VEILING AND MUSLIM WOMEN IN AFRICAN HISTORY SINCE THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE.

In Africa, the culture of veiling by Muslim women is profound. Several forms of textile and art feature in the use of the veil across Africa, reflecting how that garment has become culturally embedded in the region. It is true that Islam's integration with African cultures is very much alive and visible. The story of veiling became prominent in Africa under Ottoman rule and in the context of cross-cultural intergroup relations through the trans-Saharan trade routes. This paper focuses on the history of the veil as a spiritual, artistic, political, and economic factor in the identity-making of Muslim women in Africa. The historical method is adopted to interrogate the complexities associated with veiling, using photographic representations, books, and journals. Photographic representations of women's dress in the Ottoman Empire provides a way to understand how permeated African societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]