The veil unveiled

By Makhsudul Islam

The point of this article is to give an incisive and telling reaction to the comments made by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy. A report by The Guardian showed that Nicolas Sarkozy took a hard line approach in France's latest row over Islamic dress, saying full veils and face coverings were a sign of women's debasement and "not welcome" on French soil.

More than 50 MPs, mostly from the president's centre-right UMP party, backed calls for a parliamentary inquiry to debate whether Muslim women who wear full-body religious veils with only their eyes visible posed a threat to the republic's secular values and gender equality. A government spokesman had suggested that a law could eventually be proposed to ban full coverings from being worn in public in France. Sarkozy used his first state of the nation speech to defend the French republican principle of secularism and attack full Islamic veils.

To quote Sarkozy exactly: "The problem of the burka is not a religious problem, it is a problem of liberty and women's dignity. It is not a religious symbol, but a sign of subservience and debasement. I want to say solemnly, the burka is not welcome in France. In our country, we can not accept women prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity. That is not our idea of freedom. But I tell you, we must not be ashamed of our values. We must not be afraid of defending them. We must not fight the wrong battle. In the republic, the Muslim religion must be respected as much as other religions."

Muslim headscarves and all religious symbols were banned in schools in 2004, and the latest row over religious dress is likely to spark more soul-searching and controversy in France.There are no figures for the number of Muslim women who cover their face, but it is believed to be a very small minority. In France, the terms burka and niqab are often used interchangeably – the former refers to a full-body covering worn largely in Afghanistan with a mesh screen over the eyes, while the latter is a full-body veil, often in black, with a gap for the eyes.

Critics have already warned that the government risks stigmatising Muslims over a minor and marginal issue. After Sarkozy's speech, the left-wing senator Jean-Pierre Chevènement said the subject was difficult because people were free to dress how they liked in public under French law, but full veils could contravene French ideas on gender equality. He cautioned against whipping up "pointless provocations". The question remains does the covering of a woman actually debase, de-moralise and take away her identity as a fellow human being?

Let us first of all see the reasons why Islam takes such a stance to the covering of the woman and why it has the opposite effect of Sarkozy’s view. It is stated in the holy Quran: “ O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (Jalabib) veils all over their bodies (screen themselves completely except the eyes or one eye to see the way Tafseer Al-Qurtabi) that is most convenient that they should be known (as such) and not molested: and Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful."[1]

So as we could clearly see the whole point of the act is to prevent the women from being molested not only that but it is also a voluntary act of worship, the keyword here being voluntary. Muslim women decide to wear the veil as an act of worship, to call it oppression and debasement is farcical from the President. France is among the elite in Europe when it comes to molestation rates and to disrespect the burka is uncalled for. There is proven evidence that the wearing of the burka has reduced molestation rates, examples include countries such as Saudi Arabia and Afghanistan, this in effect would solve many of the problems that the French government is facing. Cases have travelled to Liverpool in the UK where women have been attacked merely for wearing the burka. Sarkozy’s comments not only add fuel to the current integration problems but may also create a rebellion by the Muslims.

Let us look on the flip side of the argument; President Sarkozy mentions the fact that women to a certain extent may well be deprived of an identity and could well be intimidating to strangers. This may be understandable in the sense that a non-Muslim may find it quite frightening not to know who is behind the veil, but when a Christian goes to have their confession not knowing who is behind the confession box or when a Catholic nun covers herself from head to toe – there is no media outburst nor expression of uncomfort – why is that?

If the speech of President Sarkozy is analysed it displays many defects and flaws, firstly he mentions that a ‘woman’s liberty and dignity’ is taken away, now to the lay person a woman’s dignity is in her chastity, if preventative measure could be taken to thwart the taking away of her chastity, that woman is most respected by society. Coming to the point of liberty, definition of liberal is to allow as one pleases, there have been no cases thus far where it has been evidenced or shown that young girls or women had been forced to wear the garment – so in that sense President Sarkozy has weakened his own argument.

Secondly, he mentions: “France can not accept women prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity.” The religion of Islam makes no mention that it is illegal to socialise and mix whilst wearing the burka in and amongst other people, but what it does state is that women should avoid socialising with strangers. That is a basic concept that we use in our daily lives which is why children are taught not to talk to strangers since there maybe potential danger. There is mention of being deprived of identity, to any non-muslim, seeing a woman in a veil brings a certain identity to mind - a chaste muslim woman. Again President Sarkozy’s reasoning does not bode well and the concept of being imprisoned is a misconception.

Thirdly, he makes a positive argument, the effect of which is eradicated by his speech: “the Muslim religion must be respected as much as other religions.” If the wearing of the hijab or niqab is a duty within the Islamic religion and President Sarkozy clearly states that it is not 'welcome on French soil,' then it should also be the case for nuns in a Catholic church, nevertheless there is no mention of this. It is clear the French President is disrespecting the religion of Islam by not accepting its values, it contradicts their manifesto which stated all sects should be free to practice and express as they please.

To conclude, the French government is looking to create legislations which would ban the wearing of the veil, although it has already been banned in schools in 2004. This move would be quite astronomical since it would create an uproar with not only the Muslim population of France but the whole world. It would be quite difficult for the French government to produce any sort of legislation since the European Convention on Human Rights would prevent such a move under Art. 9 (Right to conscience and religion) and Art. 10 (Right to freedom of expression). The possibility of a rebellion by the large Muslim population in the French province is not attractive to the French administration and Sarkozy should seek to eradicate the problem by putting greater emphasis on integration. To prevent an act of worhsip by a Muslim woman is disrepecting her morality and preventing her from freely exercising her right to a religion.

[1] Surah Al-Azhaab, Verse 59