Times Changing for Saudi Headcovering?

Read Forbes Now: Saudi Woman's Protest Is A Lesson For The West. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwjM2A-TA

Beauty Pageant Hijab

Head covering Muslim in Minnesota beauty pageant.

Because modesty is beautiful.

http://jezebel.com/halima-aden-is-first-contestant-to-wear-hijab-in-miss-m-1789410217

An American Hijabi in the Rio Olymmpics

Most in the head covering world who follow the current Olympics probably have noticed this lovely athlete who just won an Olympic medal while wearing a head covering. As an American citizen. You go, girl!

Ibtihaj Mohammad - the first US athlete to compete at the Olympics wearing a hijab has won a bronze medal. 

Muhammad competed with Dagmara Wozniak, Mariel Zagunis and Monica Aksamit to defeat the Italian team 45-30.

photo from www.usfencing.org

For more information on Ibtihaj Mohammad, see her bio at usfencing.org

Other head covering athletes competing in the Rio 2016 Olympic games:

Zahra Nemati - competing in Archery for Iran, in both the Olympics and the Paralympics

Along with fellow country-women, Leila Rajabi (athletics), Mahsa Javar (rowing), Kimia Alizadeh Zenoorin (taikwondo), Najmeh Khedmati (shooting), Elaheh Ahmadi (shooting), Mahlagha Jambozorg (shooting), Goinoush Sebghatollahi (shooting), and Neda Shahsavari (table tennis)

Also see this article in the Washington Post:
"Muslim female athletes find sport so essential they compete while covered"

Headcovering Morality Police?

Men in Iran are wearing hijabs in solidarity with their wives who are forced to cover their hair

Click here to read the whole article in the Independent 

"The campaign against enforced hijab in Iran has seen women defying morality police in public and even shaving their hair. Now men are also joining the fight."

by Heather Saul, in the Independent (UK), Thursday 28 July 2016

From the article:

Wearing a headscarf is strictly enforced by so-called 'morality police' in Iran and has been since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Women who do not wear a hijab or are deemed to be wearing 'bad hijab' by having some of their hair showing face punishments ranging from fines to imprisonment.   

State-funded adverts appearing on billboards in Iran present those who do not cover their hair as spoiled and dishonourable. Women are also told that by not complying, they are putting themselves at risk of unwanted sexual advances from men.  

But women are leading protests against enforced hijab across the country and some have resorted to shaving their hair in order to appear in public without wearing a veil.  

Over the last week, a number of men have appeared in photos wearing a hijab with their wife or female relative next to them who have their hair uncovered. 

The images come in response to a call by Masih Alinejad, an Iranian activist and journalist living in New York, who is urging men to support her campaign against enforced hijab. 

Photo and more information found at https://www.facebook.com/StealthyFreedom/

Headcovering is a choice.

To Wear Head Coverings in Solidarity or Not

As Muslim women, we actually ask you not to wear the ‘hijab’ in the name of interfaith solidarity

By Asra Q. Nomani and Hala Arafa, December 21, in The Washington Post

From the article:

Last week, three female religious leaders – a Jewish rabbi, an Episcopal vicar and a Unitarian reverend – and a male imam, or Muslim prayer leader, walked into the sacred space in front of the ornately-tiled minbar, or pulpit, at the Khadeeja Islamic Center in West Valley City, Utah. The women were smiling widely, their hair covered with swaths of bright scarves, to support “Wear a Hijab” day.

The Salt Lake Tribune published a photo of fresh-faced teenage girls, who were not Muslim, in the audience at the mosque, their hair covered with long scarves. KSL TV later reported: “The hijab — or headscarf — is a symbol of modesty and dignity. When Muslim women wear headscarves, they are readily identified as followers of Islam.”

For us, as mainstream Muslim women, born in Egypt and India, the spectacle at the mosque was a painful reminder of the well-financed effort by conservative Muslims to dominate modern Muslim societies. This modern-day movement spreads an ideology of political Islam, called “Islamism,” enlisting well-intentioned interfaith do-gooders and the media into promoting the idea that “hijab” is a virtual “sixth pillar” of Islam, after the traditional “five pillars” of the shahada (or proclamation of faith), prayer, fasting, charity and pilgrimage.

