The Washington Post posted an interesting article on how several Muslim girls in the Washington, DC, area are able to, on one hand, remain faithful to the Koran's mandate that followers of Islam wear modest clothing, and on the other still feel attractive and beautiful in modern, American society. The author of the article, Sandhya Somashekhar, follows a few girls as they pick clothes in a mall, discussing how they balance their religion with the contemporary demands of Western fashion.

Perhaps most intriguing is Somashekhar's interview with Rika Prodhan, a 22 year-old Muslim who decided, after considerable thought, to trade her "form-fitting outfits" and exposed "cascading hair " for a hijab, or head scarf. The decision resulted from Prodhan's intrepretive understanding of the Koran, which she felt was unambiguous in its guidance that "the body, including the hair, should be well covered."

In addition, Prodhan realized that her actions would change how the world viewed her: adopting a hijab was a "big step that she knew would forever change the way she was perceived in public."

"I tried to find every reason not to wear it," she said. "But I came to the conclusion it was like listening to your parents. We may not know the wisdom behind it now, but we'll realize it later."

Her parents, she said, actually were troubled by the decision, fearful that she was becoming "too Muslim" and isolating herself from mainstream society.

The implication is that the physical attire in itself may isolate a Muslim with a hijab (or by extension, a Sikh with a turban), regardless of the active participation of the Muslim in Western society. In other words, the question becomes whether a Muslim with a hijab or Sikh with a turban is per se isolated from mainstream society.