Conservative Islam by Kolig Erich;

Author:Kolig, Erich;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: undefined
Publisher: Lexington Books
Published: 2012-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

Burqa—Poster Exemplar of Female Oppression

France (which has already banned the hijab in the public education system)[10] and Belgium are banning the total face veil in public places.[11] In France the law has been in force since April 2011; it allows for arrest and a fine of 150 Euro[12] for contravening it by covering the face entirely. Generally, concealing the face by whatever means will be treated as an offense unless done in the context of a masquerade or carnival festivities. A penalty would even be exacted from men who force their wives or daughters to wear face veils. The debate had been raging across France for some time previously, with President Nicolas Sarkozy heavily weighing in and describing the Islamic veil as “unwelcome” in France. The debate saw politicians, opponents, and advocates of the face veil using the terms burqa and niqab interchangeably, despite the fact they describe very different types of Islamic dress. The burqa (the all-enveloping cloak with a woven grill over the eye slit) is rarely seen in France. More frequent, in line with the North African origin of most French Muslim women, is the niqab, a garment that conceals much of the face but leaves the eyes uncovered.

Arguments politicians used were “We can measure the modernity of a society by the way it treats and respects women”—implying that the face veil signals female subjugation and its absence signals a progressive, liberated society. And “Wearing the full body veil is about extremists who want to test the republic”—which assumes sinister political-ideological reasons behind this custom, used by fanatics to push the envelope. Some politicians warned that the law would be difficult to enforce and, in that it violates provisions of religious freedom, would probably face a challenge in the European Human Rights Court. Critics also argued that a specific law enacted to ban the full veil would be tantamount to using a sledgehammer to swat a fly. As Muslim community leaders pointed out this contentious form of dress remains a rare exception among France’s Muslims, the biggest Muslim minority in Europe. In France it is estimated that fewer than 2,000 women wear the total veil out of a female Muslim population of between 2 to 3 million.[13]

Banning the all-covering body veil by law in a Western liberal democracy contravenes cherished and popular values of personal liberties, ignores mantras of religious freedom, and may even violate human rights laws. The inherent contradiction between allegedly liberating women by restricting their choice of garment provides a rich paradox. For the proponents of the ban this Islamic garment symbolizes female oppression, anti-democracy, religious intolerance, and male tyranny—all of which is believed to have congealed into a repulsive religiocultural custom. Thus the enforcement of European—or rather French—values is justified; the virtues of modern French citizenship of liberty, freedom of choice, and gender equality have to be inculcated if necessary by compulsion. For France also the preservation of laicité, a vital ingredient of French national identity, is at stake. Laicité, secularity, is enshrined

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