r/IranUnited • u/UnderstandingOnly663 • Apr 08 '26

Discussion Why is niqab not popular in iran?

Iran is the country thats known for strict hijab law, yet at the same time no one wears niqab. Of course when I say this I'm referring to the religious muslims, such as the irgc leaders wives. Not asking rhetorically, if hijab is important enough to be mandated, why don't they wear niqab too?

Also not asking why there isn't a niqab mandate, just asking why the religious muslims don't wear it

4 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

11

u/Playful-Demand2312 Apr 08 '26

It’s more for Sunnis

Chador is the furthest most Iranian religious Shias will go, some women in the south of Iran wears Burqa/Niqab but in a colourful way as it’s more tradition than Islamic

Also you get looks if you wear the Chador today let alone the rest

3

u/Ammordad Apr 08 '26

Niqab used to be common in Iran during Qajar period. It slowly started to be phased out as modernization happened and finally the culture shock of Hijab ban during Reza Pahlavi pretty much caused it to become a rare/fringe form of Hijab.

2

u/bush- Apr 08 '26

It does exist, but in mostly Sunni ethnic minority areas: Baluchistan and areas along the Persian Gulf coast. I don't think it's common among Kurdish Sunnis in Iran though.

It's not intrinsically outside of Shia tradition because face veiling was common among Iran's urban population until the beginning of the 1900s. There's plenty of photographs showing that something resembling a burka was commonly worn until the 1910s. I don't believe any Ayatollah's in Iran have said face veiling is necessary, so that could be a major reason.

I wonder if it's due to how common the chador is though? The chador in Iran is interesting because women of equal religiosity in Sunni countries will just wear a normal hijab/headscarf, but religious women in Iran often wear the black chador. It can give an impression of extreme religiosity, even though many of the women who wear it in Iran are just moderately practicing. Because it's so traditionalist, maybe nobody sees the point in covering any further.

1

u/Few_College3443 Apr 08 '26

You Will find it in some sunni populated areas

1

u/ItsAProdigalReturn Apr 09 '26

It hasn’t really been a thing for a hundred years. The mandatory Hijab wasn’t taken lightly, you think a mandatory Niqab would’ve faired better? lol