The practice of hijab among Muslim women is one based on religious doctrine, although the Qur'an does not mandate it. Instead, it comes from the Hadith of Sahih Bukhari. The Hadith, the "tradition of Mohammed," reveals the teachings of the Prophet to believers. Bukhari's version of this text is generally regarded as the standard one, although numerous versions exist. In a very broad sense, the relation the Hadith has to the Qur'an resembles the New Testament's to the Old in Christian scriptures.
According to the Hadith, "My Lord agreed with me ('Umar) in three things... (2) And as regards the veiling of women, I said 'O Allah's Apostle! I wish you ordered your wives to cover themselves from the men because good and bad ones talk to them.' So the verse of the veiling of the women was revealled" (Bukhari, v1, bk 8, sunnah 395).
Surah XXXIII, Verse 59 of the Qur'an is most often cited in support of veiling. It states "O Prophet! Tell thy wives and thy daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close around them. that will be better, so that they may be recognized and not annoyed. Allah is ever forgiving, merciful...." (from A.Yusef Ali's translation of the Qur'an; other versions translate the original Arabic as "veils" where Ali uses "cloaks").
The veil is not a uniquely Islamic convention; the practice has a long history in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Catholic nuns engage in the practice, of course, and there are several references to the practice in both the Old and New Testaments (King James Version).
What happens when we're dead? The irony is that all our questions will be answered after we die. We spend our whole life trying to figure out the truth and the only way we'll find out what it is, is to get hit by a bus. And the only comfort that religion offers is that God is driving that bus.
All racists who are prepared to die for their contry, please do that now.
[This message has been edited by secret_obsession (edited April 28, 2002).]