We reject this interpretation that the “hijab” is merely a symbol of modesty and dignity adopted by faithful female followers of Islam.

This modern-day movement, codified by Iran, Saudi Arabia, Taliban Afghanistan and the Islamic State, has erroneously made the Arabic word hijab synonymous with “headscarf.” This conflation of hijab with the secular word headscarf is misleading. “Hijab” literally means  “curtain” in Arabic. It also means “hiding,” ”obstructing” and “isolating” someone or something. It is never used in the Koran to mean headscarf.

. . . 

In the name of “interfaith,” these well-intentioned Americans are getting duped by the agenda of Muslims who argue that a woman’s honor lies in her “chastity” and unwittingly pushing a platform to put a hijab on every woman.

Please do this instead: Do not wear a headscarf in “solidarity” with the ideology that most silences us, equating our bodies with “honor.” Stand with us instead with moral courage against the ideology of Islamism that demands we cover our hair.

---------------------------

Referred to in the article:  http://mystealthyfreedom.net/en/

In Iran women have to cover their hair in public according to the dress rule enforced after the Iranian Revolution in 1979. My Stealthy Freedom is an online social movement where Iranian women share photos of themselves without wearing the hijab. -----------------------------

Much more information, definition, and history can be found in reading the entire article, linked in the subtitle above.

The Business of Headcoverings

From "If You Don't Stand By Muslim Women Now Then Don't Profit Off Us Later"
An article in the December 10, 2015, Forbes magazine, by Amani Al-Khatahtbeh

"While we’re dishing out MuslimGirl’s neatly streamlined numbers in pretty Powerpoint slides at shiny conference tables, quantifying in dollar signs why Muslim women’s voices are valuable, all I can really think about is how our site had to resort to publishing a crisis safety manual for Muslim women last week. All that hateful rhetoric in the media — Paris, Bernardino, now Trump — isn’t made in a void.

"The thing is, you can’t be cool with society demanding us to apologize for ISIS while also trying to compliment us on our headscarves.

"The social complacency that MuslimGirl intends to combat has real life or death consequences for Muslim women in Western societies. Our society is currently thriving off of scapegoating Islam: Muslim women quickly become the most vulnerable targets, and, yet, the fashion industry and corporations are simultaneously eager to profit off of them."

Click to read the whole article in Forbes.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/amanialkhat/2015/12/10/muslimgirl-profit-muslim-women-modest-fashion-hate/

"For many Muslim women, the headscarf is a symbol of resistance: against Islamophobia, against the imposition of societal expectations, against the violent erasure of our bodies. Countless women’s websites and news blogs this year have cashed in on almost patronizing modest fashion headlines, reducing Muslim women to their apparently shocking ability to dress well, rock a scarf, and look acceptable to the Western gaze. Meanwhile, a 6th grade Muslim girl was beaten up by a group of boys and called “ISIS!” in her middle school. How many women’s blogs flaunting modest fashion headlines have covered her story? Much to your delight, we can flawlessly rock a scarf with American fashion trends — but we’re still going to risk getting killed when we step out of the house."

No Fear

Posted by Yasminn Mogaged, December 7, 2015 on Facebook

It was time to break my silence...

On my way home last week, I drove by a pretty bad car accident. It got me thinking about the things we fear in life and the role fear inevitably plays in our lives. With the heart wrenching events of last Wednesday, fear of backlash has begun to consume the Muslim discourse. Many sisters are nervous about the hijab and some leaders have called for laying low.

But in reflecting, I feel there is something wrong with our approach. Statistically, the risk of getting into a car accident is far greater than the risk of an Islamophobic attack. But we don't stop driving. We don't stop going where we need to go. And most certainly, we don't shift all our conversations to the dangers of getting behind the wheel. In other words, we don't feed into the paralyzing fear of hyper focus on a problem.

Yes we're aware of the risks of getting behind the wheel. So we take our precautions; we buckle our seatbelt, say our duaa, and put our trust in God. And then we continue to live our lives. We continue to drive. We stay awake--but not afraid. And there's a difference. Fear only takes over when we allow a problem to consume us. Focusing all our reading, all our thoughts, all our conversations on something only makes it grow disproportionately and deceptively in our minds.  If all I talked about, read about, thought about was car accidents, I'd probably become too terrified to drive.

