Removing the Veil on Muslim Women

The call by Jack Straw for removal of the veil has triggered heated debates among Muslims and non- Muslims.

In many Muslim countries, the use of the veil is no longer considered as a must. But in the Gulf States, especially in Saudi Arabia, a woman can’t drive or travel by herself, let alone show her face in public. In this country, this can be accepted as it is part of its traditions. In the West, Muslims are free to practise their religion, but this should not be to the point of their becoming a society within a society. They should adapt to the society as religion script is open to interpretations. Some Muslim scholars aren’t only opposed to Western ways, but also to Muslims leaving their countries to live in it. It is this kind of scholars who make things difficult. In the Quran, there is no script obliging a woman to hide herself from head to toe, showing not a single inch of her skin. The proof is that in Muslim countries from Morocco to Bangladesh, Muslim women have different dresses.

Concerning UK, religious dogma should not prevail. Muslim communities should be open to the society where they live instead of withdrawing from it, looking like refugees or gypsies with no settled homeland. The veil itself can’t guarantee chastity. Paradoxically, it can be a mean for a presumably Muslim woman to have free relations while in public she is covering herself. Some Muslim women, even when wearing a veil can still make use of their eyes to be attractive.

Now France has banned the Hijab, or religious headscarf, in schools and in places of work. If the campaign against Muslim women’s Islamic dress escalates, we may see legislations throughout Europe imposing on them “secular” dress. And it is in the interest of all societies to reach moderation. As in the majority of cultures, it is indecent for a woman to go totally naked in public; it also seems bizarre to see a woman in the street totally covered in a frightening black dress.