Re: Questions about Islam (Ask Away!)
[quote author=Gwen link=topic=96.msg27741#msg27741 date=1294614006]
Duly chastened for my sloppiness!
I should have first clarified for myself the difference between Sharia and... is there a specific word that means religious obligation? What I meant, though, was regardless of what women are religiously supposed to do, the Wiki article suggests that definitely most but not nearly all Muslim women wear headcoverings, and that there's a national/cultural component. For example, it states that in Bangladesh (90% Muslim) it's mostly rural women who wear it, and that in Jordan about 60% of women wear it. (I just spent some time rummaging through the article's outside links, and at least the ones I hit looked legit. The Jordan figure isn't cited.) Looks like there's some contraversy in Tunisia, a 98% Muslim country in which headcoverings are not traditional, are newly growing, and are seen by the government as a foreign influence. (Check out the BBC article and the religion section of the wiki page).
I guess my question is to what degree internationally this
describes religious writ versus religious practice, and what you think about what looks like a sometimes/someplaces difference between the two. (For the record, I don't ask about this as any kind of judgment--it's more common for there to be some difference than for all practitioners of a religion to follow all written obligations at all times. That's just people. I trust that God understands.)
[/quote]
Ah, I see what you mean now!
You are right about what you say. Though it is a religious obligation, not all Muslim women wear it. Thing is, even if you ask almost all women who don't wear it, they will still tell you it's a religious requirement.
Oh and the Arabic word for religious obligation is fard.
[quote author=Gwen link=topic=96.msg27741#msg27741 date=1294614006]
Duly chastened for my sloppiness!
I should have first clarified for myself the difference between Sharia and... is there a specific word that means religious obligation? What I meant, though, was regardless of what women are religiously supposed to do, the Wiki article suggests that definitely most but not nearly all Muslim women wear headcoverings, and that there's a national/cultural component. For example, it states that in Bangladesh (90% Muslim) it's mostly rural women who wear it, and that in Jordan about 60% of women wear it. (I just spent some time rummaging through the article's outside links, and at least the ones I hit looked legit. The Jordan figure isn't cited.) Looks like there's some contraversy in Tunisia, a 98% Muslim country in which headcoverings are not traditional, are newly growing, and are seen by the government as a foreign influence. (Check out the BBC article and the religion section of the wiki page).
I guess my question is to what degree internationally this
describes religious writ versus religious practice, and what you think about what looks like a sometimes/someplaces difference between the two. (For the record, I don't ask about this as any kind of judgment--it's more common for there to be some difference than for all practitioners of a religion to follow all written obligations at all times. That's just people. I trust that God understands.)
[/quote]
Ah, I see what you mean now!
You are right about what you say. Though it is a religious obligation, not all Muslim women wear it. Thing is, even if you ask almost all women who don't wear it, they will still tell you it's a religious requirement.
Oh and the Arabic word for religious obligation is fard.
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