How long does traditional tribal thinking permeate the Middle East and other parts of the world? And why do Muslims cling to tribal tradition and claim that Allah commands the veil when the Quran only instructs women and men to dress modestly? Why has the instruction become so exacerbated as to demean women?
In the earliest times, circa 2000 BCE, the Assyrian kings gathered beautiful women from their conquests and sequestered them in harems. The Egyptians, Ottomans, Mughals, and Chinese also treasured their harems, private pleasure property of the monarch. The harem was the exclusive residence for the king’s pleasure. To assure that wishful observers did not taint the women, the inmates were covered so that “none could wish to know them.” They were indeed locked in a “gilded cage”––that wasn’t always effective––even trusted eunuchs found a way to inveigle neglected harem women.