 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Headscarf" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(November 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Aheadscarf is a scarf covering most or all of the top of a person's, usually women's, hair and head, leaving the face uncovered. A headscarf is formed of a triangular cloth or a square cloth folded into a triangle, with which the head is covered.[1]
Headscarves may be worn for a variety of purposes, such as protection of the head or hair from rain, wind, dirt, cold, warmth, for sanitation, forfashion, recognition orsocial distinction; withreligious significance, to hidebaldness, out of modesty, or other forms of social convention.[2] Headscarves are now mainly worn for practical, cultural or religious reasons.
Until the latter 20th century,[3] headscarves were commonly worn by women in many parts ofEurope,Southwestern Asia,North Africa, and theAmericas, as well as some other parts of the world. In recent decades, headscarves, like hats, have fallen out of favor in Western culture. They are still, though, common in most of the Islamic world, as well as in theIndian subcontinent and many rural areas of Eastern Europe.[4]
A form of headscarf, known as thehijab, is traditionally worn in Islamic societies, and is born out of long-standing gendered modesty conventions within the Islamic faith. It is worn by many Muslim women who consider it to be a religious ordainment, and its style varies by culture.[5] There are, however, some Muslims who do not believe that the hijab in the context of head covering is a religious ordainment in theQuran.[6][7]
Historically, Christian women also maintained a similar practice of covering the head and hair. TheChristian Bible, in1 Corinthians 11:4–13, enjoins women to wear ahead covering.[8] AmongAnabaptist Christians, this often takes the form of aKapp orhanging veil—being worn throughout the day.[9] ForEastern Orthodox Christians, headscarves are traditionally worn by women while attending the church, and historically, in public as well. However, in certain localities, this has waned.[10][11][12]
For fashion and ceremonial usage, thegele is a traditional headscarf of Yoruba women for fashionable purposes.
Headscarves may specifically have areligious significance or function, or be expected as a matter ofsocial custom, the two very often being confused.[citation needed]
According to some, it is the "khimar"[13] mentioned in theQuran. Many of these garments cover the hair, ears and throat, but do not cover the face. There are some Muslims who do not believe that the hijab in the context of head-covering is a religious ordainment in the Quran.[6][7]
Thekeffiyeh is commonly used by Muslims inMiddle Eastern countries.[14]
Headscarves and veils are traditionally worn by Muslim women and girls in order that no one has the right to view her beauty except herMahrams.[15] For women, theMuslim religious dress varies, and various cultures includehijab,burqa,chador,niqab,dupatta, orother types of hijab, though not all Muslim women observe the practice.[16]
Judaism, underHalakhah (Jewish Law), promotes modest dress among women and men. Many marriedOrthodox Jewish women wear a headscarf(mitpahat or tichel), snood, turban,shpitzel or awig to cover their hair. TheTallit is commonly worn by Jewish men, especially for prayers, which they use to cover their heads in order to recite the blessings, although not all men do this. It also may not apply to the entire prayer service, sometimes only specific sections such as the Amidah. TheKohanim (priests) also cover their heads and shoulders with the tallit during the priestly blessing, so as to conform toHalakah which states that the hands of the priests should not be seen during this time as their mystical significance to the hand position.
The custom of Jewish women to wear headscarves is an old custom, learnt from theTorah(Numbers 5:18) where a suspected adulteress is paraded before a priest and her head covering is removed.[17] By saying that the 'hair of the woman's head [shall] go loose' is to imply that she was wearing a head covering. Jewish orthodox law allows for a man to divorce his wife if she goes out in public places with her head uncovered.[18][19]
TheBible, in1 Corinthians 11:4–13, instructs women to wear ahead covering, while men are to pray and worship with their heads uncovered.[20][21] In the early Church, Christian head-covering with an opaque cloth veil was universally taught by theChurch Fathers and practiced by Christian women.[22][3][23][24][25] The practice continues in many parts of the world, such as Romania, Russia, Ukraine, Ethiopia, India, Pakistan, and South Korea.[26]
The Early Church FatherJohn Chrysostom (c. 347 – 407) delineatedSaint Paul's teaching, explaining that Paul said a man praying with a head covering "dishonoureth his head", while Christian women should always wear a cloth head covering. Paul compared a woman not wearing a veil to her being shaven, which Chrysostom stated is "always dishonourable".[10][27]
The Church Fathers taught that because the hair of a woman has sexual potency, it should only be for her husband to see and covered the rest of the time.[28] To some extent, the covering of the head depended on where the woman was, but it was usually outside and on formal occasions, especially when praying at home and worshipping in church.[26][29] Certain styles of Christian head coverings were an indication of married status; the "matron's cap" is a general term for these.[20]
ManyAnabaptist Christian women (Amish/Para-Amish,Schwarzenau Brethren,Bruderhof,Hutterites,River Brethren,Apostolic Christians,Charity Christians andMennonites) wear their headscarf at all times, except when sleeping; these head coverings are usually in the form of ahanging veil orkapp.[30][9]
In countries with largeEastern Orthodox Christian population such asRomania[31] or Russia[32] headscarves and veils are used by Christian women in the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Church, Assyrian Church of the East, and Roman Catholic Church.[33][34]
TheRoman Catholic Church required all women to wear a head covering over their hair in church until the 1980s; inSpain, these take the form of themantilla. Women meeting the Pope in formal audiences are still expected to wear them.Martin Luther, the GermanReformer, as well asJohn Calvin, a major figure in the Reformed Churches, also expected women to cover their heads in church, as didJohn Wesley, the founder of theMethodist Churches.[35]
In many rural areas, women, especially widows, continue to observe the traditional Christian custom of head-covering, especially in the Mediterranean, as well as ineastern andsouthern Europe; inSouth Asia, it is common for Christian women to wear a head covering called adupatta.[36][26] At times the styles of covering using simple cloth became very elaborate, with complicated layers and folding, held in place withhair pins. Among the many terms for head-coverings made of flexible cloth arewimple,hennin,kerchief,gable hood, as well as light hats,mob caps andbonnets.[citation needed]Some English speakers use the word "babushka" (the word for "grandma" inRussian:бaбушкаⓘ) to indicate a headscarf tied below the chin, as still commonly worn in rural parts ofEurope.