The question now is: what are those precautions we need to take for protection? Well, I apologize in advance, but I must stand up and unequivocally say I do *not* believe those precautions are wearing baseball hats and bandanas to hide our hijab.

I feel it is irresponsible for our leaders and public figures to spread fear, when what we really need is empowerment. What we really need is strength and hope and trust. And faith. When it gets dark, the believers don't hide. They shine. That's what light does. Light doesn't hide from the dark. It breaks through it.

Brothers and sisters, the darker it gets, the more we need the Light. The more the world need the light. The more we need to empower oursleves to be sources of that light. And the darker it gets, the brighter that light will shine.

You see every single moment we make a choice. We choose how we're going to live. We can either live motivated by fear--by what we hope *won't* happen in life. Or, we can live motivated by hope. By faith. By what we believe can and should happen. And then work for that. Remember, what you focus on grows. You get back what you put into the world.

Yes, there are horrible, tragic things happening in the world. Absolutely true. But, dear God, there are also beautiful, inspiring things happening too. The problem is, if you never turn off the news, you'll begin to believe the world is only dark. You see, good news doesn't sell. Only blood and guns do. Only 'radical Muslim terrorist' do. My dear brothers and sisters, refuse to buy into it. Refuse to allow the darkness to hijack the discussion.

Focus on what you can do to grow the light.

And to all my fellow sisters, who have to feel a little more scared today to put on their hijab, I say this: Remember why you wore it. And for who. Then ask yourself: Do you think the One for whom you wore it, the One who also happens to have sole ownership and power over the heavens and the earth and every Islamaphobe on it, won't take care of you?
But your baseball cap will?

My sisters, don't be afraid. Buckle your seat belt, yes. But keep driving. And keep your eye on the road; not on the belt. Keep looking up. The seat belt won't save you, and neither will your cap.

But Allah will.

Tell the world you won't hide, because your hijab isn't just a cloth. It's a symbol. It represents love. The love of God. And the love of God brings about everything good.

Sisters, by God, you are beacons of light walking around.
Hold it strong.

Headcovering Philosophy and Fear

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." 

Click to read: "A Point of View: Behind the Veil", by Will Self, at BBC News online. 

An excerpt:

You've heard the quote. You've seen the fear of women with their heads covered, the fear of seeing a man in a turban, or the fear of seeing a young man wearing a hoodie and not knowing what he's up to. But have you seriously contemplated the philosophy of fear of cultural differences leading to cultural changes? As the author of this article points out in his point of view, culture is going to change in some way, whether we would prefer it or not. But how are we going to react? With ignorance and fear? Or with a knowledge shared?

. . . The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - and specifically our fear of cultural influence.

This is a fear that is seldom openly admitted to - or, rather, no sooner is it acknowledged than it is countered by an appeal to some incontrovertibly estimable aspect of what we take to be our own cultural heritage. There are manifold examples of this strange and neurotic dialectic, but let me concentrate on just one - the recent furore surrounding the admissibility of Muslim women giving evidence in British courts while veiled. I say furore, rather than controversy, because I don't think that many people - except hard-line adherents of political Islam - actually believe there's anything at issue here at all, and these same people don't believe in the jurisdiction of British courts anyway. For those of us who do accept this the assumption that truth-telling is best expressed by a steady gaze and an open face is so ingrained that it has never needed to be articulated - or, rather, no witness or defendant in a trial who wished to be convincing has heretofore considered it a good idea to stand up in court with their features obscured, whether by wearing the niqab or a joke-shop horror mask.

