Headscarf

For other uses, see headgear.

Muslim Turkish women in eastern Turkey wearing headscarves. This style is common in Syria and Lebanon.

Headscarves are scarves covering most or all of the top of a woman's hair and her head. Headscarves may be worn for a variety of purposes, such as fashion or social distinction, religious signifiance, modesty, or other forms of social convention.

Types of headscarves

Headscarves may have specific religious significance. Married Jewish women, for example, are required to cover their heads, often employing scarves (or sometimes wigs) for the purpose. Headscarves were also worn by married Christian women in Medieval Europe, and even among some of the unmarried. This headcovering habit is better known as a wimple in English.

Headscarves and veils used for Muslim religious dress include:

• burqa
• chador
• niqab
• dupatta
• See also List of types of sartorial hijab

Note that the Arabic word hijab refers to modest behaviour in general, and pertains to men and women, but it is sometimes used in other languages to describe the Muslim headscarf, also known as a khimar.

The Keffiyeh is commonly used by Muslim men.

Some English speakers use the word "babushka" (grandma in Russian) to indicate the headscarf tied below the chin, as commonly worn in Eastern Europe. In most parts of Eastern Europe, headscarves are used mainly by elderly women (grandmothers) and this led the incorrect use of the "babushka" term. In Russia they are worn by women when they go to church to show their convictions to Russian Orthodoxy.

A plain red or scarlet headscarf was worn by female commissars and other women aligning themselves with Bolshevism in times of Russian Revolution and civil war.

A head tie is a west and southern African women’s head scarf, specifically an elaborate ornamental head covering.

Pictures of headscarfs

• 
  Women from Turkey wearing the Islamic village-style headscarfs commonly worn in Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan.
• 
  A scarf worn as part of a Norwegian national costume.
• 
  A Portuguese soccer fan wears a kerchief both as bandana and a expression of her club loyalty.
• A Hemsinli Armenian woman in her traditional head-dress.
  A Hemsinli Armenian woman in her traditional head-dress.
• 
  A Uyghur woman from the Xinjiang province of China wears a scarf in the popular 'Italian' fashion, with the ends tied behind her head.
• 
  Uyghur girls in Khotan,Xinjiang, China.The scarves are longer than the European ones and cover both their shoulders.
• 
  A group of girls in Kargil, Kashmir.
• 
  An Iraqi girl near Basra.
• Kurdish women in the eastern Turkish village of Kars wearing Islamic headscarfs. This style is common both in The Lebanon, the Kurdish regions, and parts of Russia.
  Kurdish women in the eastern Turkish village of Kars wearing Islamic headscarfs. This style is common both in The Lebanon, the Kurdish regions, and parts of Russia.
• 
  A woman wearing a headscarf in the 'babooska' style, in Kalkan, Turkey.
• 
  Women from Jaipur, India wearing Salwar kameez and dupatta.
• 
  Women in Adana (Turkey) wearing the niqab.
• 
  A Mpondo woman from South Africa.
• 
  South African Dana Wien in a headscarf.
• 
  Gambian women in their traditional head ties.
• 
  Russian girls in their traditional head scafs.

External links

• Headwrapping:Step-by-Step
• In pictures: Nigerian Igbo wedding
• Why I love Africa
• Tying Guide: Basic Techniques
• Headscarf Tying Instructions
• Modern and Contemporary Muslim Women's Fashions

See also

• Islamic dress controversy in Europe
• Hijab
• Head tie
• Veil
• Tichel
• Salwar Kameez
• Dupatta