Title: More Regarding Turbans Question/Comments: Hello, I have been trying to figure out what the importance of a turban is to Islam and I found your response to this question to be very informative. However, I am curious as to why certain Islamic factions seem to identify the turban as more of a religious issue than a cultural one (such as the Taliban). Could you shed a little light on this? Thank you. John USA Answer: The reason why wearing turbans came to be recognized as a part of religious tradition seems to lie in the fact that wearing the `a mamah (something quite close in appearance to the Turban), being a part of the Arab culture during the times of the Prophet (pbuh), was worn by the Prophet (pbuh) like his other contemporaries. Consequently, there were some Muslims, not including many renowned Muslim scholars, started considering wearing of the turban as a part of the Islamic tradition. Nevertheless, it should be interesting to note that the wearing of a turban or a similar head covering was only adopted as a religious custom, on a wider scale, among peoples of those cultures, which had a history of wearing turbans or `a mamah (like the Afghans, for instance). The tradition was generally not adopted in other cultures, on a wider scale. I hope this helps. Regards, Moiz Amjad December 2, 2001