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The wearing of a headscarf and the veiling especially of the female face or the whole body is a universal phenomenon that occurs in different eras and in different regions and cultures. Today, wearing a headscarf has become a symbol of Islam, especially in Western countries, and is often met with Islamophobic rejection. In our study, using a qualitative interview, we questioned 25 young Muslim women of Turkish origin (between 18 and 25 years old, n = 25) living in Germany about their reasons for wearing or not wearing a headscarf and their experiences on account of this decision. The majority (n = 16) of the predominantly academically educated female participants do not wear a headscarf, primarily for reasons of female attractiveness, an internalized religiosity, and as an expression of the disintegration of the family hierarchy. All female respondents (n = 7) from families with divorced parents do not wear headscarves, while for the other female respondents (n = 9) who do not wear headscarves, the family seems to have a more liberal mindset. Reasons for wearing a headscarf are especially a religious attachment to Islam, fashionable self-confidence, and the wish to combine Western emancipation with the traditional dress code (in the form of a hybrid identity). These findings are considered against the background of a psychoanalytic reading of the Quranic suras on veiling (according to F. Benslama) and the Lacanian dialectic of the imaginary and symbolic phallus. The diversity of personal reasons can be described with the concept of a heterogeneous subjectivity, which arises from the clash of Western secular and Turkish-Islamic notions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accidental Foreign body aspiration, especially sharp metallic objects may lead to life threatening complications. A metallic object is identified readily on a Xray chest or CT chest and helps us in ascertaining its location. A straight pin with blunt head in the shape of pearl is used in wearing a head scarf also known as hijab to hold it in place. The head scarf pin (hijab pin) if accidentally aspirated into the airway may lead to grave complications. Hence timely intervention with suitable instrumentation is essential to prevent any lethal complications. We have reported four different cases of adolescent females who had accidentally aspirated hijab pin and challenges faced by us during removal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about hair loss associated with wearing the hijab, a religious head covering worn by Muslim women. We performed a single-center analysis to investigate the association between various forms of non-scarring alopecia and wearing the hijab. This study included 125 patients who wore the hijab and 40 race/ethnicity-matched women who did not wear the hijab. Among the 165 total patients diagnosed between January 2015 and March 2022, 71 had telogen effluvium, 78 had female pattern hair loss, and 16 had traction alopecia. We found patients who wore the hijab had a younger mean age of alopecia onset than patients who did not wear the hijab (31.5 vs. 37.3 years; P = 0.02). Our study suggests that vitamin D deficiency (OR 4.1; 95% CI 1.2–14.1; P = 0.02) and seborrheic dermatitis (OR 2.9; 95% CI 1.1–8.1; P = 0.03) may significantly impact the development of telogen effluvium in patients who wear the hijab. Targeting these risk factors among patients who wear the hijab may be considered to prevent hair loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Political events in Iran since the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century have often been marked by a conflict between tradition and modernity, or more specifically the interpretation of the human body in the past and the present. The third decade of the 20th century marked the start of a new biopolitical era, during which the body was formally linked to politics. There is a significant role played by clothing, Hijab/Unveiling, and body image in power discourses. In this study, these concepts are explored in greater detail, particularly in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In this study, we examined the relationship between clothes and the body in terms of the Hijab and politics. Additional investigation in this area with a genealogical perspective may provide a fresh perspective on problems in the context of modern Iran. Contextual perspective requires an exploratory method and a genealogical outlook. Modernism, a new perspective on the bodies of women and children, clothing, and the hijab as a gateway to civilization have all played an important role in the emergence of the subject in the recent era. Finally, Iran is viewed from the perspective that body politics have played a significant role in both society and politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hijab and other Islamic veiling clothing are important social and political symbols for Muslim women's identity. Although recently there has been a large body of literature on the social and political aspects of hijab in Western countries, there has been no investigation of the origin and function of veiling itself. This article hypothesized that religious veiling, which eliminates the estrogen-induced body curves of reproductive age women, decreases men's perceptions of women's physical attractiveness, thereby serving mate guarding functions against rival men. To test this hypothesis. Measures of the motivational appeal and self-reported perceived attractiveness of women exhibiting different degrees of veiling were obtained from 80 Muslim male participants. The results showed that men were more motivated to view women exhibiting the less veiling and rated them more attractive than those women whose bodily curves were less apparent. These results support veiling serving a mate guarding function and reinforcing the marital bond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One might suppose that a foundational element of proper Muslim behaviour is respect for one's parents. However, it is not unusual in the contemporary Islamic world, both in Muslim-majority countries and in the diaspora, for young people to be much more 'Islamic' in behaviour, dress and lifestyle than their parents. As