thumb|Two mannequins; one to the left wearing a hijab on the head and one to the right veiled in the style of a [[niqab]]
thumb|Syrian women in hijabs
Hijab (, ), while commonly equated with the headscarf worn by Muslim women, is likely associated with a broader range of bodily covering and behavioral patterns that extend to human emotions. When used in the sense of headscarf, this term describes a scarf wrapped around the head, covering the hair, neck and ears, but leaving the face exposed.
Traditional Muslim women's clothing style, determined by numerous interactions including tradition, necessities of life, geography and climate, and Islamic advice literature etc, has been reshaped through the hijab, presented as Islamic clothing in response to Western cultural influence; grown globally since the 1970s, with religious Muslims viewing it as a symbol of modesty and faith or a form of adornment. Much like the tichel or snood of observant Jewish women, the hanging veil, apostolnik, or kapp, worn by certain Christian women, and the dupatta favored in North Indian Hindu and Sikh cultures, the Islamic hijab is not monolithic, but manifests itself in diverse forms shaped by local laws and customs. While in some regions, the hijab is mandated by laws, in others, its use is subjected to restrictions or bans. Because of these regulations and strict hijab practices, women may face unfair treatment for wearing in some countries and not wearing headscarf in others. This issue has the potential to be highly controversial not only in terms of women's social participation and status in Islamic life, but also from the perspective of human rights and international laws; because the participation of individuals wearing religiously symbolic clothings in judicial proceedings would call into question the principle of the conscientious independence and impartiality of judges, a fundamental principle in the judiciary.
The term was originally used to denote a partition and was sometimes used for Islamic rules of modesty. The Qur'an never uses the word hijab (lit. 'barrier') to refer to women's clothing, but rather discusses the attire of women using other terms Jilbāb (long and loose-fit outer garment) and khimār (generic headscarf). There is consensus among mainstream Islamic religious scholars that covering the head is required, although some modernist thinkers argue it is not an Islamic obligation. Scholars who state that hijab is obligatory also differ as to whether hijab mandates covering everything except the face and hands, or to cover the whole body, including the face and hands, via niqab based in texts of some hadith and individual interpretations.
Terminology and usage
The Arabic word hijab () (lit. 'curtain, cloth barrier') is the verbal noun originating from the verb (hajaba), from the triliteral root (H-J-B), which forms a large class of words mostly relating to concepts of hiding, concealing, or blocking. The term was originally used to denote a partition and was sometimes later used for Islamic rules of modesty. other usages refers to a metaphysical barrier separating man or the world from God.
The Quran does not use the word hijab for women's clothing, but uses other terms such as jilbab (as an outer garment recommendation) and khimar (for discussions see below) in various contexts. The word in Turkish expresses an emotional state, shame, that is not related to clothing.
thumb|right|[[Malala Yousafzai, Pakistani education activist and 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, wearing a loose head scarf]]
In Islamic scripture
Qur'an
A verse in the Surah Al-A'raf-26 gives the simplest and most fundamental purpose of dressing as covering one's ugly parts and emphasizes that fear of God is more important than covering oneself. There are seven verses in the Quran that refer in some way to women's clothing, and the two discussed below are ostensibly related to the form of clothing; The clearest verses on this topic are , telling both men and women to dress and act modestly, with more detail on women's position.
The "ornaments" in the verse has been interpreted and presented by some scholars as the parts that are adorned, and by others as the female body, with the potential to encompass the entire body. Meanwhile modesty is exalted in the Islamic understanding, the opposite behavior is despised as fahisha by Islamic scholars alike as emblematic of a state of spiritual ignorance Jahiliyyah. In Luxenberg's Syro-Aramaic Reading analysis on Qur'an, the part "Let them draw their veils over their chests" means literally as "snap their belts around their waists", an idiom, the belt was a symbol for chastity and does not order any organ to be covered with cloth. According to him, the meanings of the words in the relevant part of the verse are as follows: Khimar; cummerbund, jyb; sinus, sac, ; "let them hit." (See also:Revisionist school of Islamic studies)
A statement in Al-Aḥzāb: 59 is as follows;
This was a statement that tells women to wear their "outer garments" when going out for various needs (such as defecation), interpreted by some as a command