Calling attention to oneself in the name of modesty is hardly unique to Islam. Nuns have their habits, the Amish deliberately dress differently, among the Tuaregs of Africa, men must cover their faces except when eating or drinking, and my mother can even recall a time when women entering a Catholic church had to cover their heads in some way. I believe that there is one passage in the Koran that mandates that women wear some sort of veil, but it doesn’t specify whether that veil be a chador, a niqab, a burqa etc. or in what circumstances one is to wear the veil. I know of one Muslim woman who only wears a veil to pray for example. Personally, I think that the wearing of more attention capturing garments has less to do with modesty and preventing sexual assault, and more to do with stating one’s rejection of worldly societal norms with a good helping of overprotective fathers and husbands thrown in for good measure. I can think of one example that I read about in which a rapist in Europe was deliberately preying on burqa wearing women (I guess there’s a fetish for just about anything).
On a somewhat related note, I was in Hungry Jack’s recently (I’m not proud, I just wanted a quick and cheap meal) when two Muslim women walked in. They were wearing the full veil, and I have to say they were some of the most beautiful garments I have seen. I think it had something to do with the lighting at the establishment. So, I guess it’s true what they say: “The burqas are better at Hungry Jack’s”.
On a somewhat related note, I was in Hungry Jack’s recently (I’m not proud, I just wanted a quick and cheap meal) when two Muslim women walked in. They were wearing the full veil, and I have to say they were some of the most beautiful garments I have seen. I think it had something to do with the lighting at the establishment. So, I guess it’s true what they say: “The burqas are better at Hungry Jack’s”.
- The Mgt.
