Sunday, June 6, 2010

Uncovering religious veils

Tudong is a Sumatran word which is commonly translated/referred to as a veil or headscarf in English. In Malaysia the tudong is worn in accordance to Islam’s hijab. Usually, the tudong covers the hair while leaving the face exposed. It is part of the standard dress code for office work, school uniforms and formal occasions. In Indonesia a tudung is a form of jilbab that has a sewn-in curved visor.

The abaya "cloak" is long overgarment essentially a robe-like dress, worn by some women in parts of the Islamic World. Traditional abayat are black and may be either a large square of fabric draped from the shoulders or head or a long caftan. The abaya covers the whole body except the face, feet, and hands.

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It can be worn with the niqab, a face veil covering all but the eyes. Some women choose to wear long black gloves, so their hands are covered as well. It is considered an Arabic cultural dress integrated into the hijab, or Islamic dress, for many countries of the Arabian peninsula such as Saudi Arabia or United Arab Emirates, where it is the national dress.

Saudi Arabia requires women to cover in public. Covering is enforced by the religious police, the muttawwa. In Iran the cover is often referred to as a chador. In South Asia, it is known as a burqa. Outside the few Gulf states and Saudi Arabia, in nations with large Muslim populations, such as India, Indonesia, Iran and Turkey it is uncommon and considered undesirable Wahabist culture.

A burqa is an enveloping outer garment worn by women in some Islamic traditions for the purpose of hiding a female's body when out in public. It is worn over the usual daily clothing (often a long dress or a shalwar kameez) and removed when the woman returns to the sanctuary of the household, out of the view of men that are not their husbands, fathers, brothers, uncles, sons and grandsons.

The burqa is usually understood to be the woman's loose body-covering, plus the head-covering (hijab), plus the face-veil (niqab). The face-veil portion is usually a rectangular piece of semi-transparent cloth whose top side is sewn to corresponding portion of the head-scarf, so that the veil hangs down loose from the scarf, and it can be turned up if the woman wishes to reveal her face (otherwise the whole face would be covered). In other cases, the niqāb part can be a side-attached cloth which covers the face below the eyes' region. The face-veil portion is also called purdah.

A chador is worn by many Iranian women in public spaces; A chador is a full-length semicircle of fabric open down the front, which is thrown over the head and held closed in front. It has no hand openings or closures but is held shut by the hands or by wrapping the ends around the waist. Historically in urban settings the face would be covered with a long rectangular white veil starting below the eyes. (The modern chador does not require this veil.) Chador is more commonly worn by Shia Muslims.

Indian Dupatta is a diaphanous veil, it is used as a covering for the brest, back, shoulders and head. The orhni is simply a length of cloth-printed, embroidered or plain, measuring two and a half to three down the back or wrapped around the shoulder. There are various modes of wearing the unsown orhni which is now more popularly known as the dupatta. When not draped over the head in the traditional style, it is usually worn with the middle portion of the dupatta resting on the chest like a garland with both ends thrown over each respective shoulder.

Among Christian churches which have a liturgical tradition, several different types of veils are used. These veils are often symbolically tied to the veils in the Tabernacle in the wilderness and in Solomon’s Temple. The purpose of these veils was not so much to obscure as to shield the most sacred things from the eyes of sinful men.

6 comments:

Berita Indonesia News said...

Sometime we call this as : Jilbab for Moslem in relation with religius activity.

Marina-Emer said...

QUE MARAVILLA DE BLOG ...NO ENTIENDO EL IDIOMA PERO ES TODO LO QUE VEO PRECIOSAS MUJERES.
BESOS CON CARIÑO YO YA SIGO ESTE BLOG HACE TIEMPO
mARINA

Unknown said...

Olá Ana!
Seu blog é maravilhoso mesmo..ótimos posts!
Quero agradecer pela visita e pelo apreciado comentário em meu blog! Fico muito feliz!

Abraços,

Paulo Zerbato.

Blog Keluarga said...

first picture object... I know her, She is one of my favourite actress...

lina@women's perspectives said...

Great post, Ana...love it :)

Muklis.com said...

Dear Ana, thank you for this excellent review, actually we call it "JILBAB" or you call it is a "VEIL". And this is not just acecories usual, obligatory headscarf worn by every women of Muslim or we call them "Muslimah". Why, because the veil serves as a cover aurat for a Muslimah. Which in mean aurat here is all things relating to the Muslim is not allowed in the private parts in general show besides the face and hands, let alone careless on show to the men who are not strange or persons eligible. Thank you Ana for this article, I really appreciate it, and about Muslimah photos in a picture, he is Inneke Koesherawati, one of Indonesia's popular artists