May I refer to the letter Beyond the tudung, knowing the hijab .

What was the reason for Allah to reveal Verse 59 of Sura 33? This was an advice to the wives of the Prophet to make themselves recognised by pulling their the 'jilhab' over themselves.

It was not a question of a new item of clothing but rather a new way of wearing a old one and distinguishing themselves by this mode.

When the Prophet moved to Medina, women, whatever their status, were being harassed in the streets, pursued by the men who subjected them to the humiliating practice of 'ta'arrud' - literally 'taking up a position along a woman's path to urge her to fornicate' - to commit an act of 'zina' (unlawful sex).

Please read pages 180 -182 of: Dr Fatima Mernissi's Women And Islam , Blackwell Oxford, UK, 1995.

It is everybody's human right to wear the tudung or not. I do not subscribe to the stupidity that all Muslim men are in grievous sexual incontinence and salivating badly when they see a women without a tudung.