Headscarf Quotes

“When we finally arrived, the chauffeur escorted my younger sister, Laila, and me up to my father’s suite. As usual, he was hiding behind the door waiting to scare us. We exchanged many hugs and kisses as we could possibly give in one day.

My father took a good look at us. Then he sat me down on his lap and said something that I will never forget. He looked me straight in the eyes and said,

“Hana, everything that God made valuable in the world is covered and hard to get to.

Where do you find diamonds? Deep down in the ground, covered and protected.

Where do you find pearls? Deep down at the bottom of the ocean, covered up and protected in a beautiful shell.

Where do you find gold? Way down in the mine, covered over with layers and layers of rock. You've got to work hard to get to them.”

He looked at me with serious eyes. “Your body is sacred. You’re far more precious than diamonds and pearls, and you should be covered too.”
― Hana Ali, More Than a Hero: Muhammad Ali's Life Lessons Presented Through His Daughter's Eyes

“Her skirts, sleeves, collar, and hat saw to it that none of the young ruffians of the Leased Territories would have the opportunity to invade her body space with their eyes, and lest her distinctive face prove too much of a temptation, she wore a veil too...

The veil offered Nell protection from unwanted scrutiny. Many New Atlantis career women also used the veil as a way of meeting the world on their own terms, ensuring that they were judged on their own merits and not on their appearance. It served a protective function as well, bouncing back the harmful rays of the sun...”
― Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer

“If a woman had a right to wear a miniskirt, surely I had the right to choose my headscarf. My choice was a sign of independence of mind. Surely, to choose to wear what I wanted was an assertion of my feminism. I was a feminist, wasn't I?

But I was to learn that choosing to wear the hijab is much easier than choosing to take it off. And that lesson was an important reminder of how truly "free" choice is.”
― Mona Eltahawy, Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution

“Nur Monster zwangen Mädchen und Frauen dazu, wie menschliche Kartoffelsäcke herumzulaufen, und machten damit Schlagzeigen. Und diese Arschlöcher hatten es geschafft, das gesellschaftliche Klima für alle zu bestimmen. Mittlerweile fragte mich niemand, warum ich Kopftuch trug. Die Leute bildeten sich ein, die Antwort zu kennen, obwohl die meisten komplett danebenlagen. Ich trug es nicht, weil ich eine Nonne sein wollte, sondern weil ich mich damit geborgen fühlte – weniger verwundbar. Für mich war es eine Art Rüstung. Ich trug das Kopftuch, weil ich es tragen wollte und ganz bestimmt nicht, um züchtig auszusehen, nur weil irgendwelche Idioten es nicht schafften, ihren Schwanz in der Hose zu behalten.”
― Tahereh Mafi, A Very Large Expanse of Sea

“Listening to my tutor tell me the story (of Khalid ibn al-Walid at the Battle of Mu'tah), I was overwhelmed with such pride in my history that I decided in that moment that I wanted to wear a headscarf, as a public marker that I belonged to this people. I wanted it to be so that before people even knew my name, the first thing that they would know about me is that I am a Muslim. I told myself that upon my return to the States, I would wear the headscarf with pride as my outward rebellion against the Islamophobia that had seized me and suffocated me for most of my life. With that decision, I inherited the entire history to which the hijab had been tied, and carried it on my head like an issue for public debate.”
― Amani Al-Khatahtbeh, Muslim Girl: A Coming of Age Story