What is the actual reason why some Muslim women cover their faces and wear veils?

Question

And I don't wana hear all this "I want people to judge me for my intelligence and not my looks" rubbish, I know it is probably a tradition that was started by a man, but why? What is the actual history behind this tradition?

I know that wearing a veil is not a muslim thing, as there is nothing in the Quaran that says a woman should cover her face - it is a cultural thing; but what culture and why?

To "shdtt" or whatever your name is (stupid name isn't it?), the person you were referring to in your answer is called the "VIRGIN Mary" not "VERSION Mary" you dufus!

Answer 1

I know I know I know!!!! there are 2 actual reasons to this.

no.1 a culture that was passed on, for in arab, there is always sand storms and the cover is to protect their face.

no.2 the muslim, men have high ego, it is a made known that only the husband of the woman have the rights to see their face or touch them....

I went to arab once, thinking that it might be a conservative country, but when i go to the shopping malls.... the undergarment shops is all over the place and all of these shops sells sexy outfits so that these women can show their husband when their alone.

Selling G strings in arab sure is big business !

Answer 2

Personally I find the wearing of the veil sinister and rude and would much prefer it if they didn't wear it. But I also find the wearing of very little at all provocative and rude and can understand objections to that too. I hope this debate eventually leads on to the far more important issue of the indoctrination of innocent children into deluded religious beliefs. I recently attended a harvest festival celebration at my sons' school where a vicar told all the children that "God made all the little frogs and the cows and Adam and Eve and every one of us". It appalled me. I fear that those Islamic women who wear the full veil are often the very same little girls who were indoctrinated into chanting the Qur’an as soon as they could walk, and the daughters of men who went through the same process. It is part of their identity because that is the way they have been programmed and what they have grown up believing. The veil is, as Jack Straw has said, a clear statement of separation and difference which, in almost every case, is a function of religion itself. It is the role of religion and it's propagation that should be examined and restrained here, not just Moslem women in particular or Islam in general. We are all children of an evolutionary process, not a supreme being and, as an atheist humanist, I am sick of being caught in the crossfire between warring religious groups. I have the deepest compassion for anyone who has been indoctrinated before they had the maturity and intelligence to work things out for themselves and I hope, eventually, they will see the light (which comes from the Sun and not a God).

Answer 3

Wearing a veil is a Muslim thing girl
I was born and raised in the USA and i chose to wear a scarf on my head when i was 15. People do respect you more when they speak to you. You wouldn't know what it feels like to dress respectably with loose modest flowy clothes and a head scarf when you believe and trust in it. I don't think the covering face thing is obligatory but wearing a shawl or some kind of outer garment over your clothes is prescribed in the Quran. If you do cover your face it supposed to cover just the lips, no more. Veiling is in all three great monotheistic religions. Im sure it is in yours as well unless you are a hindu or an athiest etc.

Answer 4

" know that wearing a veil is not a muslim thing, as there is nothing in the Quaran that says a woman should cover her face"

The above statement is wrong. Below is the quote from 5 different translation of the Quran 33:59.

Answer 5

Covering your hair = religious reason. As part of the Islamic code of conduct (incl modesty) a muslim woman should cover her hair all body parts (in loose-fitting, non-sheer fabric). She is allowed to show her face, hands and feet.

Covering your face = cultural reason. Think this has come from the Arab community (although i know a lot of Indian women who practice this as well).

I think it's important to note that women have a CHOICE in wearing these garments (ok, so SOME of them have to because of their upbringing where it's just expected). It's not fair to criticise them for the way they dress and say that they're oppressed. If people insist that muslim women change the way they dress (that is, against their will), would they (that is, the non-Muslims) not be the oppressor?

It is the freedom to practice their religion openly that liberates them. Criticism of their beliefs and practices is oppression.

Your question is clear and to the point and i hope it sparks more open discussion so that misconceptions can be addressed.

Answer 6

Well that is the answer:

1. Face cover is not from Islam, it is a cultural thing , in places like Arabia where there is a massive parts of sandy dessert women tend to hide their faces to protect it , with time , a woman with an uncovered face became an eye-catchy thing , after while it became not safe for women to uncover their faces and let all men stair at it!!... For Islam only wives of the Prophet Muhammad used to do so , just to announce themselves being moral mothers of all the believers, just the same concept as when a priest is dressed up differently to let every body else know he is the priest...

2. Hair cover: A (clear) order made by God in Quraan , but not an Islamic invention originally, Jews women had to cover their heads before going into a temple and in old testament it is said that " he is not a man he who lets his wife show her hair", and in Christianity the most honorable woman "Version Mary" has always appeared with a scarf over her head as a sign of modesty and all catholic nuns must cover their heads (just as Muslim ladies)

The question then must be : WHY CHRISTIAN WOMEN DO NOT DO LIKE VERSION MARY AND COVER THEIR HEADS INSTEAD OF MOCKING MUSLIM LADIES FOR THIS OR AT LEAST SHUT THEIR MOUTHS UP..

Answer 7

I worked with a girl from Tehran. She said her hair was never seen until the day she married a stranger at 16 years old. Her father picked the man. She said that hair was a temptation, the face too I guess. Men rule in the muslim religion, and they want to avoid sinning in thought. They believe that by not seeing the body shape, the pretty face, the silky hair, they can avoid thoughts of ...sin.
*********adding details**************I just heard that the veil is choosen by the girl once she begins menstruating, she must wear it from that point on. The color and pattern of the veil is her only way of putting a little personality into her looks. Her mother, sister and friends, aunts to probably, acompany her to go shopping. She can not be out alone either.

Answer 8

Old middle east south asian customs in which women were property of the tribe to be guarded carried over into islamic law. The fact that women can be convinced that this has something to do with god's law shows how nuts religious people really are.

Answer 9

i dont know why, but it really bothers me. I am all for people doing whatever they want, but i really think it is just demeaning. It looks really uncomfortable and hot. i feel bad for them. once i was at this lake and this muslim family was there and the boys got to wear bathing suits but the girls had these heavy garmets on that looked like they were drowning them. it wassad.

Answer 10

They cover there mouths in public out of respect to their husbands or fathers. In Islam, a woman's mouth is seen as something sexual and should therfore be covered in public. Similar to Western women wearing bras and blouses to cover their breasts.