Two Muslim Sisters

NPR special correspondent Judy Woodruff (9/14/06 - 8:03) interviews the sisters Assia and Iman Boundaoui. The sisters are 20 and 18, in other words, college students. Part 2 (8:56) of the story, on the same page, focuses on wearing a hijab.

"I'm proud to be Algerian," Assia says, "but it makes me mad when people think just because you have a scarf on, you can't be American. You know, they have to ask you, 'Where are you really from? No, no where are you really from?'"

This interview is part of the series Muslims in America, as well as Woodruff's ongoing work of the Generation Next Project.

Musings

• The hijab, or headscarf, seems to play a central role in defining Muslim identity. Indeed, the NPR page has a lengthy discussion of Assia's decision. (See more on the hijab at Wikipedia .) How can one explain such importance being attached to a single piece, by Muslims and non-Muslims alike?
  
  
• Equally important are the broader social issues involved with the hijab, especially in "open," Western democracies, including a national controversy in France. The Boundaoui sisters are critical of the French law, but it does have its defenders; for more see the Wikipedia entry on the French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools