The Islamic State (a.k.a ISIS) has banned women from wearing burqas. Many ISIS members in Northern Iraq were targeted by a veiled woman. This is a 360-degree shift from their previous position. They used to execute women for refusing to wear their veils or burqas.
Muslim women wear these garments to cover their bodies. Technically, they are only required to wear the hijab (scarf covering the head, shoulders, and hair). Some women take it further and wear full veils.
There are actually several different garments that Muslim women can wear. The niqab covers the face and hands, but leaves a spot open for the eyes. It is a loose black garment that covers the body from head to feet. The hijab just covers the head and shoulders. A burqa is a veil that covers the entire body including the face. The piece over the face is made of a mesh material, so the woman can see. Then, there is the dupatta; it is similar to the hijab and is worn in South Asia. It is mentioned in the Quran:
“O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to bring down over themselves [part] of their outer garments. That is more suitable that they will be known and not be abused. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful.”(33:59)
Now, women are not allowed to wear their veils to ISIS security centers near their stronghold in Mosul.
A source said:
“A veiled woman carrying a pistol killed two members of ISIS who were standing in a checkpoint in Sharqat, north of Salah al-Din. The incident surprised the organisation and forced them to issue an alert of similar attacks.”
Now, the women are required to wear gloves and a mesh covering over their eyes. Women are still required to wear burqas outside of the stronghold.
A report from the Human Rights Watch said:
“Some women said they felt deeply humiliated by their treatment by ISIS, and two said they felt so depressed they had wanted to kill themselves.”
Here is a news clip about this issue:
https://youtu.be/BQ-98RYvnWk
Featured image by Marlus Arnesan via Flickr, available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic license.
