,  comparing one government and tradition with another.

But Kurex Kanjir, a Uygur who is also a member of the Xinjiang delegation to the Communist Party's 18th national congress, said there was "absolutely no ban" on Uygurs wearing traditional Islamic dress.

. . .

 "We have never said people cannot wear traditional ethnic dress," Kurex Kanjir said on the sidelines of the congress on Sunday. "But we are now in a civilised society and we hope to use modern culture to guide a somehow backward culture. It is something not to be forced, but something to be achieved through guidance."

The differences in the region have led to physical violence. I always find that result amazing. This is how it is in another part of the world.

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EgyptAir to let hostesses wear Islamic headscarves

Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - EgyptAir is allowing its stewardesses to wear Islamic headscarves if they wish on flights to Arab states and will expand the practice to the rest of the network, an official said on Sunday...

Egyptian teacher gets suspended sentence for punishing girls not wearing ...

Fox News

LUXOR, Egypt – A teacher in southern Egypt was convicted of child abuse Tuesday and given a six-month suspended sentence, after she cut the hair of two schoolgirls for not wearing the traditional Muslim headscarf.

A girl wearing hijab at a school in the republic of Daghestan.

Head Scarves To Be Banned In Some Russian Schools

RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

Last month, several families complained that their daughters, who wear Islamic head scarves, called hijabs, were not allowed to enter secondary schools. The new dress code prohibits the wearing of any religious clothing or clothes with religious symbols.

UP college makes headscarves must

Times of India

KANPUR: The management of a government-aided Muslim girls inter college here has made it mandatory for girl students to wear headscarf and banned use of mobile phones in the college.

Islamic Scholar: Headscarves Not Required

Islamic University Scholar Finds Headscarves Not Required

reported in Al-Monitor.com

In a landmark doctoral dissertation, Sheikh Mustafa Mohammad Raashed says his studies found that Islam never required women to wear a headscarf, Al-Nahar reports. Egypt’s Al-Azhar University endorsed his conclusions, including that a lack of "analytical capabilities due to psychological problems" led to wrong interpretations.

"According to observers, Al-Azhar asserted its position on the discussion, and put an end to the ongoing debate over whether wearing the hijab is a tradition or a religious obligation. The university unequivocally declared that Islam does not impose the hijab as an obligation. "

See also:
http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2012/06/45564/hijab-is-not-an-islamic-duty-scholar/

and:
http://muslimahvoicesbafts.wordpress.com/2012/07/02/hijab-is-not-an-islamic-duty-says-muslim-scholar-sheikh-mustapha-mohamed-rashed-al-azhar-university/


It will be interesting to see if this affects government institutions in and out of Egypt, as if it truly is a "ruling" on Islamic law.

Egypt’s Abu Ismail: no veil is “criminal”

Egypt’s Abu Ismail tells TV host Reem Maged to cover, says no veil is “criminal” - Bikya Masr : Bikya Masr

I still believe that covering is a woman's choice. She should neither be barred from covering nor forced to cover. Interested in what others think about this point of view. Can it happen in Egypt?

"martyr of the head scarf"

"You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood. . ."

"Headscarf Martyr Marwa Sherbini Mourned In Egypt"
by Maggie Michael, in the huffingtonpost.com, July 6, 2009

"CAIRO — Thousands of Egyptian mourners marched behind the coffin of the "martyr of the head scarf" on Monday _ a pregnant Muslim woman who was stabbed to death in a German courtroom as her young son watched.

"Many in her homeland were outraged by the attack and saw the low key response in Germany as an example of racism and anti-Muslim sentiment.

"Her husband was critically wounded in the attack Wednesday in Dresden when he tried to intervene and was stabbed by the attacker and accidentally shot by court security.

. . . "

One crazy "lone wolf" man has learned to identify a head scarf with terrorism. How many more feel the same way as he, and have not taken up a knife yet? Sikh men have been killed by those isolated lone killers who thought that their turbans represented a militant, terrorist Muslim that they saw on TV. What is in store for women who choose to cover?

Found this story at "Hegab Rehab."

