One prominent Kabul mullah, who asked to remain anonymous, agrees the Muslim faith does not prescribe the wearing of the burqa, saying the Taliban's actions in forcing women to wear the garment were actually against the laws of Islam.

"Women are required to wear the hijab, which allows the face, hands, and feet to remain uncovered," he said. "Those who say that the burqa is part of Islamic law are mistaken."

But tradition dies hard, particularly in this society.

"Wearing the burqa is part of Islam. Every Muslim woman must wear one. Why are you disobeying the laws of Islam?" said one woman in one of Kabul's poorer neighborhoods.

Even some of Kabul's more progressive women were in no hurry to cast off their burqas.

Nadira, a psychology lecturer in her 30s at Kabul University, continued to wear one until last year because her family feared for her safety. But she chafed at the anonymity of the veil, which she felt deprived her of the respect her position deserved.

"No one recognized me under it," she said. "Faculty and students just called me 'khala' (auntie), which made me very upset," she said. "So I used all my powers to persuade my family to let me get rid of my burqa."

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Salima Ghafori is a journalist in Kabul who writes for The Institute for War & Peace Reporting. Readers may write to the author at the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, Lancaster House, 33 Islington High Street, London N1 9LH, U.K.; Web site: www.iwpr.net. For information about IWPR's funding, please go to www.iwpr.net/index.pl?top—supporters.html.

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Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.