My Personal Opinion on the Hijab, Burqa, and Niqab

[PunkPingu]

Before I delve into my opinion, I would first like to specify the difference between each religious wear, for those who are unaware:
The hijab covers the hair, the niqab covers the hair and face (excluding eyes), and the burqa is head-to-toe, full coverage of the entire woman.

Now, as you all may have noticed lately, since ISIS has become prevalent, there have been increased attacks and discrimination against Muslim people. I may be an atheist, but I believe in religious freedom as well, so long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. Anti-Muslim sentiments are no different than anti-atheist sentiments. We all deserve the right to exist without fearing for our lives or facing harassment.

What has happened since ISIS became a threat? Men and women have been murdered and assaulted for their appearance, let alone their actual beliefs. Looking Middle Eastern is warrant enough for abuse and it is appalling. These are our fellow human beings, being tortured at the hands of other religious people, and even atheists too. ISIS is a problem, but as I always say, not all Muslims are terrorists, and not all terrorists are Muslim.

What does the idea of the niqab ban infringe on? Which rights? This is a huge issue in Canada, courtesy of our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, who loves to fear-monger. The rights being taken away are the freedom of religion, and the freedom of expression, which goes against our Charter of Rights and Freedoms to take them away. Yet, our government is trying to anyway.

The main issue with the niqab is that the face of the wearer is not completely visible, but the ban would only extend to citizenship ceremonies. Well, why should they wear them? Here in Canada, under our Charter, Muslim women have the right to wear a niqab or even a burqa. Refer back to my point about the Charter if you still do not understand. Why not just take them off for the ceremony? It's disrespectful to their culture. They are not allowed to reveal themselves to men that they are not married to. Considering that Canada has no specific culture, that kind of hatred and discrimination is uncalled for. We do not act out against Nuns for wearing a habit or Jews for wearing a yamaka. If people have a problem with the niqab, how can we appeal to both sides of the ordeal? Provide private rooms with all-female officials so that women who wear religious garments of that nature, so that they may reveal their identity to be sworn in. What about personal IDs? Private rooms for pictures so that their beliefs are respected like ours are. Is it really so hard to accommodate people of other religions? We do it enough for Christians. Why not for Muslims too?

It oppresses Muslim women to wear headscarves!!! Darling keyboard warriors, it is often the choice of the female, and not her family, to wear a head covering in the western world. For women who do not have that choice, we should be providing those women with a safe haven and helping them get out of those situations. We all should have the right to choose as such. It is oppression to force people to wear certain garbs and it is oppression to take away the option.

I simply do not care about what you believe in, so long as you are a good person. That should not be a hard concept to grasp. Everyone deserves the opportunity to pray to whatever god they would like, to practice as they like, and to dress how they would like. No government has the right to take that away.

[aitm]

How do you suggest the police verify the identity of someone in case of an emergency? Do we suspend medical attention on a injured or sick women until we can put her in a private closed room with women only? And frankly I most certainly do not want people driving a car around wearing clothing that restricts their view in such a manner, what do you suggest for that?

You are suggesting that society as a whole should accommodate a person beliefs to the point where we have to spend millions to have little rooms all over the country to assist in establishing identity? In such other cases of emergencies, consider if we continue to have terrorists attacks, what is to prevent men from hiding beneath the cover of a womans clothing?

As an atheist I agree that people should have the right to their own nonsensical beliefs until education can wipe it out, however, also as an atheist and seeing that Islam is as much a horror of religion as any other, I am for anything that helps strip away its authorities and one of those is to help liberate those who suffer the most, the women, even, if you suggest, they want to remain tight to their religion. I would have this reaction to any religion where one sex was forced to do something that the other sex is not forced to do.

But I can be convinced with some better points.

[Moralnihilist]

I love how the biggest complaint against the removal of coverings at state ceremonies is the fact that it is against their culture. Newsflash, if you are trying to gain citizenship to another country you will have to adapt to that countries culture. And seeing how Canada(amongst other countries) is not under sharia law full body coverings are not only not part of the required dress for women, but they are rather against the norm. Not only that but how is a government official to know who is under the cover if they refuse to reveal themselves?

[stromboli]

Thanks to the terrorists in Islam, every time i see a woman in a full Burka it makes me nervous, knowing full well that it is a perfect cover for a suicide bomb, which they apparently are capable of using. Don't have that same concern for a woman wearing a head scarf.

called common sense. We, the non-Muslims, did not set the conditions wherein fear is created and suspicion is generated. Muslim dress is one thing-public perceptions and fears quite another. If they clash, we need to err to common sense and safety over religious mandates.

[Youssuf Ramadan]

If I've got to take my motorcycle helmet off in a bank, then a muslim woman needs to take off their face-covering.  There's cultural 'rules' and there's common sense.  If someone wants to believe in some woo from the iron age, that's their choice.  But if they live in a country which is not governed by iron age woo then they need to follow the same protocol as everyone else.  Failing that, maybe a move to a country that practices iron age woo might an acceptable solution for all.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

Obnoxious text color: check.
Condescending attitude: check.
Poor grasp of facts: check.

