# Turbans: Any significance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 13, 2001, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472 "2001-09-13T22:54:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/1 "2001-09-13T22:54:59Z")
Is the way a mid-easterner wraps his turban any indicator of rank, religious or political affiliation, or ethnic extraction? ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/2 "2001-09-13T23:02:47Z")
Usually the people you see with turbans are not Muslims, but Sikhs. Sikhs have a religious requirement to wear a turban, have a beard, and couple of other dress restrictions. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/3 "2001-09-13T23:10:08Z")
So since we see Bin Laden with a turban and beard, in photos, does this mean he’s not a Muslim? ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/4 "2001-09-13T23:23:51Z")
Turbans are worn by Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2001, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/5 "2001-09-13T23:43:10Z")
From [CyberIran](http://www.cyberiran.com/history/religous-hierarchy.shtml): > [@](#): > > The Shia clergy in Iran wear a white turban and an _aba_, a loose, sleeveless brown cloak, open in front. A _sayyid_, who is a clergyman descended from Muhammad, wears a black turban and a black _aba_. I don’t know if this applies to other Muslims or not. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/6 "2001-09-14T00:07:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ZipperJJ \* > \*\*So since we see Bin Laden with a turban and beard, in photos, does this mean he’s not a Muslim? \*\* No. Sikhs are required to have turbans and beards, but that doesn’t mean that no one else can. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/7 "2001-09-14T00:45:14Z")
I should clarify my post. I was asking about the **style** in which a turban is wrapped. Some are like a beehive hairdo: a big puff, higher in the middle and all several inches above the head (presumably). Some are even taller and narrower than that. Some are thinly wrapped, with a sort of brim around the crown. Some dangle in back. Some have smaller cloths wound around the temple. Do these variations signify anything? ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/8 "2001-09-14T02:15:53Z")
I think the style of turbans being worn is largely cultural in basis - e.g., the turban worn by a Shiite in Iran looks very different from one worn by a Sikh in India. I realize that I also mentioned two religions here, but no matter how far a religion has spread today, its roots have to trace back to a particular cultural context - in other words, I think culture, climate, and geography influence (traditional) clothing more than religion does. That being the case, then understanding the significance of a turban’s style becomes a task of understanding the complexities of all the cultures that wear them, and that’s more than I can handle. Specifically, Islamic code [does not require](http://www.understanding-islam.com/related/questions.jsp?point=3&id=676) the wearing of turbans, and the [turbans of India](http://www.anthemexp.com/turban.htm) are also associated with regions, not religions. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/9 "2001-09-14T02:33:22Z")
Years ago someone explained to me that you can tell cast by the way they are wrapped. Later I was told that it’s familial, i.e. you learn to wrap it the way your father did. I looked though and couldn’t find a site, so now I’m not so sure. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/10 "2001-09-14T02:48:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by AbbySthrnAccent \* > \*\*Years ago someone explained to me that you can tell cast by the way they are wrapped. Later I was told that it’s familial, i.e. you learn to wrap it the way your father did. > I looked though and couldn’t find a site, so now I’m not so sure. \*\* Could be both. Philistine, thank you for the links, esp. the second one. It backs up what you said: there’s no shorthand for the styles and their origins. I’m certainly not asking for details! Just wondering if bin Laden’s people would be likely to all have the same style. I should have just said _that_. ---
**Author:** ![Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Milton\_De\_La\_Warre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milton_De_La_Warre)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2001, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/turbans-any-significance/81472/11 "2001-09-14T14:21:30Z")
I may well be mistaken, but I believe that during WWII when the British Army included many Indian Sikh regiments, each regiment had its own style of wrapping the turbans. (If “Wrappng” is the correct verb.)