http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7§ion=0&article=84216&d=21&m=10&y=2006&pix=opinion.jpg&category=Opinion
Saturday, 21, October, 2006 (29, Ramadhan, 1427)
A Face Veil Goes One Step Beyond a Dress Code
Iman Kurdi, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
When the debate on the hijab raged in France a little while
ago, I found myself firmly defending the right of girls to wear the hijab to
school. But now I find the shoe is on the other foot. I find myself sympathetic
to Jack Straw, the former British foreign secretary, and others who have
followed him in expressing a growing unease at dealing with women wearing a
full-face veil.
There is a world of difference between the hijab and the
niqab. The hijab is a form of dress based on modesty. It leaves a woman
relatively free to interact with others, to drive a car, to chop vegetables, to
operate machinery, to see a computer screen or to stand in front of a classroom
and teach.
The second is a veil in the true sense of the word. It hides
and separates. It also physically impedes a woman from fully interacting with
others, chopping vegetables, operating machinery or doing any number of every-
day tasks which require the full use of the five senses.
Both can be considered religious customs. My personal view is
that neither is a religious dictate, but this is irrelevant to this debate. If
a woman believes that wearing the hijab or covering herself up in a niqab is
her religious duty then I must accept and respect that belief. I cannot ask her
to take off her hijab or her face covering at the door of the school or the
hospital as if it were merely a fashion item. However as a patient or as a
parent, I have the right to expect the highest level of care. Hence I believe
that it is entirely correct that Kirklees Council suspended the teacher Aishah
Azmi because she was not prepared to teach without a face cover. Their duty is
toward their pupils. Teaching is based on complex interaction between student
and teacher. This interaction requires the student to make eye contact, to see
the lips move as they speak, to register facial expressions and to build a
relationship of sorts - all of which is severely impeded if the teacher's face
is covered, even if there are peep holes for the eyes.
Mrs. Azmi was suspended not because she is Muslim but because
she is unable to perform her job to the standard that parents have a right to
expect for their children. If she believes that it is her religious duty to
wear the full-face veil - as she does - then clearly she cannot be asked to
remove it, but neither can she expect to teach in a mixed-gender environment. I
have no doubt that Aishah Azmi is a dedicated and capable teacher but she
should be teaching at a single-gender school where she can be free to teach
without a face cover. Clearly she knows this since she did not wear a face
covering to her job interview at the school.
There are a host of jobs that Muslims cannot undertake. Some,
like wine tasting, are out of bounds for men and women. Others, like being a
lifeguard, are out of bounds for veiled women. It is in the nature of the job.
It is ludicrous to cry racial discrimination because the job we wish to do is
incompatible with our religious customs.
All of this has stirred up the debate on integration in
Britain. Jack Straw who started this particular snowball rolling revealed that
he asked women who visited him at his constituency to remove their face veils.
He did this in a highly respectful manner: It was a request, not a condition;
there was always someone else present in the room and most importantly it was
not done with any malicious intent. I can understand his unease at speaking to
someone behind a veil. I can also understand his contention that you cannot
build trust and understanding if you cannot see the facial expression of your
interlocutor. I agree with him fully though I worry about its implications. It
is hard enough for a citizen to visit their MP without also having to contend
with lifting their veils. But since it is merely a request, where is the harm?
They are free to say they prefer to stay veiled.
The problem of course is that this debate has become highly
politicized and comes at a time when the Muslim community in Britain feels
increasingly targeted. But the debate is one that needs to take place.
And then I read the news and I notice that in Tunisia, a
Muslim country, there is a law banning women from wearing the heap in public
places. It is not a new law, and Tunisia is not the only Muslim country to have
such a law - Turkey for instance has similar rules banning women from covering
up in public institutions - but this law is being applied with renewed vigor
and Tunisian politicians have been stressing the incompatibility of the hijab
with modernity. Morocco has also recently moved to discourage women from
wearing head covers. It is a similar discourse, one which questions the
reasoning behind the wearing of head scarves and face covers and which aims to
separate the religious from the political. Are women veiling out of genuine
religious belief or is it more of a political statement?
I find myself increasingly torn. It is unacceptable to me
that a girl should be denied entry to a university or a school because she
wears the hijab just as I find it unacceptable that a girl should be denied
access because she is not wearing the hijab. It should be a matter of personal
choice where girls are free to choose how they dress. So long as the way they
dress does not interfere with their capacity to learn, it should not concern
the educational authorities. At the same time, I share the concern about the
politicization of female dress. I do feel increasingly alarmed by the trend
toward full veiling.
In my view covering the face takes veiling a step beyond
dress. For me, a woman who covers her face as well as her body is choosing to
separate herself from the people around her. She is withholding her identity,
hiding her emotional reactions and her personality. She is choosing to remain a
stranger. It is no surprise that she generates mistrust.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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