Well crafted and wonderfully logical point.  I remember when I was in Saudi Arabia having to wear a burqa when I left the compound.  It was practical, protected me from the sun and constant sand that always flies around, but as a westerner, it made me resent that I HAD to wear it.  My problem with the situation was that I had no choice, no freedom and no right to say NO. 

 The thing is, hijab is actually an order from ALLAH to Muslims in Quran but not niqap

What you say about Eskimos is a logic but still in our case, in Ýslam its different, and what proves that, you dont find muslims women wear hijab only at Arab countries

But you find also at Westerns countries, Indonesia, and every where else

You find it in Türkiye and well educated women refuse to take it off so you cant say they are depressed by husbands or families

No one forced them to stand for it !

So i believe that has nothing to do with climate has it ?!

To make what am talking about clear

Ým talking about hijab, where you cover your hair ..not when women covering their faces too

Covering the faces is and never was an order from ALLAH, never mentioned in Quran, and not ordered by Rasul SAV at any hadith.

Ý cant say why they wear niqap..i fail to understand actually

And i personally know many cases when its the women choice to do so, even some cases the husband refuse and woman fighting her way to it

So i cant say they are forced, of course some are but some chosen it that way !

They dont think not wearing it is a sin tho, but they believe wearing it is better .

PS: Niqap when women cover their faces excluding the eyes

I agree with everything you are saying Canli and I do believe that many women would wear a burqa and other various covers even if they don´t have to.   However, there are many places in the middle east, like Saudi (I was there in the 1980s and not sure if it has changed), where a woman is required to wear a complete covering whether they want to or not.  There were even times when the religious police would scold and even hit women who where not properly covered.   

Not many places at ME actually this happen  in Saudi Arabia only, i dont know about Ýran, from the sight of it i think its forced there as well.

 Ã believe its still same case at SA Elisabeth, i heard the religious police hit the man who is with the woman tho not the woman !

Sad it is !

But at Riyad and Jedda things are different.

That has very different background, history and reasons than the ones discussed in this thread. A difference in terminology is necessary here, and I do believe that türban (as opposed to geleneksel baþöürtüleri)  is a political symbol, which has very little to do with religion. I don´t have time to get into it, but you should have a look at the name Necmettin Erbakan and the development of the türban sorunu in Turkey. You will understand that ´those educated women who refuse to take it off´ aren´t so much concerned about their religion.. (ofcourse this is a generalisation, but ý have seen them so often: wearing tight clothes, lots of make-up and then putting on a headscarf to cover their feminine charms. Yeah sure. So much for religion! I don´t buy it!)

Thanks for your welcome-back wish CANLI ITs good to be back!

B"H

Oye, Y-Love posted this; what´s with the controversy all of a sudden in the Chassidic community regarding burqa?  So it´s not a jewish minhag, but hijab is.  And though Y-Love is border-line Chabadnik/Tzfat chassid/Breslover, what would he say about all the Ethiopian and Lumba Jews in Galabiya and niqab?  :S  he never replied to me.........

 even pearcing in nose...

Elisabeth,

No one here is advocating that women should be running around naked; all should be decently dressed. Even a choice to dress like a clown, at all times,  in public should be one´s own personal choice.

But telling others this clown outfit is god´s order and enforcing it on public  is ridiculus and has nothing to do with Islam.

I agree with what you said about burqas not being part of Islam.  But even if it where, people (all people and not just men) should have a right to choose whether or not they follow the religion and its teachings.  A persons choices about what to follow and what not to follow is between him/her and God.   

 Among muslims there is lots of disagreement whether the Quran states if a woman must veil/cover herself and if so, what should be covered.  For me, if there is a ´God´ up there, who sent ´the people´ a book with rules on how to live, why was it written in such a way that it is so easily to intepret words your way? That is just asking for oppression of the weak by the strong and the imposition of rules on the weak by the strong.

 Maybe it´s just me, but I don´t think it should matter if it is part of the religion or not.  It should still be up to the interpretation and descretion of the individual whether or not to wear it.  I think all humans should have the right to read something, come to their own conclusion and then follow his or her heart.