Hijab - Some questions about them

A girl I went to college was former Muslim. I am not sure if that is the proper term. Basically, she was raised as a Muslim, but came to feel the whole God thing was BS. I guess you could say she was an apostate. She still would wear the Hijab most of the time because she said she felt naked without it. She used to get a lot a strange looks out at the bars drinking with a Hijab on and stuff, but nobody at a bar ever said anything. However, she used to catch all kinds of hell from other Muslims especially males. There seemed to be a view that what she was doing was even worse because she still wore the Hijab. I didn’t really know her that well so I never felt comfortable asking about this. Plus she seemed to get enough shit without me making it worse.

But what exactly is the significance of the Hijab? I know not all Muslim woman wear one. Do most woman who used to wear on continue to wear it if they no longer believe in Islam? Is there anything wrong with drinking while wearing one beyond just the rule against Muslims drinking?

Basically Islam enjoins men and women to maintain modesty. For women, the most basic interpretation, in common with a lot of other Abrahamic sects in histoty, is to make some attempt to cover the hair. From there it goes all over the map from simple hair scarves to the full on head-to-toe “ninja” gear of observant Saudi Wahabis. There in no unanimity.

An amusing cartoon I’ve posted before from a Syrian blogger, showing types ( or lack ) of hijabs in Damascus: Syrian_Hijab.jpg (image)

If you were raised in a culture that practiced some aspect of veiling, I imagine it might feel more comfortable to continue to socialize with it on, even after leaving the faith. Really 90% of it cultural anyway.

There is no particular holiness about the hijab itself in its many iterations, but no doubt Muslim moralists might be offended that an outwardly pious ( i.e. “modest” ) women would be doing something “immodest” with it on.

The significance of the hijab may vary depending on the culture and of course the time period. In Iran under the Shah the government discouraged women to wear the hijab but many of them wore it to preserve their identity against what they saw as unwanted western influence.

I think it’s kind of strange to see a woman in a hijab drinking. It’d be kind of like seeing a man wearing a kippah walk into a bbq restaurant and order himself a big honking pulled pork sandwich. It’s just odd to see someone assert a certain cultural identity and then flout the rules of that culture. People do a lot of funny things though. I remember seeing a Muslim woman on a television show talk about having a tattoo put on her body that asserted her Muslim identity even though the tattoo violated the rules of that identity.

Marc

I agree with this. But, there’s more to it. Without the hijab, nobody can say for sure she is Muslim. They can only say that she is drinking alcohol. With the hijab, she looks like a Muslim disobeying the words of the Prophet (pbuh). By wearing the hijab and drinking, she reflects badly on all Muslims. Some people will see her and assume that she represents most Muslims, and that they are also as unobservant of Islamic laws.