Aspects of Islam that Conflict with the Common Beliefs and Ideals of the Secular Worldview

When discussing the topic of veiling, one must understand the original significance and the traditions behind it. Veiling is traced back to the Prophet Muhammad, who God had spoken to instructing his wives to create a barrier between themselves and those that didn’t relate to them. The Islamic veiling then developed from allowing men and women to show modesty per the Quran with many styles of veiling such as the Hijab, Chador-full cloak that covers the body and the hair, Niqab- covers the woman entirely with a small opening for the eyes, and the Burqa, which covers the head and the body and has a grill which covers the eyes, each style evolving on taking a cultural meaning with the origins of its religious right behind it. Signifying

Within the Middle East, the largest population of the men and women are Muslim. The Muslim religion suggests that the women wear a veil or hijab, which is a headscarf that only exposes a woman’s eyes, accompanied by a burqa which is a full body cloak. The sole purpose of the clothing is to cover a woman’s feminine features from men’s eyes. The Qur’an, an Islamic scripture supports, and slightly obligates the uniform by saying that women are to be conservative, “Let them wear their head covering over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments.” (Qur’an). Muslim women, instead of feeling oppressed, view this as a positive aspect in their lives, influenced by their devotion to Allah. Their acceptance could be influenced by their

Muslim women living in North America and Europe often face scrutiny over their choice to wear the veil, even though many Western people do not fully understand the practice.

The banning of the burqa has become an issue in many places, including France. The French Parliament has decided it is time to ban the burqa in public. They believe is a sign of the subjugation and submission of women to males. Some believe it is used to cover up abuse and they also believe it is unfair to the public that citizens cannot see the women’s faces. However it is unfair for these women to be banned from wearing what they choose as just everyone else does.The banning of the burqa should not be allowed because it is discriminatory towards Muslim women and violates their freedom of religion and their freedom to express themselves.

The bombing of the Twin Towers turned America’s focused toward the Middle East. The War on Terrorism began in earnest. This war has brought about more than one conflict. As a nation, the United States is unique. The government is not run by any particular regime or religion, there is freedom. Yet, this is our unique brand of freedom. The Middle East is full of peoples with their own way of life that do not necessarily agree with the way we see freedom. Lila Abu-Lughod discusses one of the many difference between the United States and the Middle East, the use of head coverings and the burqa, in her article “Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving?” She examines the cultural significance and different types of veiling.

Religion is a part of life for millions of people around the world and can often define a person and their way of living. While some countries solely recognise a religion through cohesion of religion and state, other countries are secular, having a definite separation between church and state affairs. It is often the lack of separation between these two ideologies, which causes conflict amongst people, groups and sometimes countries, clearly showing defects in the relationships of various factions of society. April 2011 saw a controversial law come into effect, known as the ‘Burqa Ban’, which prohibits the wearing of the full-face burqa in public places. In the present day and specific to Islam in France, religion and the state are in conflict with one another on the issue of wearing religious symbols in public. In a secular country where a minority religion struggles to define itself, it seems

Muslim women all throughout the world are being discriminated against because of the clothing that they wear. After recent terrorist attacks, the stigma of Muslims being terrorists has become even more apparent. This has led to multiple harassments and hate crimes against Muslim women, primarily in Western countries. The discrimination has become so bad that some are suggesting that women who practice Islam shouldn’t wear hijabs or other veils while in public. It sounds like a great solution, but, in a way, would also violate their rights of religion. There’s also the fact that women in hijabs are viewed as being controlled by men. However, there are many Muslim women who are very independent and are not wearing the veils because a man told them to do so.

The burqa is a garment, a long dress that covers the entire body of women of the Muslim religion, including part of the face, legs and arms when they use this type of clothes, the burqa, you can only view their eyes, the other parts of the body are hidden by the fabric. These type of clothes are usually worn by women in some countries like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other Muslim cultures.

