I’m often surprised by the over focus on the hijab Muslim women wear. Mostly cuzz I grew up in an area wear Mennonite, and Amish women and men wore head dresses. And were covered from head to toe. Whatever the weather was.
Women and men from a few cultures and religions wear head coverings as mandated/ as signs of piety toward their god(s). It might have also begun as protection from the weather (ie desert sand storms) and also from pests (bugs).
[Malaria][https://www.cdc.gov/malaria/about/faqs.html] is an issue in most of the origin lands where head coverings are cultural.
Quite a few religions give life advice in their holy books to their faithful. What/how to eat, what/how to dress, … So suggesting they’d be better off with a head dress isn’t outside that realm. And some of the faithful believe they should take these thing literally.
Same as religious practice among early people was to have totems for their tribes. And it was forbidden to eat that animal. To this day, there are those who still refuse to eat their cultural totems.
Some of the food restrictions could also be because the holy books were written before refrigeration and by people who lived in deserts. So things like blood and scavenger animals brought a higher risk of death.
Also, when Christianity was being developed and advice was given to the followers, Paul mentioned food that pagans offered to their gods as sacrifices as being unwise for Christians to eat.
It’s in that context that the faithful decide whether or not they will wear the head gear. Based on practices from 1000s of years ago.
So why is it there is such a focus on the hijab? I don’t get it.
## . . . . sources
https://modli.co/blog/why-do-women-cover-their-hair
https://www.amish-heartland.com/features/2014/10/02/of-brims-and-bonnets
https://themennonite.org/feature/veiled-free/
https://www.islamreligion.com/articles/2770/why-muslim-women-wear-veil/
https://www.sikhcoalition.org/about-sikhs/faq/
http://uhaweb.hartford.edu/greenberg-center/Veiled%20Women%20Catalog.pdf
http://www.wilderness-safaris.com/blog/posts/the-significance-of-head-ties-in-africa
mspeachierocks 