There may indeed be cases in which the indubitable piety and overweening modesty of some individuals requires a certain bending of convention, but on the whole I think we can afford to keep our nerve and look the truth about our cultural values full in the face. It is not that we need to worry that jurors and judges won't be able to assay the veracity of evidence given from behind the veil - after all, serving police, military personnel and members of the intelligence agencies are often allowed to do just this - it's that they may well be inclined to take it at its literal face value, which is obscured and therefore, ipso facto, dubious.

photo of french protest from Getty Images, attached to the BBC article

Wanted: Doctors In Head Coverings ... from Quebec

‘We don’t care what’s on your head:’ Ontario hospital recruits Quebec health workers 
By Carmen Chai Global News

An Ontario hospital is campaigning to recruit doctors and nurses from Quebec in the wake of the French province’s move to ban religious clothing in its contentious ‘values’ plan.

Philippines: Teacher Restrictions Are Only on Face Veils, Not on Hijabs - Southeast Asia Real Time - WSJ

Click to read: "Philippines: Teacher Restrictions Are Only on Face Veils, Not on Hijabs - Southeast Asia Real Time - WSJ"
(Wall Street Journal: Southeast Asia)

photo from the article, and Associated Press

Article begins:

MANILA — The Philippines’ Department of Education clarified Wednesday that it is not banning its Muslim teachers from wearing head coverings.

Last week, the department unveiled a new order requesting that Muslim teachers remove their niqab, or face-covering veils, when they teach. In the July 16 order, the department asked Muslim teachers teaching Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education classes to remove any face-covering veils in the classroom. The order sparked concern that the department was ignoring the teachers’ religious rights.

Muslims’ right to cover their faces has been a controversial issue in some countries. France, which banned the public use of full-face veils in 2011, has been struggling with riots in the last week over the enforcement of the law.

I personally wish this were not at the level of misunderstanding that it is. Head covering is mandated in the Quran; face covering is not. "There is no clear-cut authentic hadith to the effect of making the face veil obligatory." 

To ask a woman to remove her face covering does not infringe on her right to cover her head modestly. It is a matter of safety, of communication, of personality, even of individual worth. In short, I personally do not consider face covering to fall under the same category as head covering.

Comments are always welcome.

-----------------------

Apologies for not keeping up with ThoseHeadcoverings this summer. Keep in touch, send stories, comment or ask questions.

Can Turkey Be Secular and Allow Head Coverings?

For those who follow these kinds of things in the news [click to view articles I've done with the label "Turkey"], you'll have heard about how things are better for women who want to wear a head covering than they were under the last secular leader of the country of Turkey. Wanting to join the European Union and appear as secular as possible, head scarves were banned in public places in Turkey, such as universities and court rooms, leaving many women scratching their heads about how truly open minded the country was. A friend of mine whose husband has visited Turkey on business has reported how friendly and helpful a country he encountered, and that if their Muslim family ever moved anywhere, it might be Turkey. When I mentioned what I'd heard so long about the head scarf ban, she assured me that things are very different there now, and head covered women are not shunned from the public as they once were. It is true that things have changed, but as all changes are, they come slowly.

headscarved lawyer Zübeyde Kamalak, Timeturk.com

"Judge obeys State Council's "headscarf" decision", in the World Bulletin, is an article sharing how at least one judge had very recently postponed a trial because a lawyer was wearing a headscarf, "saying that lawyers cannot attend hearings with their headscarves on while actively practicing law, which he said is a public service." This article concludes with this summary on the state of things in Turkey: "The headscarf ban in universities was eased after the Higher Education Board (YÖK) sent a circular to universities in 2010 asking them to allow headscarved students. Yet there are still some universities and professors who insist on implementing the ban."

DHA photo: "Against women the greatest violence is the headscarf ban"

"Charter panel talks headscarf freedom", in the Hurriyet Daily News, by Göksel Bozkurt, and dated 11 May 2013, includes discussion on the constitutional draft clause: “Nobody can be prohibited from fulfilling the requirements of their religious belief.” Does the clause actually mean that wearing head scarves in the public sector will be allowed across the board? Apparently that is still up for debate. Some believe that the allowance for head coverings was not intended, or if seen that way, was a mistake that should be fixed, while other hint at troubles within this new government. One comment below the article, signed "Rorschach," states: "Let's be absolutely clear about this. There is nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING in the koran that "requires" a Muslim woman to cover her head."

It looks like this discussion is far from closed in Turkey, as well as many other places in our world. I hope that the open hand of friendship which Turkey is holding out to the world includes being open to its own lady citizens who would choose to cover.

_________________________

EDIT: I wanted to add this article:  "Egypt, Turkey, and Tunisia Are All Slowly Islamizing", from The Atlantic, by Steven A. Cook, dated 13 May 2013. It includes some interesting history about these countries and specifically brings up the topic of head coverings in Turkey about half way through the article.

"Orthodox Christian Women Vs. Muslim Women"

photo from Sodahead.com comment

photo from the article linked below

Read the article:
Orthodox Christian Women Vs. Muslim Women | People - Opposing Views
by Allison Troy, Demand Media

A new friend and I were talking yesterday while watching our children playing and exercising in their Aikido class, and she remarked how pretty one of the young girl's scarf was (a made for girls hijabi style with lace trim), and I agreed, adding that I really like the way that head scarves can be made for exercise and movement so that they stay in place. I shared with her about the problem of trying to keep a head scarf in place while trying to worship with a small child in your lap, and she laughed with me. We were having one of those, "You too?!" moments that sometimes occurs between new friends, however to some people it may have seemed odd to see the two of us huddled in conversation, me in my jeans and modest read and white printed top, with ponytail, and she in her Palestinian patterned abaya-dress, with pink head covering. The more we talked, the more we touched on "issues of commonality", such as head covering, modesty, distinction between males and females, and having people say hurtful things to you because they just don't get it. We also discussed a few general differences between the "big three" faiths, including the fact that Jewish women can appear to be uncovered because there is that allowance for wigs as a hair covering.

photo from Life in the Married Lane blog (check it out for more on Jewish head covering!)

I found this article when I came home, and of course, thought "what a coincidence". The author points out just a few general similarities between the Muslima and the typical Orthodox Christian woman, including the origins of our modest dress and head coverings, and women in the public sphere. She writes:

Protocol for clothing, particularly in Islam, has become a symbol for what many outside these traditions see as a repression of women’s rights. At the same time, many women in both Islam and Orthodox Christianity would claim that the hijab (for Muslims) and the veil (for Orthodox women) are, in fact, representative of their spiritual freedom.

Isn't that what we headcovering women have been saying? That for us all, it is a spiritual freedom, and an individual choice.

It is a short article, and one worth considering by those who don't have a nice friend to sit with and talk about religious traditions while our children are learning a kind of Eastern martial art. The author, or at least this publication, "Opposing Views" seems to have other similar short articles to explain things that outsiders only guess at (and many times, guess at wrongly).

I believe that it is good to understand, or at least to try to, because I know that I want to be understood. As my friend and I also discussed, one of the things that we have in common is that many of our own friends and acquaintances are not even knowledgeable about their own faith, let alone that of others. It is good to understand what you are doing; and sometimes, understanding why others do what they do helps you to clarify your own position for yourself.

"I Am Not Oppressed" - The Huffington Post Live Discussion

Click to view:
"I Am Not Oppressed"

"The recent FEMEN protests have raised many questions. One of which is how headscarves are viewed by the group. For Muslims, veils or headscarves symbolize religious devotion, but for FEMEN they are a symbol of oppression. Is there a middle ground?"

Originally aired on April 16, 2013

Hosted by:
Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani

Guests:
Laila Alawa @lulainlife Muslim-American Activist,
Blogger Rev. Paul Raushenbush @raushenbush (New York, NY) HuffPost Senior Religion Editor
Inna Shevchenko @femeninna Leader Of Women's Movement FEMEN


Video to watch/listen to; scroll down to find links to articles surrounding this discussion.

Formal Hijab

I've been writing some articles for my other blog, Old Fashioned Lady, about the concept of modesty in formal dress occasions. Since I haven't posted here lately, I thought I'd see what I could find for formal head coverings. There aren't many for most of us, but the Muslim ladies have this formal head covering done to an art.

Check the videos "Hijab style for a formal occasion" and "Hijab tutorial for formal occasions" on YouTube, and scan through the suggested videos on the right of the screen.

Try a Google image search for "formal wear hijab" or "formal wear headscarf." Or come up with your own Google search; I even found a few cute dress ideas by searching for prom hijab.