The Coptic Church in the US

"Out of Egypt"
Oklahoma's Coptic Christians worship at Bixby
By BILL SHERMAN World Religion Writer
Published: 2/9/2009

A short article in the Tulsa World, describing the background and the modern situation of the Coptic, or Egyptian, Church in the US and in Egypt. I have not seen very much information on these churches, perhaps because of their small numbers. This is another group of Christians who follow the ancient, cross-cultural, Christian tradition of women using a headcovering. Following are the introductory paragraphs:

BIXBY — A bluish haze and the aroma of incense impact the senses of visitors who walk into a service at Oklahoma's only Coptic church, which meets here in a small building on the south end of town.

The Copts are descendants of ancient Egyptians, the race of people who lived along the Nile River, built the pyramids, and, according to the Bible, enslaved the children of Israel and provided a safe haven for Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus.

Egyptian Christians come from as far away as Oklahoma City and Arkansas for the services at Sts. Peter and Paul Coptic Orthodox Church, 17015 S. Memorial Drive.

The service is traditional Orthodox, largely unchanged for 2,000 years, with a liturgy that is overwhelmingly prayer and Scripture, all chanted.

Religious paintings called icons line the interior walls of the church building. Most of the women sit on the right, wearing white head coverings. Men sit on the left.

But is headcovering going to remain obligatory in Islam?

Found quote in Haaretz.com concerning Turkish foreign policy with Iran:

The veil worn by observant Muslim women is once again stirring anger in Egypt over its religious function. Is it a duty or an option? The radical organizations offer all the suitable quotations from the Koran and the important adjudicators to "prove" that Mohammed literally meant for every woman to hide her face and hands, and not to make do merely with a head covering. They believe that the eyes are the gate to the woman's soul and therefore need to be hidden. On the other hand, the sages belonging to the centrist stream of Islam believe that the veil does not appear in any of the precepts of Islam and that, at most, this is a custom which must be permitted. But of course, as usual, this is not a purely religious-legal argument aimed at fixing the way in which Muslim must women appear in public. The argument is political.

At a time when the Egyptian government is investing vast efforts to uproot religious fanaticism and is not merely making do with the arrests of members of the Muslim Brotherhood organization, but is banning women with veils from appearing as announcers on TV programs and postponing the appointment of women as religious instructors because they wear veils, the following initiative is merely the next obvious step on the way to the religious de-legitimization of the veil.

With this, I refer to a new book being published by Egypt's Wakf Ministry, written by cabinet minister, Mohammed Hamdi, who is a religious sage and religious law analyst. In the book, he "proves" through signs and omens that wearing a veil is not a religious edict but rather a custom, and as such it enjoys a lower status; with this, it will soon be possible to call for the custom to be uprooted altogether. The co-authors of the book, which will be distributed to all the imams in Egypt's 140,000 mosques, include the head of the Al-Azhar Mosque, the most important religious institution in Egypt, and the mufti of Egypt. Hamdi explained that the veil is not merely the result of a radical religious point of view, it even creates it.

That Kheffiyeh (Men's Headscarf)

The head scarf worn by men (and women?) of the Middle Eastern countries, where it is very hot. For centuries maybe. The modern version, as everything, is also stylish in some ways, and can also take on meanings - by the wearer and the observer, which may not actually be the same meaning.

Please read "The scarf that caused all the trouble" by Jacquie Myburgh: Fashioning Business, in The Times.co.za

"Keffiyeh Fashion Symbolizes Jihad?" in hilary.com

"You say keffiyeh, I say shemagh" - Urban Outfitters; Can keffiyehs ever be just a fashion statement? by Karen Burshtein, National Post, canada.com

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P.S. - if you're interested in how to tie a man's head wrap, here's a short (musically accompanied) YouTube video, by Feras / posted by frezphillystyle : "How to tie a Head-Wrap..."

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P.P.S. - I really posted this one too soon. Just in from the Daily News - Egypt: "A dozen and more ways to tie a headscarf – for men", By Chitra Kalyani, August 1, 2008 (photo from page)

Oh, wow. Check this out. We are so ignorant in our part of the world where men are proud of their locks (or otherwise, just cut them off) - and either way, it's not usually "cool" to cover their heads, for heat, sun, cold or anything other than supporting your local union or team. Of course, these scarves serve all those purposes at the same time. Am I rambling? I find this a really interesting different lifestyle, myself.