Editing Veil (section)

===Veils for men===
[[File:Targui.jpg|thumb|Tuareg man wearing a veil]]
{{Main|Litham}}

Among the [[Tuareg people|Tuareg]], [[Songhai people|Songhai]], [[Hausa people|Hausa]], and [[Fulani]] of [[West Africa]], women do not traditionally wear the veil, while men do. Male veiling was also common among the Berber [[Sanhaja]] tribes.<ref name=EI2/> The North African male veil, which covers the mouth and sometimes part of the nose, is called ''[[litham]]'' in Arabic and ''[[tagelmust]]'' by the Tuareg.<ref name=EI2>{{Cite encyclopedia|author=Björkman, W. | year= 2012 | title=Lit̲h̲ām |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam| edition=2nd|publisher=Brill |editor=P. Bearman |editor2=Th. Bianquis |editor3=C.E. Bosworth |editor4=E. van Donzel |editor5=W.P. Heinrichs| doi= 10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_4672 }}</ref><ref name=twareg>{{cite encyclopedia|encyclopedia=Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern World|editor= Peter N. Stearns|title=Twareg|publisher=Oxford University Press|author=Allen Fromherz|author-link1=Allen James Fromherz|year=2008|doi= 10.1093/acref/9780195176322.001.0001|isbn= 9780195176322}}</ref> Tuareg boys start wearing the veil at the onset of puberty and veiling is regarded as a mark of manhood.<ref name=twareg/> It is considered improper for a man to appear unveiled in front of elders, especially those from his wife's family.<ref name=twareg/>

Ancient African rock engravings depicting human faces with eyes but no mouth or nose suggest that the origins of litham are pre-Islamic and even pre-historic.<ref name=EI2/> Wearing of the litham is not viewed as a religious requirement, although it was apparently believed to provide magical protection against evil forces.<ref name=EI2/> In practice, the litham has served as protection from the dust and extremes of temperature characterizing the desert environment.<ref name=EI2/> Its use by the [[Almoravids]] gave it a political significance during their conquests.<ref name=EI2/>

[[File:Sehrabandi.png|thumb|right|200px|Indian groom in traditional attire, with Sherwani, Sehra and Mojdi]]
In some parts of [[India]], [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], and [[Nepal]], men wear a [[Sehra (headdress)|''sehra'' (headdress)]] on their wedding day. This is a male veil covering the whole face and neck. The sehra is made from either flowers or beads.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.utsavpedia.com/attires/sehra/|title = Sehra: Traditional Headdress for Indian Groom|date = 18 June 2014}}</ref><ref>Gullapalli, S., & Sagi, A. R. (2009). Indian Wedding Traditions. Valuable International Perspectives.</ref><ref>Durrani, A., & Khan, R. N. A. (2014). Women roles in weddings: ethnography of wedding rituals among Rajput in Punjab, Pakistan. Eurasian Journal of Anthropology, 5(1), 32-45.</ref> The most common sehra is made from fresh marigolds. The groom wears this throughout the day concealing his face even during the wedding ceremony. In Northern India today, grooms can be seen arriving on a horse with the sehra wrapped around the head.