Religion Watch Archives

Monitoring Trends in Religion - From February 1990 to January 2016

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Archives
    • By Issue
    • By Article
    • By PDF (2008-14)
    • By PDF (1985-97)
    • All Articles
  • Sections
    • Current Research
    • Findings & Footnotes
    • On/File
  • Google Search
You are here: Home / Archive / American-Muslim women taking up the veil

American-Muslim women taking up the veil

October 1, 1999 by Richard Cimino

Print-friendly

The numbers of American-Muslim women wearing scarves have increased dramatically in the past few years, reports New Jersey’s Bergen Record newspaper (July 11).

One official of the Kentucky-based International Union of Muslim Women says that “In the last year in particular, the number of inquiries we’ve had from women dealing with the issue of whether to wear the scarf has increased dramatically.” While wearing the scarf is a sign of modesty and allegiance to Koranic teachings, most of the women taking up the observance have mothers who don’t wear the veil, and they are doing it against the wishes of their husbands and families.

Many converts begin wearing the veil before cradle Muslim women do, adds reporter Monique El-Faizy. But the issue of wearing a veil is divisive enough that the Union of Muslim Women does not take a position on the matter.  The many American Muslim women taking up the observance has “sparked a growing area of civil rights litigation.”

The number of charges filed by Muslim women on instances of work-related bias has grown from 44 in 1996 to 62 in 1998, although it is uncertain how many of these charges are related to wearing veils. At the same time, however, Muslim women  reporting discrimination from the public about wearing the veil has decreased in recent years, according to the Council on American-Relations.

Print-friendly

Filed Under: Archive

Also in this issue

  • Charter schools compete with religious schools
  • Findings & Footnotes: October 1999
  • Aum thrives despite crackdowns, millennial fears
  • Millennial movements, rumors heat up in Latin America
  • Current Research: October 1999
  • Mormon kitsch borrowing from popular culture
  • Catholic charismatics more ethnic, feeling the Toronto effect
  • Globalizing the faith and American book publishers
  • Spruced-up prison ministries competing
  • Intelligent design thinkers seek religio-political momentum
  • Secular humanism optimistic and defensive

Search the Site

Download the first issue of RELIGION WATCH (1980)

Download the first issue of RELIGION WATCH (1980)

Click on the image for downloading

© 2016-2023 Richard Cimino / Religioscope
·News Pro Theme · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress