The debate about the face veil
Lord Ahmed, the first Pakistani-British Muslim to become a life peer in the House of Lords, won a "Doha Debate" on Tuesday, in which he argued that Muslim women in the West should avoid wearing the face veil in the interest of the full integration of the Muslim community.
"The veil is now a mark of separation, segregation and defiance against mainstream British culture."But there's nothing in the Koran to say that the wearing of a niqab is desirable, let alone compulsory. It's purely cultural. It's an identity thing which has been misinterpreted.
"They were supposed to be worn so that women wouldn't be harassed.
"But my argument is that women, and communities as a whole, are now being harassed because they are wearing them."
He said that the veil was a "physical barrier to integration".
The peer said that Muslims in Britain had to become more sensitive to their surroundings, in the same way as westerners walking around Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, would have to wear a head covering and long clothing before they could expect to engage with local people.
He said that he did not want to see a ban on veils, but added: "Muslims need to have a debate among ourselves about whether we need them.
"We need to re-engage as responsible British citizens and be seen once more as contributors to society rather than people who are a burden, living parallel lives," he told the paper.
I should mention perhaps (ok, I'm calling attention to this) that I was one of the people who helped Lord Ahmed prepare for this debate.
But perhaps the next debate on face veiling should be held in Pakistan, where the Times of London has just reported, a female minister was just shot dead - yes, for refusing to wear the face veil. As the Times reports:
Zilla Huma Usman, the Punjab provincial minister for social welfare and supporter of President Musharraf, was shot as she prepared to address a public gathering in the town of Gujranwala, 70km (43 miles) north of the provincial capital, Lahore. As party members threw rose petals at her, the gunman shot her in the head, police said. They identified the attacker as Malulvi Ghulam Sarwar and said that he was opposed to the participation of women in politics and the refusal of many professional women in Pakistan to wear the veil.
“He killed her because she was not observing the Islamic code of dress. She was also campaigning for emancipation of women,” Nazir Ahmad, a police officer, said. ...
Mr Sarwar, a stonemason in his mid40s, appeared calm when he told a television channel that he had carried out God’s order to kill women who sinned. “I have no regrets. I just obeyed Allah’s commandment,” he said. Islam did not allow women to hold positions of leadership, he claimed. “I will kill all those women who do not follow the right path, if I am freed again,” he said.
Perhaps Pakistanis could weigh in on whether killing a woman who refuses to veil, um, impedes her full integration.
Or maybe Pakistan could host an even more germane debate - on whether this type of action is really in line with the teachings of Islam.
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