Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Ignaz Goldziher, Introduction to Islamic 

Theology and Law. Translated by Andras and Ruth 

Hamori (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 

1981); Wilferd Madelung, Religious Schools and Sects in 

Medieval Islam (London: Variorum, 1985); Muhammad 

al-Sharastani, Muslim Sects and Divisions. Translated by 

A. K. Kazi and J. G. Flynn (London: Kegan Paul Inter-

national, 1984).

Hezbollah

  See h

izbullah

.

Hidden Imam

  See 

ghayba

; 

imam

; t

welve

-i

mam

 

s

hiism

.

hijab

 

(Arabic: cover, partition, barrier)

The practice of hijab, or veiling, among Muslim 

Women

 varies throughout the world. In modern 

discussions,  hijab usually refers to a 

veil

 that is 

worn to cover a woman’s hair, neck, and ears but 

not her face. The issue of hijab, especially as it 

relates to women’s veiling, is one of great debate. 

The q

Uran

 uses the word seven times, mostly with 

the meaning of screen or partition (for example, 

Q 19:17; 38:32; 17:45). The word is often inter-

preted, especially by Sufis, in the sense of a veil or 

barrier that stands between God and the created 

world.  Hijab is further elaborated upon in the 

hadith

. However, the tradition of modest dress and 

particularly of veiling women predates the rise of 

Islam. Indeed, veiling was a common practice in 

the pre-Islamic Near East, acting as a marker of 

class, faith, ethnicity, and age in many cultures.

While the practice has varied through time 

and place, hijab has become a point of debate in 

the modern era. Non-Muslim imperialists often 

used  hijab as an example of the “inferiority” of 

nations they wished to conquer, claiming it was a 

discriminatory practice that should be abolished. 

In the early 20th century, supporters of Western-

ization in nations such as t

Urkey

 and i

ran

 used 

the formal banning of the hijab as a symbolic way