Conclusion

Abstract

It is difficult to give a straightforward answer as to why the niqab has found ground in Bosnia and Herzegovina and why it is so appealing for some women, nor what the future of such clothing practice could be. However, it does seem that the process of searching for an instrument of (re) affirmation of current or desired identity does not occur suddenly in a vacuum, but is the result of interaction and interpretation of the experience in the outside world, in a given social and historical context. The complexity of the process of arriving at a decision on wearing niqab indicates the importance of orthopraxy for women, and the strength of instrumental value of a piece of clothes in the construction of religious identity. So niqab, a tool of oppression for many women of different world views, becomes an omnipotent tool in the hands of believers.