Photo Of First Female President Of Nigeria's Court Of Appeal, Zainab Bulkachuwa, Wearing Courts 'WIGS' Without 'HIJAB' And What Islam Says About 'WIGS'

Zainab Ademu Bulkachuwa, 

Currently trending on Nigeria's social media is the issue of a female muslim who was denied been called to Bar at the Nigerian Law School reasons that she wore hijab underneath her 'Wig'. After going through several comments , QueenDoosh decided to ask on Facebook;

Muslim lady denied been called to Bar for wearing hijab underneath her 'cap'. Shouldn't our religious beliefs be separated from the profession or our profession should be more tolerant to our beliefs?

There were so many replies so we decided to pick this one from Barr.Franc Utoo which he shared the photo of the Appeal court president and wrote;

This is the President of the Court of Appeal, Zainab Bulkachuwa, a devout Muslim who has chosen to abide by the practices and discipline of the legal profession.
Religious bigots should note this..

He went further and shared the second photo and wrote;

Amina Augie JSC 

This is Amina Augie, JSC... she was on the Panel of Mato v Hembe at the Supreme Court and in fact did read the lead judgement of Onnoghen CJN on that day. She is a consummate Muslim but has chose to abide by the practices and discipline of the profession.
Religious bigots should take note.

Lets try to look at what Wigs means to Barristers and how it started...

According to TheNigerianLaywer, and

The word wig is short for periwig, derived from the French word for a wig, perruque. Fashion conscious courtiers tried to outdo one another with the size of their wigs. Even to this day, a person who is of particular importance, or thinks he is, is called a ‘bigwig’.

By 1680 most judges and barristers wore wigs in court; they were simply following the fashion of the day. At that time they signified wealth and status.

Initially, judges thought the wigs were “coxcombical” (flashy as worn by dandy) and so didn’t allow young advocates to plead in them. But the wigs gradually became more accepted and stuck as a mode of court dress. Women barristers need to adjust their hair style to accommodate their wig. Wigs, like hats come in sizes and have to be fitted.

On whether Muslims should wear 'WIG' in court or not. 
Below is the reply as put together by Islamq..

As for the head covering that is worn by lawyers in some countries, that looks like a wig, it does not come under the same heading for several reasons:

1.     Even though this head covering is called a wig, it is not really a wig in shape, colour ork the way it is worn, so it is not included with hair extensions, which are prohibited.

2.     It is not usually worn for the purpose of adornment; rather it is a professional tradition and convention.

3.     It does not involve any element of deceit, so it is more akin to a head covering.

It remains to note that Muslims are obliged to keep away from the traditions of the disbelievers with regard to such clothing, unless it is something that is widespread and commonly done among the people who practice this profession, both Muslims and disbelievers, or it has become compulsory, so that the lawyer cannot appear in court without adhering to this custom.

However, Queendoosh, also stumbled over some heated arguments in a forum Quora where Muslims living in America tried to throw more light. Read their different views below..

Cassandra Strands(Muslim) wrote; 

The purpose of hijab is not to conceal the hair but to present oneself modestly covering all of her "ornaments."  Hair is considered an ornament because the color, cut, style, etc... can add or detract from a persons beauty.  As such it should be covered.  Wearing a wig would not serve the same purpose since it would still be able to act like natural hair to ornament the body.  Wearing wigs is actually considered impermissible in Islam according to hadith literature.  A bald wig would also not be logical nor would it present modesty.  Even Muslim women who have no hair (either through aging and balding or because they must undergo chemotherapy or other health issues still wear their hijab.  It is not only to cover the hair but to mark the wearer as a Muslim, present modesty and to provide a normalizing sort of factor between women.  I would suggest you read some of my other answers here on Quora about women in Islam as many touch on other aspects of hijab and many comment threads go into greater detail about the purpose and benefits of hijab to the believing women.

Amina Elamin, Progressive Muslim feminist, who lives in the USA also wrote;

First, I’m Muslim and I like and very much respect Cassandra Strand’s answer to this question, but I choose most of the time not to wear hijab unless I’m going to the mosque or to some other event at which it’s recommended. However, I do dress modestly, showing only my face, hands, and ankles, and always cover my breasts (high necklines). I consider it the individual woman’s choice whether to wear hijab.

That said, wearing a bald wig, and by that I mean a “cap” to appear hairless, such as an actor/actress might wear to appear bald, seems a bit of an over emphasis on not showing one’s hair. There are two somewhat opposing reasons for that:

I currently wear my hair cut short in back, uncolored, and (for all intents and purposes) unstyled, so my hair is not what I would call a distraction in any sense of the word.I had two bouts with cancer in 2006-2008, and I was completely hairless everywhere on my body, even eyebrows and eyelids. I got used to it and went out that way on occasion.

So, it stands to reason that I’m not overly vain with my hair. I just don’t consider my hair to be a big issue. Were it pink or green or punk or cut oddly in some way, I might be, but then I wouldn’t be Muslim either she wrote.


Another wrote;

I believe Muslim women wear hijab for simplicity and modesty. But I see several women with hijab and "heavy" makeup, doesn't it kill the purpose of Hijab?


This Article is Put Together By QueenDoosh.Info..