Head Coverings

“Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a wife to pray to God with her head uncovered?” (1 Corinthians 11:13, ESV).

This photo of mannequin heads advertising the Muslim head covering for women called a jilbab [jill-BOB] was taken in a traditional market in Padang, but it could have been taken in just about any city in Indonesia. The main purpose of a jilbab is modesty. Good Muslim women will not go outdoors without having their heads covered. This is a sign of submission to God as well as to their fathers and husbands. Behind closed doors, within her own home a Muslim woman need not wear a jilbab, but if a guest comes to visit she will quickly put on her head covering.

For many Muslim women in Indonesia, the jilbab is seen as a status and fashion statement. It’s not uncommon to see very elaborate and expensively ornamented head coverings. It just goes to show how something meant to protect modesty can become the very expression of a person’s vanity. Many younger Muslim women have been influenced by Western culture and do not always wear a jilbab in public, but may only wear the jilbab to the mosque.

Pray that Sumatran women will come to realize that external fashion may make them appear holy, but does nothing to atone for the debt of sin.

Pray that the Holy Spirit will bring deep conviction of sin to people on Sumatra that will lead them to realize that external good works will never make them right with God.

Pray for an increasing awareness that Jesus Christ is God’s great sacrifice for the sins of man and that many people among the peoples of Sumatra will hear and respond with faith to the Gospel.