Last week (april 11th 2011) France became the first country in Europe to ban the face veil. This has irked some who see it as a curb on religious freedom.
Seriously, let us ponder, does a society have the right to control what kinds of religious freedom is allowed? Should we allow witch burning, female genital mutilation, stoning of adulterers, widow burning and other such barbaric cultural practices under the guise of religious freedom?
My own personal opinion is, individual religious freedom that does not harm the society or an individual should be allowed. Additionally, one person’s religious freedom should not infringe on the rights of another person.
So, let us consider the case of the muslim veil:
Why did muslim women first wear the the veil?
Interpreting from Sahih Bukhari Volume 1, Book 4, Number 148 -
The companions of Mohammad, the founder of islam kept badgering him to enforce the veil but he did not do so. One day in the evening one of his wives Sauda went to the field to relieve herself . She was a big woman and even in the dark was quite recognizable. One of the people nearby shouted out “Sauda, I know it is you”. Deeply embarrassed, the poor woman came home and complained to Mohammad. Very soon a quranic verse was produced -
33.59 -
(YUSUFALI): O Prophet! Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when abroad): that is most convenient, that they should be known (as such) and not molested. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
In other words, the first verse in the quran relating to the veil was to allow a woman to defecate in a public place without being recognized. Think about this. Do muslim women need to defecate in public today? And if they did, would it not infringe on the rights of society to maintain a level of civic cleanliness?
The second quranic verse enforcing the veil is 24.31. -
“YUSUFALI: And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband’s fathers, their sons, their husbands’ sons, their brothers or their brothers’ sons, or their sisters’ sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss. “
This verse, instead of asking muslim men to develop some degree of self control, asks a woman to veil herself. Basically, this lays the onus on men’s deviant behavior on women. I am surprised that muslim men do not find this verse insulting because it implies that they are incapable of self control. Think about it – this is equivalent to saying it is the victim’s fault that he was robbed as he should not have been carrying a purse in the first place. Stupid, isn’t it? In fact modern democratic societies where men and women work side by side very productively is sufficient proof that this verse is nonsense. Are such verses that punish women instead of teaching men superior values really relevant to modern times. There are many cases (I personally know a few) where fathers and other male family members force girls to veil against their will. Is this really religious freedom?Is this not a case of one’s religious freedom causing harm to another?
On many internet blogs muslims claim that the veil is a show of faith. Excuse me, but, faith should be a matter between an individual and his/her God. The truly faithful, the truly spiritual do not need to “show” their faith to another human being. Showing off is not a spiritual value that needs to be cultivated. The male muslim bloggers never try to show their “faith” by covering their face, do they? Their “faith” is mainly confined to harassing and heckling muslim women that do not comply by their rules of “faith”.
One muslim woman defending the face veil, stated (in a Washington Post article) “When I dress this way, you are required to deal with me intellectually and that’s it “. Well, dummy, you can deal with people at an intellectual level without covering your face. The rest of us are doing it all the time. An intellectual conversation does not require props, especially props that limit communication. Human beings use facial expression to communicate socially. Facial expressions convey a lot – whether the person is telling the truth, the emotional state of the person etc. What exactly are you trying to hide behind the veil and why should we trust you if we cannot read your expression? In fact, there have been cases of bank heists conducted by men in burkhas. There have also been cases of terrorists escaping by hiding under the full body veil.
Lastly, research has shown that the full body veil causes vitamin D deficiency especially in the West. This can lead to rickets, osteoporosis. There are also health risks to infants born to the affected women. Thus again, this is a case of a religious practice causing harm to individuals and others.
In short there are many reasons the veil is harmful and banning the veil is the right decision. To summarize:
- It is a vehicle of control of women and is a brainchild of seventh century primitive desert dwellers.
- It was created to hide an action that was shameful (such as defecating. As as aside, in certain cultures only prostitutes covered their faces so that they were not recognized).
- It teaches muslim men not to take responsibility for their actions or to exercise self control.
- It limits human social interactions and isolates the woman ( who would really want to talk to a walking bag)
- It is a security risk. A person needs to be clearly identifiable.
- It is a health risk.
Kudos to the French and other nations that ban the veil. We do not need the practices of ignorant nomads of the seventh century in the modern world.
