What is the hejab Why has it become so popular in recent decades, Essay

What is the hejab Why has it become so popular in recent decades, France banned hijab in 2004 - Essay Example It is important to consider all these aspects because the hijab has grown to be a weighty and contested symbol that needs thoughtful decoding. Owing to its connections with various political as well as cultural representations in different circumstances, any analysis of the function of the hijab also has to take into account political as well as social elements that modern Muslim communities are faced with on a daily basis. Islam supports the notion that devout men as well as women ought to wear extremely conservative clothing in order to be able to focus on the aspect of daily communication with and worship of ‘Allah’. For women, this translates to wearing an outer garment that completely obscures the female form. This garment, the ‘Abaya’, is then rounded off by the ‘Hijab’, which is a veil that covers the neck and forehead (Bowen, 2010). This garment is primarily worn by women when they are in public places. However, there are even women who wear them in their homes. The more devout female devotees even add an additional net-like cloth, known as the ‘niqab’, over the eyes in order to completely cover all surfaces of the body. Such severity of dress is more common in nations with fundamentalist governments such as Saudi Arabia. However, in Western nations, women are more likely to don the simple veil, the ‘hijab’, to cover their hair an d neck area. According to Freedman (2004) in Muslim societies, it is considered that any girl born into the world experiences two births. The first takes place when the girl is physically bornand the second takes place upon reaching the age of puberty, upon which she is encouraged to adopt the hijab. The wearing of the Hijab is believed by many Muslims to have religious origins. According to Bowen (2010) the hijab was actually a gift from Allah to women. In a verse in the Holy Quran, Allah stated, ‘O Prophet! Inform your spouses