by Yusuf Alzeera

Created on: March 03, 2008

In Islam, wearing a " Hijab " ( a veil ) is a must for all women, starting at the age of nine. It is mandatory according to the Islamic rules extracted from the Qur'an and Prophetic Narrations. Of course, it is not a must at all times and places. Women have to wear it when there are other "strange men" at the same place for a variety of reasons that will be mentioned later on. "Strange men" are men other than the woman's father, husband, brother, son, uncle and other related men that are specifically stated in the Islamic law.

AT SCHOOL

The Islamic regulations does not state something like "women have to wear Hijab at schools". Instead, it demands women to cover their whole body except face and hands from "strange men". Therefore, if a woman attends a female school with no men whatsoever, then she has the choice to not wear Hijab in school. However, even if there is only one man in that school, she has to wear Hijab according to the Islamic religion. Why is that? Isn't it somehow harsh?

REASONS FOR WEARING HIJAB

The main reason for wearing Hijab is to obey God who made it an obligation on women. Most Muslim women who do wear it are honored and feel a sense of pride for not defying God's rules. In addition to this main reason, the following are complement reasons for wearing Hijab, some of them are humorous:

* The inner feeling of peace you get when you wear it.

* Protect women from unwanted attention from men.

* People treat you for your mind not your body. For example, when you succeed in a job, it is because of your performance and intelligence and not because how short your miniskirt is.

* Time isn't spent productively when the average woman spends two and a half years of her life styling her hair.

* Beauty fades eventually, and with hijab people learn to love your inner beauty not your outer beauty.

* It keeps you warm in the winter. You don't have to worry about trying to keep a hat on to stop your ears from freezing up! Plus the head is medically known for the place where a high level of heat is released from the body.

* Long Lasting. Hijab protects your hair for longer and keeps it shiny, healthy and in good condition.

* Freedom. Freedom from stupid trends you don't believe in. Freedom from being compared to a unrealistic image. Freedom from having to check the scale everyday. Freedom from worrying about how you look, rather than how you should act. Freedom from paying ridiculous amounts of money on ridiculous clothes that will be out of fashion in a ridiculous amount of time.

* When a girl in a miniskirt walks past the football field, it's all cat-calls and whistles. When a woman with Hijab walks past a football field, it's eyes averted to the ground and a respectfully mumbled "Good morning."

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