A nun can be covered from head to toe in order to devote herself to god. But when a Muslim woman does the same she is being oppressed. It may be argued that wearing a burqa benefits only a few and brings more harm than good to society. The real question is who does it harm? That should be the basis for banning this piece of clothing, not one based on fear or an arguably feeble argument that the women do not have a choice. To say that a ban on a specific item like this is undemocratic is an understatement. Following the French senate’s unanimous vote in favour of banning the burqa in late 2010, many European and western countries including Belgium and Spain have made the decision to take the

Selby, we are introduced to the struggles between secularism and culture. Selby explores the effects of French secularism on the freedom of religion of Muslim women by examining the relationship between gender, race, and freedom. The idea of feminine sexuality in relation to freedom has resulted in the decision by France and Canada to consider women wearing the hijab and niqab in public to be “unacceptable.” While Western ideas of female sexuality are described in one way, the veils and covering of Muslim women designate the beliefs of their culture. Selby challenges the argument made by the French politicians to be racist and sexist excuses.

Among the Islamic community, there is a wide range of views from those who believe that head and face covering is required, to those who believe it is un-Islamic. This is due to individual’s interpretation of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Sura, a chapter of the Qur’an calls for “the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close around them”. As this phrase is somewhat unclear, traditionalists believe that women should cover their face and head whilst from the same passage Moderate Muslims believe that it does not explicitly dictate that women should cover their heads and faces. Another phrase from the Sura also causes divergence amongst Muslims followers as it tells “believing women to lower their gaze and be modest and to display of their adornment only that which is apparent and to draw veils over their bosoms”. Again, moderate Muslims believe that this passage only refers to the covering of the breasts. There is no unified position in regards to the veiling of women because of multiple and individual interpretations of the Qur’an and different cultural expectations. Because of this, there are a range of options of veils, from covering just the head to cover the face and body. The most commonly seen veil is the Hijab which covers the shoulders and head, opposing this is the Burqa which is a full body veil where the wearer’s face and head are covered and one sees through a mesh or grill over the eyes. It is important to note that it is not

So what actually is the Burqa? There a several different types of clothing that women wear because of their religion known as the hijab, niqab, headscarf, and the burqa. The burqa is a piece of clothing worn by some Muslim women that involves covering the whole body as well as covering the face with mesh, so that the eyes are not visible. Everyday Muslim women who wear burqa's are regarded as security threats, feared and even denied their basic human rights. These are the issues that Muslim women face every day.

Within the Middle East, the largest population of the men and women are Muslim. The Muslim religion suggests that women wear a veil or hijab, which is a head scarf that only exposes a woman’s eyes, accompanied by a burqa which is a full body cloak. The sole purpose of the clothing is to cover a woman’s feminine features from men’s eyes. The Qur’an, an Islamic scripture, supports and slightly obligates the uniform by saying that women are to be conservative, “let them wear their head covering over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments.” (Qur’an). It could be inferred that women wear the burqa and veil willingly because of their geographical location. However, when Muslim women are withdrawn from the Middle East, and are placed

Here in the United States, some individuals think that by wearing a hijab you are you enforcing the belief that Muslim women are being forced to wear one despite the reason that some of these women wear it’s a sign of freedom. Therefore, it appears that to some women, the veil is unjust; while other women feel it is not unjust but a decision they made on their own in dedication to their religion. Still, for many women especially the ones in Western countries, they have no choice and for that reason alone, they are being made to wear a

Burqa bans are unlawfully stripping Muslim women of their right to follow and show their commitment to their religion. Many countries in the United Nations are beginning to put a nationwide ban on wearing burqas in public. This restricts Islamic women by giving them the choice to either defy their religion, or stay inside their house and not get anything done. Not only does this restrict daily activities, but it makes it challenging for islamic women to get a quality education. Overall, countries are putting a national ban on niqabs, forcing muslim women to betray their religious beliefs in order to perform simple activities.