Islam came from Saudi Arabia, a country where girls were buried directly after their birth and women who dared to give birth to baby girls were largely kicked from their houses, had to see their husbands bringing other girls into their houses to finally create a man child. Women had no right to schooling, nor to real property and were viewed as property of their fathers first and then their husbands. The motto was quite easy: Be happy that I let you live in any way. As it would be too wide to consider all of the Islamic countries, I’ll concentrate on Iran as a sample and then compare it to some other Muslim countries when necessary. It was supposed to show that a woman’s cleanliness to cover her mind in order for her not to get dust or dirt into her hair. The body cover additionally is not written literally in the Koran, but relies on history.
Saudi Arabia is geographically one of the hottest countries on the globe. And because back then women didn’t have any rights, picture who would have come to rescue a girl in the event of a sexual offense? Exactly: no one! To safeguard women the Koran suggested that girls should pay for the distance between their shoulders, meaning their cleavage and ought not to show their body jewelry. (At the time working girls would wear ankle bracelets with bell-charms, which could make a tremendous sound while walking.) Today you will likely ask: Why are girls then wearing the hijab or even Burka? I could go on and on and deliver you more samples. But, concluding I would say that Islam does provide women a lot of rights.
After saying all this I could imagine anyone asking me if this faith is so modern, why are women in Muslim countries handled so badly?
To begin with, let us look at Iran. Iran is the only state where girls wear their head scarves differently than at the other Islamic countries. In Taliban- Afghanistan girls were made to use a Burka, in Saudi Arabia they also wear a Burka, which looks different than the Afghan one. In conclusion one can say that the different understanding of the koranic term of “cover your cleavage” is based on the geographic location of those practicing countries. In Pre-Islam Iran girls were wearing something similar to the “Greek-dress”, a very simple dress with a shawl at the back. The shawl became the head cap.
In Saudi Arabia, people did not wish to undermine and coated the entire woman. Can you see the difference? It is not Islam indicating what women should wear; it is the first heritage of the countries adapting their life styles with their comprehension of the Islamic way of life. Hijab means cover in Arabic. I have done a lot of research on this, since the Islamic revolution, which demanded that (literally from 1 day to another) girls ought to wear a scarf over their head and a longer coat or a veil (chador). I couldn’t understand why women should cover up themselves, while men could walk around anyhow they desired. While no where in the Koran is written that a girl should wear a Burka or pay her mind, I discovered a historic explanation: The head cover was initially for the Prophet Muhammad’s wife, or any other feminine associated with the Bani-Hashem Family along with the Quaraish tribe (While Surnames didn’t exist at that time in history, folks used their tribal names to signify where they belonged to.).
