Keeping Your Scarf On in Church

Al-Hannah sells a pretty lacy al-amirah hijab that I think an Orthodox Christian could reasonably use as a headcovering.  My thought is that a non-Muslim woman might wear the larger part of the covering on the back of the head, rather than surrounding the face.

How would this work?  The front section, the part on the forehead, is completely separate from the larger covering section.  You put it on first — around your head, above the eyebrows and ears — and it helps to keep whatever you put on second from slipping off your head.  After you have this first part around your head, you could eschew the larger part altogether and tie a regular scarf on in whatever way you usually prefer.  Or you could use the longer tube thing, the second part of the al-amira headcovering, as a back-of-the head scarf.  

If you’re reading this and you’re not an Orthodox Christian, you’ll find a discussion here (and here) at Monachos.net about the practice of covering your head in church. 

(photo credit to Josh Parrish)

 

HijabiCaps

I love these pretty headcoverings!  From Al Muhajaba El Aniqa.

 

Headcovering in Nesterov’s Dual Harmony

  Mikhail Nesterov painted this preliminary study for the princess of his “Dual Harmony” painting.  

Though this way of wearing a headcovering is similar to the scarf + underscarf style adopted by many Muslim women today, note that the princess’ ear is showing and many if not most Muslim women who wear hijab choose to cover their ears.

I love the way this looks.

(Thank you, Vara, for providing a good copy of this picture!)

 

Hijab Scarf How-to on YouTube

I like the scarf style that Jan chooses to wear for her first day wearing hijab.  Adding a couple more twisted scarves in contrasting colors to the crown makes it an even better look, in my opinion.

 

Ukrainian Postage Stamps: Head-dress

 

People of Faith and Academe

“Does it really matter whether I am Muslim or Jewish? Should the exact size and shape of the head covering affect how you read this essay? How different is it from wearing a cross? Imagine for a moment that I am a human being with a strong academic record who happens to look a little different from you …”

Article:  “Deceived by Appearances” by Na’ema Suleiman, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Monday, July 9, 2007.

(photo credit to my mailo)

 

Modest Clothing Directory

This is sooo cool!   Dara of the Modest Clothing Directory has linked to this,  my humble blog, as one of her “Cool Sites and Blogs.”   Since I deeply appreciate her work and love her site, this is beyond gratifying for me.

If you have an interest in dignified dressing, you’ve got to visit the Modest Clothing Directory.  She lists modest clothing sites by creed and region, and she even links to sites that sell and promote organic and fair trade goods.    And there’s a page for rare, hard-to-find clothing items.  And for things she considers “neat inventions.”  Plus, she has links to great articles about modest dressing and modest clothing tips.  And that’s just the beginning.

Hey, if you dress yourself at all, the Modest Clothing Directory is well worth a look. 

Thanks, Dara!

 

Eight Things About Me

Yikes.  Handmaid Leah tagged me for this meme.  She was tagged by David at David’s Daily Diversions:

Here are the rules…

1. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

1.  When I was very young, I decided I wouldn’t befriend people with glasses, since I couldn’t really see their eyes and I couldn’t be sure they could be trusted.  When soon enough I myself became one of those people with glasses, I decided God had a sense of humor.

2  My favorite number is seven because it wasn’t till I was seven that I realized (drum roll):  “I am SEVEN YEARS OLD.  I have been around for SEVEN YEARS. ” I am, perhaps, slow on the uptake.

3  Nevertheless, I am — ahem — brilliant with analogies and my score on the Miller Analogies Test got me into Mensa and Intertel.  Lord knows why I wanted in, but there you are.  It was comforting for a while.

4  I think people who are seen as gullible are not always ill-informed or ignorant, but rather open to great possibilities and smart enough to understand that many, many things are possible.  At least, as a sometimes gullible person, this is what I prefer to believe.

5  I don’t know why I wear hats.  I know many do it for religious reasons, and that fascinates me and I think it’s cool.  Still, for me, right now, I think I just like hats better than hairstyles.  I basically feel it’s a more dignified option for me.

6  My feet are size 11.

7  My feet have been hurting a lot, and it’s not because I’m on my feet all day, quite the opposite.  I’ve been keeping an eye on my habits, and it appears that I scrunch up my feet and twist them around and set them on the wheels of my chair when I am sitting at my desk.  I’m probably messing up the muscles in this way.  I soaked them last night in hot water, and it helped immeasurably.

8  I bite my fingernails while I am driving.

 Tagging:

Xenia Kathryn

Christina

Susan

Anna

Okay, this may or may not be pathetic, and I know I am breaking The Rules and this disturbs me, but I can’t think of anyone else to tag!  If you read this and are slightly offended that I didn’t think of tagging YOU, let me know.  Please.

What is a meme?

(the pic?  That’s a very nice haori;  I own this one, actually)

 

Comfy Sleep Cap

Hats with Heart has a very comfy sleep cap, the Comfort Sleep Cap #230.   Yes, I’ve tested it myself.  I bet it’d be very comforting if I had no hair at all, but even with hair, it’s great!

 

Freedom to Cover Petition

“We are calling on all people of conscience, freedom of choice supporters, religious freedom, civil liberties and human rights groups around the world to support our religious, cultural, civil, and human right to wear head cover in public schools and public institutions.

We urge the United Nations to step in and take an action against any government that passes a ban against veiled women or head covered men.”

Yup, Muslims are behind this.  No, I don’t think it’s evil.  In fact, I think we should all be able to cover our heads if we want to.

Sign the petition here.

(the pic?  Though the petition is serious, this photo is not — it’s a Creative Commons Flickr photo from Orthodork;  check out her photo of Mother Gabriella of THE ORTHODOX MONASTERY OF THE DORMITION OF THE MOTHER OF GOD)