Modest Islamic Veils – The Modest Headscarves for Modest Women

When it comes to womens clothing Islamic laws were very strict in the earlier times. It was mandatory for women to cover themselves from top to toe because it saves from male eyes gazing upon them. The fact of the matter is that Islamic clothing were loose and shapeless and also it was made without any charm. But over the time, thinking of the society began to change and unique modern ideas were used to make the Islamic dress. This does not mean that women is against the Allah preachings. It still follows the modest dressing but little bit of modernity were added to Muslim clothing like abaya, kaftan, burka, jilbab, hijab, khimar, chador, etc. to name a few. It is definitely not moving away from the Islamic culture. In Islam, there are clothing to cover the body. So, in the same way there are head scarves or veils to cover the head. Reason for creating the head scarf is that Islamic dresses like abaya, kaftan, etc. does not cover the head area of the women. So, that is the reason Islamic veils were created to cover the Islamic womens hair. There are many types of Islamic veils which we will talk about in detail below –

Hijabs are the headscarf or veils. The word hijab means ‘cover’ which originated from the Arab language. Hijabs were created to cover the head and hair part of the women. The other common style head scarf is square shaped cloth which covers the head and neck areas. Then there is another Islamic veil called shayla which is very long and comes in a rectangular shape. It covers the head by tucking the shayla veil with the help of pins and placed at the shoulders. Another type is called khimar. Khimars are long and cape like style veil. It forms a loose wrapping around the head and rest of the cloth hangs down the middle of the back. So, because of this the shoulders, neck and head areas remains hidden but the face is visible. Another style is niqab which is also called as naqab. Naqab is a piece of veil which covers the face in such a manner that only the eyes are visible. Niqab also covers the nose and mouth too. For the women who are very conservative, there is an option called chador. It is a lengthy cloak which covers from head to the toes. A women who prefer to wear burkha have a mesh like screen over the face which makes her easy to see around her.

It is not forced upon the women or mandatory for any women to wear hijab. It is a personal choice which women can make after reaching the age of puberty. Some women wear it to express their Islamic cultural identity. Even highly educated women accept to wear it as part of their culture.