I'm mainly asking this question because I came across this comment and since there are no source I'm wondering what part of it is true.
Hijab itself is a Islamic practice of covering oneself and being modest. People often mistakenly call the head-covering a hijab but its a little more than that. Anyhow, thats me being pedantic.
Understanding of the hijab dates back to Hadith when the “verse of the hijab” descended upon the community in 627 CE.[1] The verse states, “And when you ask [his wives] for something, ask them from behind a partition. That is purer for your hearts and their hearts”.[2] Now, as Muhammad's influence increased in the region. He was forced to entertain visitors in the mosque, which was his home at the time. According to Reza Aslan, no other women in the Ummah (Muslim Community) actually practiced or observed the hijab in that specific manner.
As stated by Reza Aslan, “The veil was neither compulsory nor widely adopted until generations after Muhammad’s death, when a large body of male scriptural and legal scholars began using their religious and political authority to regain the dominance they had lost in society as a result of the Prophet's egalitarian reforms”.
Also, the Quran, the book itself doesn't actually require the women to wear a hijab. Also, it was rather impractical for working women to wear veils, "A veiled woman silently announced that her husband was rich enough to keep her idle." It was a social habit of sorts picked up as Islam expanded throughout the region.
Veiling itself (not hijab), did not originate with Islam. Statuette exist that have veiling, dating back to 2500BC long before the emerging of any Abrahamic Religion.[3] The veil was a sign of respectabiity and higher status, often slaves and lower-class women were forbidden from wearing one and were thought of as "available". Assyria had laws dictating who was allowed to wear one depending on status etc.
The Emperor Augusts encouraged his citizens to enter temples "capo velato" which literally translates to "with their heads veiled", by which he intended clothing very similar to one wore by men and women in Saudi Arabia today. He appeared like this in propaganda pictures etc. (See the Ara Pacis Temple)
In Judaic scripture, Genesis 24:65, Numbers 5:18 and Isaiah 47:2 are references in the Old Testament refer to a headcovering for women. Some scholars postulate that the customs of veiling and seclusion of women in early Islam were assimilated from the conquered Persian and Byzantine societies and then later on they were viewed as appropriate expressions of Quranic norms and values.
The Muslim conquest lead to some synthesis in the cultural practices of Greek, Persian and Mesopotamian empires. Veiling slowly but surely spread to upper-class Arab women, and eventually became widespread through cities in the Middle East. It became more pervasive under the Ottoman rule as a mark of rank and exclusive lifestyle.
Women in rural areas were much slower to take hold of practice as it was a very impractical garment and interfered with their work. [4]
In Summary, Veiling has been long practiced by women even in Pre-Islamic Arabia as they had contact with present-day Syria and Iraq. It was symbolic of an upper-class lifestyle but slowly changed to represent piety and modesty among Muslim women. During Muhammad's life, women in the Ummah did not practice hijab. This was changed after his death by men to gain political authority that they had lost due to his reforms.