Many hijab bloggers have posted pretty styles, including: StylishMuslimah, The Hijablog, and "How to Hijabify Your Prom Outfit" from iHijabi. Comb through their blog pages, and try their links, as well as the hijab bloggers I have listed in the right column.

Also, look through the Modest Clothes directory, for modest formal wear that could be paired up with a stylish head scarf. I'd like to hear from others who have ideas for dressing up a headcovering, when it's necessary.

"Hijab controversy: Kids also face persecution"

Found in the Nigerian Vanguard: "Hijab controversy: Kids also face persecution"

 "As a demonstration of modesty and obedience to Allah, Muslim girls and women wear head coverings called “hijabs,” particularly when in public. Q24:30–31. For Muslims, wearing a headscarf is not only about religious expression, it is strictly religious obligation; and if the constitution freely provides for freedom to exercise one’s faith according to section 38 (1) of the 1999 constitution, then where lies the tolerance so claimed by non-Muslims?"

The article deals with the problem of girls who suffer for wearing a Muslim style head covering, in Lagos, Nigeria. A teenaged girl who wore a headscarf was apparently beaten by her female principal in front of a special assembly called in the school, as reported by one student observer:

“The principal addressed us and warned that if we didn’t stop putting on religious outfit during the school hours, we were going to get into trouble. She subsequently called on Aisha and gave her about 43 lashes. Some of us started crying on the assembly. Her body was covered with marks of the cane. The principal had warned us before, but that day was more serious,” she said.

Making a rule against wearing a headscarf, and then publicly flogging a young woman for supposedly rebelling against authority, is just unjustifiable in any country, religious or not. According to one account in the article, the crime is blamed on the non-religious of the area, those who have lost a faith they once held. Regardless, this is just not acceptable human behaviour, and only a few small steps behind those who would deny a young woman or girl her education simply because she chooses to honor her faith and her family by covering her head in public. May those who have been persecuted for their faith in other places and ways understand.

The Guardian lifts the veil on London's stylish hijabs - photos

Lifting the veil on London's stylish hijab wearers | Life and style | The Guardian

"Iranian-born photographer Sara Shamsavari's colourful portraits celebrate the individuality and creativity of the capital's young Muslim women"

Colourful article with link to an online gallery of photos taken by the photographer. Part of International Women's Day: Women of the World Festival, 6—10 March 2013.  Photos here by Sara Shamsavari are from the online gallery in the Guardian.

"The project, she admits, was inspired by her own experience growing up in London in the 80s and 90s. Despite her blue eyes and fair skin, Shamsavari's Iranian background meant she became accustomed to name calling. Yet this prejudice only fed her desire to focus on what she calls "uncelebrated communities" in her work. "With all depictions of ethnic minorities there is too much negativity and too many cliches and stereotypes. I wanted to do something that was the opposite." "

----------------
Side note to Christian, Jewish and other head covering wearers: are there any galleries like this for the rest of us? 

"highest level of thought and civilization"

Tawakkul Karman of Yemen, Nobel Laureate

I have seen this quote by Nobel Prize winner, Tawakkul Karman, of Yemen, many times on the internet, but I have not been able to place a definite time or interview with it. If you have the link to a transcript of the interview, I would like to post it here as well; please comment. The quote referring to modesty in clothing as opposed to early man who wore almost no clothing:

"When asked about her hijab by journalists and how it is not proportionate with her level of intellect and education, she replied, “Man in the early times was almost naked, and as his intellect evolved he started wearing clothes. What I am today and what I’m wearing represents the highest level of thought and civilization that man has achieved, and is not regressive. It’s the removal of clothes again that is regressive back to ancient TIMES.”"

Study on U.S. Muslim Women and the Veil Wins Grawemeyer Religion Award

"Harvard University divinity professor and feminist scholar Dr. Leila Ahmed is the winner of the 2013 Grawemeyer Award in Religion. Her 2011 book, "A Quiet Revolution: The Veil's Resurgence from the Middle East to America" explains why a growing number of Muslim women in the United States are wearing traditional veils and head coverings." 

http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Revolution-Resurgence-Middle-America/dp/0300181434

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.

------------------

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.