In the modern era, persons may choose to wear a headscarf for religious, moral, or practical reasons.
Hilda Ogden, popular character from the UK soap operaCoronation Street portrayed byJean Alexander, became famous throughout the nation for combining a headscarf withhair curlers. She became so famous that, in 1982, she came fourth behind theQueen Mother,Queen Elizabeth II, andDiana, Princess of Wales in a poll of the most recognisable women in Britain.[37]
![An early 19th-century Russian silk embroidered headscarf[38]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aHeadscarf_MET_31.507_CP4.jpg)
_-_TIMEA.jpg)
.jpg)
One of the most questioned practices in the New Testament in the modern day Western Church is the practice of Head Coverings for women. Yet to get perspective we need to look over the panoply of God's Church for 2000 years and see that this is not something new but old—and has been practiced diligently over the ages. It is hard to imagine but since the 1960s the Church almost entirely practiced this tradition. The influence of secular reasoning, feminism and liberal theology have led to the questioning and, ultimately, the casting aside of this practice in the Church at large in the evangelical world.
Today many people associate rules about veiling and headscarves with the Muslim world, but in the eighteenth century they were common among Christians as well, in line with 1 Corinthians 11:4-13 which appears not only to prescribe headcoverings for any women who prays or goes to church, but explicitly to associate it with female subordination, which Islamic veiling traditions do not typically do. Many Christian women wore a head-covering all the time, and certainly when they went outside; those who did not would have been barred from church and likely harassed on the street. … Veils were, of course, required for Catholic nuns, and a veil that actually obscured the face was also a mark of elite status throughout most of Europe. Spanish noblewomen wore them well into the eighteenth century, and so did Venetian women, both elites and non-elites. Across Europe almost any woman who could afford them also wore them to travel.
St. John Chrysostom thought that Paul, in admonishing women to wear a covering "because of the angels," meant it "not at the time of prayer only, but also continually, she ought to be covered." Fr. Rhodes agrees: "The veil can be the constant symbol of the true woman of God … a way of life … a testimony of faith and of the salvation of God, not only before men, but angels as well."
Hippolytus, a leader in the church in Rome around the year 200, compiled a record of the various customs and practices in that church from the generations that preceded him. HisApostolic Tradition contains this statement: "And let all the women have their heads covered with an opaque cloth, not with a veil of thin linen, for this is not a true covering." This written evidence of the course of performance of the early Christians is corroborated by the archaeological record. The pictures we have from the second and third centuries from the catacombs and other places depict Christian women praying with a cloth veil on their heads. So the historical record is crystal clear. It reveals that the early generation of believers understood the head covering to be a cloth veil—not long hair.
One singular thing may be noted in this history, – that with all the vagaries of fashion, woman has never violated the Biblical law that bade her cover her head. She has never gone to church services bareheaded.
There were many times that a woman would be called into prayer while preparing a meal. Instead of running to get a head scarf, she would grab a readily available dish towel to cover her head instead.
Well then: the man he compelleth not to be always uncovered, but only when he prays. "For every man," saith he, "praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head." But the woman he commands to be at all times covered. Wherefore also having said, "Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head unveiled, dishonoureth her head," he stayed not at this point only, but also proceeded to say, "for it is one and the same thing as if she were shaven." But if to be shaven is always dishonourable, it is plain too that being uncovered is always a reproach. And not even with this only was he content, but he added again, saying, "The woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head, because of the angels." He signifies that not only at the time of prayer, but also continually, she ought to be covered. But with regard to the man, it is no longer about covering but about wearing long hair, that he so forms his discourse. To be covered he then only forbids, when a man is praying; but the wearing of long hair he discourages at all times.
Media related toHeadscarves at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
