From the Times Online:
Rania, 35, the privileged daughter of a paediatrician, educated in international schools, has never worn the veil, nor will she. “In Jordan we believe there should be no coercion under Islam,” she says. “Unfortunately, people think of the Middle East as a monolithic whole, but each country has its own characteristics, its own level of stability and security and its own level of openness for women.”
As a 36-year old Muslim woman living in conservative predominantly Muslim Brunei, I understand the moral difficulty in whether to cover or not to cover. Although I did cover my hair during a difficult time in my life when fitting in was comforting, nowadays I don't usually unless a religious occasion warrants it. Despite this religious shortcoming, I do most things a good Muslim woman is expected to do and I still think that I am a good egg. In Brunei a majority of Muslim women wear a form of head/hair cover called in malay, the Tudung. My mother wears it, my mother-in-law does too, some of my friends have to wear it for work, or choose to, and most muslim girls in school wear white ones. Although I understand why women use the Tudung (fear of God, husband, mother-in-laws, parents, father, government, school administration), it is a personal choice for me to make and I may just start in my old age, when more modesty is expected of a woman...
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