Would it be presumptuous of me to speculate that most of you reading this column today did something to maintain your hair today? My guess is that many of us have shampooed, conditioned, curled, straightened, dried, braided, put up, de-frizzed, moussed, sprayed, gelled, and/or combed our hair this morning. But for as much as we fuss over our hair, we can say that it is safely out of the realm of politics (perhaps John Edwards would object). In the Arab and Muslims world however, hair is a big deal.

The hijab is the head covering worn by Muslim women that is purported to be an essential component of being a good Muslim. I have been fortunate enough to have had a great deal of exposure to the cultural litany of arguments surrounding the hijab.

But fundamentally, they center on shielding women from the lustful gazes of men and protecting men from the sin that they earn from their lustful gazes. I have always advocated a different solution for this problem. I have always wondered why men don’t simply look at their feet as they go about their day? This solves everyone’s problems while being a boon to the pedicure industry.

Many Arab liberals (and in my case half Arab liberal) have come to the profound conclusion that the hijab in the Middle East and in some instances, the West, has become more of a political and social statement than an article of faith. That, along with purposefully ridiculous looking beards and pseudo-traditional clothing, the spread of the hijab is a symptom of an underlying cultural insecurity within Arab society.

Amongst the Arab and Muslim urban middle class, this insecurity manifests itself in a materialistic, telegenic and superficial form of Islam that caters to the direct concerns of this increasingly affluent group. And it is not pretty. From Casablanca, to Istanbul to Jakarta, this in your face piety is on the rise.

There is no place where this alarming trend is more evident than in Cairo, Egypt. I was fortunate enough to have spent part of my youth in Cairo. Its mixture of culture, political ideology, religion, the modern, the old and the ancient render a tapestry of human history and endeavor. But the diverse city of my youth is under attack by the forces of religious homogeneity. It is now infested by “born again” Muslims who humbly and lovingly inform complete strangers that their life style is going to lead them to hell (meet any Christian missionary and you will understand). They can be found on the subway, bridges, and workplaces of Cairo.

There is one recent example of this that betrays the dark undercurrents of this enthusiastic piety. Allow me to introduce you to Hanan Tork, Egypt’s Elisabeth Hasselbeck (except she wears her faith on her head rather than the sleeve). She is an Egyptian actor who recently decided that she would wear a hijab in all of her screen appearances, despite damaging her prospects for the lead in Goldilocks. “Quite alright” I say. She can do whatever she wants to do with her due.

But like many of the ecstatically religious, she is not satisfied until you too come to know the joy that comes from her wonderful decision. So, according to newspaper reports, Torki opened a posh hair salon/café/clothing shop in a trendy neighborhood in Cairo that is only open to women who, like her, don the hijab or its more insidious cousin, the Niqab (the face covering). There is no music and religious programming is shown on the televisions. And for good measure, she banned Christians.

Without going into the irony of a hair salon for women who make a point of covering their hair, observe the duplicity of a woman who bans music in her place of business while making a living off of entertainment. But it is when she bans Christians that something stupid becomes something sinister.

Everyone has a right to wear whatever they want. Some of the best Muslims I know don’t wear the hijab. My concern is that much of the religious discourse in the Muslim world focuses solely on women and ignores the great socioeconomic and political problems that plague the region. Only time will tell if these problems are solved but the outlook is not very good.

Othman is a senior in political science and highly recommends that you take the opportunity to visit lovely Cairo this summer with Professor Valerie Hoffman. There are three spots left and the deadline for applications is Feb. 15. Inquire at the Study Abroad Office.