Should we ban the burkha?

Suzanne Evans and Sadi Mehmood respond to comments by Jack Straw on the Muslim veil.


Sadi Mehmood, Director, Noble Khan Ltd.

As a Muslim Women, who doesn’t wear hijab, or a head scarf, I am stuck in the middle of this debate. It seems that Muslims are the target of every little issue. I think it’s about time we stopped targeting a particular religion and take steps to understand, integrate and mix with each other.

As a cultural training provider, I meet a lot of people who feel intimidated by the Nikab, or full veil. Then, after taking my experiential courses they come out not having any issue with it. Why? Because education and touching and feeling things in a secure environment, breaks down barriers. If people feel unnecessarily intimidated they need to talk to people who work in this field to get help combating their fears.

Those who wear Nikab may feel intimidated or insecure if they took it off. We would never expect a nun to take of her head scarf, so why do we expect Muslims, to take them off? How does a piece of clothing stop an individual from integrating? It isn’t about clothes but how we as individuals need to be educated and shown how to integrate with people. It’s OK for government to say Muslims need to integrate, but what’s stopping English people from doing it first? Rather than just tolerate each other, why don’t we start getting to understand each other?

That said, I personally do not understand the purpose of Nikab. It is not Islamic. When Muslims visit Mecca for Hajj, women have to have their head covered but their face showing. They are not allowed to cover their faces. If this is what is expected in the holiest place on earth, then why would you need to cover your face anywhere else?

The Nikab is a cultural dress, not an Islamic requirement. Some argue it started in Saudi Arabia, to offer protection from sand storms and hot weather, which is why. Saudi men dress in a similar way. Some argue the Hijab is also not something Muslims had to do, but came about because men in the days of the Prophet Mohammed decided to copy his example. The prophet would ask his wives to cover themselves when they entered out, so they would not be harmed or ogled at by men because of his high profile. Other women naturally wanted to feel of equal worth to his wives and covered themselves too. The issue of covering needs to be understood – why would we cover a precious stone? To keep it safe, dust free, and so it doesn’t get hurt or damaged by others. A similar metaphor can be seen to have been used in this case.

It is sad that this country is getting to a stage of breakdown, I used to be proud that in England we have the freedom to wear what we want and as long as we abide by the laws of this country. I enjoyed being able to wear a kameez with a pair of Jeans, without anyone making nasty remarks. Now there is debate in the Muslim community because some of us might like to wear a cross, and we may be giving the wrong image off. I’m a Muslim and I wear a cross. It doesn’t make me a blasphemer.

www.noblekhan.co.uk


Suzanne Evans

We all have the right to wear what we like although, personally, I would prefer some women covered up a bit more in public. But, yes, I too would also prefer women not to wear niqab, or the full veil with only the eyes showing. Jack Straw is right when he says it is a visible statement of separation and difference that makes positive relations between communities more difficult.

The question is why should this be so? Walking through Wimbledon Village recently, I saw a Buddhist monk from the local Thai Buddhist Temple across the street and thought how wonderful he looked in his saffron robes. An hour or so later, I found myself feeling quite different emotions as a man accompanied by two fully veiled women stood behind me at the supermarket checkout. I was quite shocked by the difference in my reactions to what were after all only two different forms of religious dress. Why should I find one inspiring while the other made me feel angry? Why would I feel happy to speak to one in the street yet avoid the other?

As Jack Straw said, it is difficult talking to someone when you can’t see their face, be it because they are wearing a veil, huge reflective sunglasses or a motorbike helmet.

I suppose I also have problems with the niqab because I know it is not actually Islamic. Neither the Koran nor the Hadith demand it, requiring simply that women dress modestly, showing only the hands and the face. As Sadi Mehmood says above, the niqab is a cultural statement, not a religious one.

For these reasons, I wonder why a Muslim woman would choose freely to hide her face?

A few years ago I conducted some research into why British women were converting to Islam. Many of them spoke of the release Islam gave them from being ‘a sex object.’ I quite understand. There is tremendous pressure on women to be slim, attractive, young-looking and always well-dressed. The success of Trinny and Susannah, a million women’s magazines and a handful of lad-mags depends upon it. I don’t like it and welcome anything that aims to stop objectifying women in this way.

Yet I feel taking the full veil stereotypes and castigates men. It hints at the insulting idea that ‘all men are rapists who can’t control themselves.’ Worse, it implies that it is up to women to change this by hiding their personal identity. My whole being rebels against this idea. The vast majority of men are not rapists and they can control themselves. And as for those who can’t, why should it be for the woman to make the sacrifices?

The veil also causes resentment and division, I think, because we might feel those women who wear it are judging the rest of us who don’t. It is as if they are engaging in a kind of spiritual one-upmanship and assuming religious and moral superiority over me and their fellow Muslims who chose not to wear the veil. Our faces are a unique physical symbol of our identity and, when these women hide their faces, we feel they are effectively saying: ‘back off, don’t come near me, I do not wish to get to know you.’ I hope this is wrong, but this is the message given out and it is not a good one if we wish to create harmonious multi-faith societies.

To read Jack Straw’s original column in the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, visit

http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/