[War & Business] Hijab and Islam

On the 3rd, women in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, held a protest against the Taliban's oppression of women's rights. Kabul (Afghanistan) = AP Yonhap News Photo by AP

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Since the Taliban, an armed faction in Afghanistan, regained power, there has been a shortage of hijabs, the headscarves worn by women in Afghanistan. This is because news has spread that Taliban members have beaten or shot women not wearing hijabs in various parts of the capital Kabul, prompting everyone to rush to buy hijabs again.

The Taliban claim that the regulation on wearing the hijab originates from the Islamic scripture, the Quran, but the Quran only contains verses instructing modest dress and does not mandate wearing the hijab. In fact, it is known that Muhammad, the founder of Islam, never forced women to wear the hijab.

In early Islam, rather than forcing the wearing of the hijab, it is said that hijabs were distributed to impoverished people who could not afford them. Since there were no fans or air conditioners in those days, everyone, regardless of gender or age, had to wear a head covering to endure the heat of the Arabian desert.

In fact, the practice of wearing head coverings like the hijab remains in the Eastern Orthodox Church of Greece and Russia, as well as in the Roman Catholic Church, where women wear veils during mass. The bridal veil worn at weddings also originates from the medieval custom of wearing veils during mass. In ancient Greece and Rome, it is interpreted as a natural custom developed to cope with the hot Mediterranean climate by covering the head with some cloth.

The hijab began to be forcibly imposed on women at the risk of their lives in modern times when states centered around Islamic fundamentalist sects were established. After World War II, Saudi Arabia was founded under the Sunni fundamentalist Wahhabi sect, and Iran was established in 1979 through the revolution of the Shia fundamentalist sect, becoming the two dominant Middle Eastern countries.

Since then, these countries have been evaluated as having moved away from extreme fundamentalism as secularism and rationalism took root over a long period. However, groups influenced by them, such as the Taliban currently controlling Afghanistan and the Islamic State (IS) that appeared in Iraq and Syria in 2014, have begun to enforce the wearing of the hijab.

In fact, these groups differ even in what they consider to be a hijab. The Taliban recognize just a headscarf as a hijab, Al-Qaeda considers the niqab, a veil that leaves only the eyes visible, as a hijab, and IS recognizes the burqa, which covers the eyes with mesh fabric, as a hijab, showing no consistent principle. Amid these inconsistent hijab mandates by such heretical groups, the majority of Muslims in the Middle East are concerned that misunderstandings and prejudices against Islam in the international community will deepen.