Muslim women wear head scarves for traditional reasons, and because it is in keeping with the commandments of Allah. Through Muhammad, Allah’s words are that women should be modest, and cover their beauties like their hair and their chest. At home among family and in front of their husband, Muslim women do not need to wear head scarves.

It should be noted that not all Muslim women wear head scarves. Some wear both head covering and veil, called the Niqab. Others wear merely simple head scarves called Khimar. The Burqa and Chador cover the woman from head to foot, and are worn in some Muslim countries. All clothing that is said to follow the laws of Allah is called Hijab.

However, some modern Muslim women feel that such covering is not important at all. It is a common misconception that all Muslim women dress the same. While many do cover their heads with head scarves, many don’t cover, and wear more westernized style clothing. Still clothing should be simple and not be meant to attract men or express vanity, according to the Qur’an.

Wearing head scarves is not simply a Muslim practice. Covering the head in temple in the Jewish tradition is equally important. Hassidic Jewish women shave their heads upon marriage and wear wigs. In the Christian tradition, until recently, it was thought to be very vain to not wear hats or head scarves when attending church. All these traditions stress modesty, and elaborate hair styling, or even showing the hair is thought to be vain, which is a sin.

Just as in the Muslim world, many Christians no longer find it necessary to cover the hair. Many Jewish sects still require the head to be covered by all men, and by women as a sign of respect and modesty. However, some Jewish sects have a more lax dress code.

While wearing head scarves in Muslim tradition may be thought of by many Westerners as oppressive, it is often simply a traditional part of local dress. Further, unless one lives in a restrictive, theocratic country, wearing head scarves is optional. Many Muslim women also find it saves time to don a scarf rather than to style the hair. They argue that women who must spend so much time before a mirror each morning to style their hair are experiencing oppression by fashion dictates.