this may suggest, modernist Islamic piety is not infrequently directed by young people against their parents, as a mode of resistance to parental authority. However, wearing the hijab, becoming a follower of a Sufi shaykh, or marrying a 'good' Muslim spouse from another ethnic group to one's own, are different kinds of resistance from, for example, joining an inner-city youth gang, or rejecting one's parents' Asian cultural background for a more globalised identity. I discuss some of the ways in which Islamic piety can be deployed in resistance to parental authority through case studies from my Economic and Social Research Council-funded field research in Bangladesh and the UK, and consider in what ways these forms of behaviour resemble, and differ from, more familiar forms of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Hijab, the practice of modesty or "covering," is one of the most visible and controversial aspects of Islam in the twenty-first century, partly because the Qur'an offers so little guidance on proper dress. This forces Muslims to engage in ijtihad (interpretation), which historically has resulted in vast differences in dress around the world. By transcending some of the boundaries of space, time and the body, the Internet has emerged as a place where Muslims from diverse backgrounds can meet to debate ideas and flesh them out through shared experiences. After discussing hijab in the Qur'an and other traditional sources, this article explores the use of cyberspace as a multi-media platform for learning about and debating what constitutes appropriate Islamic dress. The last section focuses on a case study of the multi-user "hijablog" hosted by thecanadianmuslim.ca, which represents one of the largest in-print discussions on hijab ever recorded in the English language. On this blog and other forums like it, ijtihad has become a critical tool for debate on matters such as hijab, which are important but sparsely discussed in the Qur'an. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freedom of religious expression is to many a fundamental element of their identity. Yet the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on the Islamic headscarf issue does not refer to autonomy and identity rights of the individual women claimants. The case law focuses on Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides a legal human right to freedom of religious expression. The way that provision is interpreted is critically contrasted here with the right to personal autonomy and identity now developed by that court in interpreting Article 8 which contains a right to respect one’s private life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that Article 8 of the ECHR, as applied to the protection of a person’s right to wear a headscarf, is an inappropriate locus for thrashing out arguments about the right to protection of religious freedom, and that Article 9 allows for a broader legal and political analysis of the multiple meanings and impacts of religion in our lives. However, the law should not prohibit women from wearing the headscarf. Legal regulation of the headscarf should be replaced with robust political debate about the many diverse and intersecting ways in which it is possible to experience womanhood, sexuality, culture, religion, race, nationality and economic security in the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutrality has been the classic answer of the liberal state to religious and cultural difference. A number of multicultural critics recently debunked it as “myth” and group power in disguise. Comparing Islamic headscarf laws in France and Germany, I argue that neutrality is more complex and multifaceted than this. The comparison shows that neutrality leaves space for particularistic and universalistic, unity- and rights-oriented stances, the first located in the sphere of democratic politics, the second in the legal–constitutional sphere. Recent headscarf laws may then be understood as political backlash against the rights-oriented neutrality that has emerged in the legal spheres of both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February 2004, the French National Assembly passed legislation banning conspicuous religious symbols in school. In March 2004, the law was overwhelmingly passed in the French Senate: all ostentatious forms of religious dress are now forbidden in French schools. Although the law bans all conspicuous religious dress, it is clear that the new law targets students wearing Islamic headscarves. When the law was first proposed, many French Sikhs believed that their children would not be affected because, as one father explained, Sikhs had “never posed a problem”. Even so, headscarves, yarmulkes, turbans, and large crosses are prohibited in public schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the limitations of French secular republicanism which forces upon Westerners the otherness of Islam. Women who are wearing hijab reveal the importance of gender and sexuality in Islamist critiques of the West. Veiling makes women's bodies a political force in the resistance to egalitarian forces of Western modernity. Veiling brings forth women as markers of modesty and morality. By veiling herself, a woman limits her appeal, and thus maintains her purity. Most French see wearing the headscarf as a direct challenge to French national values. According to one poll, 86 percent of French people are against permitting the wearing of headscarves in public schools.

This paper explores the potential of a contextual approach to multicultural conflict. It reconstructs two cases that were hotly debated in the Netherlands—‘Islamic’ headscarves for police officers and for court officers—and asks whether a ‘contextual’ approach reaches compromises and thus promotes social stability more easily than a ‘deductive’ approach. The argument is that a ‘deductive’ approach accepts standing interpretations of normative principles, whereas a ‘contextual’ approach reinterprets these principles in the light of the circumstances and that, whether or not it promotes social stability, a contextual approach makes us attend to otherwise neglected perspectives and thus yields greater normative insights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]