Yep, we've got a Social Justice Warrior.

[PopeyesPappy]

But I can be convinced with some better points.

Burqa blow job?

[aitm]

that would be a good start..er.....considering I get to make sure its a real woman and not a ...GASP...homo trying to send me down the wayward path of self destruction!

[Hydra009]

They are not allowed to reveal themselves to men that they are not married to.

And why is that?  I think we all know the answer to that one.

It oppresses Muslim women to wear headscarves!!! Darling keyboard warriors, it is often the choice of the female, and not her family, to wear a head covering in the western world. For women who do not have that choice, we should be providing those women with a safe haven and helping them get out of those situations. We all should have the right to choose as such. It is oppression to force people to wear certain garbs and it is oppression to take away the option.

We actually don't know for certain who is compelled, either by law or by society, to wear "modest" dress and who is not.

[stromboli]

                                                           

[Desdinova]

Burqa blow job?

At least there's some cloth handy for a quick clean up.

[Munch]

You know I've held for a long time now a regret for women in such countries where they are indoctrinated into being slaves to their husbands and wearing burqas, convinced this is what is 'normal' by the men of their country, and I will continue to stand against such practices and call them what they are, especially if they come to my country with that attitude. But I will not defend the women who are so indoctrinated by this, they think its not only normal, but anyone else against it is abnormal or wrong.

Its hard to tell such people they are slaves to their backwards culture when they've grown up in a land that makes this a law under penalty of death, but in the western world, we now abolish such laws and do not welcome them here. Your a woman, be a fucking woman, don't act like its some female right for you to be oppressed by your men you stockholm syndrome suffering morons.

[stromboli]

You know I've held for a long time now a regret for women in such countries where they are indoctrinated into being slaves to their husbands and wearing burqas, convinced this is what is 'normal' by the men of their country, and I will continue to stand against such practices and call them what they are, especially if they come to my country with that attitude. But I will not defend the women who are so indoctrinated by this, they think its not only normal, but anyone else against it is abnormal or wrong.

Its hard to tell such people they are slaves to their backwards culture when they've grown up in a land that makes this a law under penalty of death, but in the western world, we now abolish such laws and do not welcome them here. Your a woman, be a fucking woman, don't act like its some female right for you to be oppressed by your men you stockholm syndrome suffering morons.

[pr126]

The burka, hijab, niqab in western countries is nothing more than a political statement.
A symbol, a flag, a sign for all to see one's adherence to a particular party / cult / religion.

"The first fundamental principle for the creation of a successfully visible Islamic society is to be separate and distinct... "

[Fidel_Castronaut]

One thing the OP needs to address is that the various clothes discussed for women within Islam are in fact not really Islamic at all, but rather a cultural item spread by the far right Saudi peninsula tribes to other areas that are also Islamic (& not).

Sierra Leone is a de facto Islamic state, yet until 10 or so years ago 'Islamic dress' was very uncommon. Women did not wear the Hijab/Niqab etc and men did not wear desert robes/garbs or have lots of facial hear. The increased presence from conservative Muslims from the Saudi peninsula propagated a growing adoption of conservative values, to the point now where many Muslims in Sierra Leone look indistinguishable from their Arab brethren.

One has to ask why this has happened. Has the overt influence of conservative Wahhabism in Sierra Leone made men and women more conservative? Do people fear this conservatism to the point where they or conform or do they genuinely want to act  more like and adhere to the customs of the Arab interlopers at the expense of their own rich and varied cultural norms?

Thing is, and I'm just going to say it, women in the west have more freedoms than they do in the Middle East and in other Islamic states. It's easier for a women to chose what to wear in Europe or North America (though by no means is it 'freedom for all!!') than in, say, Syria, or Lebanon, or Egypt, or Pakistan (Tunisia and Turkey are two places where secularism however has lessened the influence of theocracy and theocratic politics). A muslim women choosing to wear the Niqab here is not conducive to freedom of choice in the middle east and hence it is not fair to equate all women within Islam being given that choice.

We know, for a fact, 100%, that the choice of women in many north african Islamic (and Christian) states is very, very limited. Take FGM, a cultural norm in many parts of northern Africa. I've never met or heard of a woman who says, given the choice, they would go for FGM unless they've had a gun to their head forcing them to say it.

Equally, I've never actually heard many women in the middle east and elsewhere comment about their dress. The best thing would be to ask them, but even that has complications because asking them is no guarantee of an honest result. The only way to increase the odds of that happening is if you remove the overarching issue from which the issue stems; a patriarchal religious structure & ideology which commands on what women should do rather than asking them what they want to do. In the west at least, you can be more certain that there isn't a religious policeman or overbearing conservative father standing in the background listening to what the interviewer is asking you, though it's by no means a dead cert of course.