The veil,
or hijab, is not Islamic in origin. Islam
adopted the practice directly from the Byzantine Christians and the Iranian
Zoroastrians. It wasn’t even practiced in
the Caliphate until the late second century of the Islamic era, with the advent
of the Abbasid dynasty from Khorasan, an Iranian territory once known as
Parthia, in 750 CE. The practice was
adopted from the Roman Empire, where Byzantine women in wealthy families were
veiled and usually shut away as were their Greek and Roman predecessors before
them, as well as being brought from Iran, where high-born families had adopted
the practice directly from Assyria, the first culture to introduce the veil for
women.
The
practice of women wearing the veil began in ancient Assyria where it was a mark
of status for high-born women, who were usually shut away. After Cyrus the Great’s conquest of
Mesopotamia, high-born women in Iran adopted the practice, and from there it
spread first to Greece and later to Rome.
In the
West, the enforcement of the tradition became stricter with the advent of
Christianity, when it spread to the lower classes. This
was directly the responsibility of Paul of Tarsus as part of the trend among
first century Christians of distancing themselves from their theological
cousins reversed or altered several common practices. For instance, in the mid-first century catechismal
document The Teaching of the Twelve
Apostles to the Heathen, commonly called the Didache, the author instructs believers to fast on Wednesdays and
Fridays rather than on Mondays and Thursdays as the “hypocrites” did.
Among the
Jews, Samaritans, and other Hebrew groups in the first century CE, men went
about outside covered and women uncovered, and during religious services prayed
that way. In his first letter to the
Corinthians (14:4-13), Paul turned this on its head, prescribing rather that
men should be uncovered and women covered, largely to mirror Gentile rather
than Jewish practice. Moreover, Paul
prescribing veiling not just for high-born but for all women.
The verses
in the Quran which deal with some of Muhammad’s followers complaining that his
wives are unveiled point out that the Prophet himself felt it unnecessary to
ask them to do so and did that only because of the weakness of those same followers. Ask yourself this: was Muhammad in error, or
were those self-righteous followers?
Aisha bint
Tahla, granddaughter of Muhammad’s father-in-law Abu Bakr, is famous for
declaring, when similar followers of Muhammad suggested she veil that, “Since the almighty hath put on me the stamp of beauty, it is my wish
that the public should view the beauty and thereby recognize His grace unto
them. On no account, therefore, will I veil myself.”
When the
Abbasids of Khorasan in the northwest of Iran succeeded to the Caliphate, they
instituted a number of reforms that included instituting Iranian administration
in what was by then a far-flung empire.
They also mandated for all Muslims the then Iranian-only practice of
prescribed veiling for women, adopting from the Roman Empire the practice of
spreading out the practice to all social classes.
2 comments:
It's also important to note that the idea of hijab applies to men too, Muslim men are supposed to dress modestly and with humbly, at the very least staying covered between the navel and knees. They are also to wear beards. This is why the public humiliation of being stripped and photographed naked was used against the prisoners in Abu Ghraib.
As islamophobic attacks and hate crimes increase, wearing some form of head covering has become as much a symbol of identity and solidarity as a religious action.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Iranian_Womens_Rights_Activist_Recounts_Decision_To_Cast_Off_Hijab/2099074.html
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