The Guilfordian

Issue date: 2/5/10 Section: World

Media Credit: nytimes.com

This month, the U.K.-based Daily Mail reported that French President Nicholas Sarkozy declared the burqa and niqab, full-body veils worn by Muslim women, "not welcome" in France, and stated that the veils are ''a sign of debasement that imprison women."

The burqa is a full-body garment with a mesh screen over the face worn largely in Afghanistan, and the niqab is a full-body veil with slits for the eyes and is seen more widely in the Middle East.

President Sarkozy and French lawmakers are calling for a ban on the full-body veil in all public institutions, including post offices, universities, hospitals and public transportation. France has about 3.5 million Muslims, representing about six percent of the population, according to research by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

"The full veil is simply a prison for women who wear it and will make no one believe a woman wearing it wants to integrate," said UMP (Union for a Popular Movement -- the current controlling party in France) head Xavier Bertrand to Daily Mail.

According to an opinion poll collected by the U.K.-based Times Online, Bertrand's view is consistent with that of two-thirds of the French population who also would like to see the veil banned in public. Viewing it as a symbol of religious fundamentalism, this majority also considers the veil an offense to their country's secular foundation.

Despite the popularity of the proposed ban among French citizens, however, many Muslim women who wear the veil deny that it is an overt sign of female oppression.

"You are going to isolate these women and then you can't say that it is Islam that has denied them freedom, but that the law has," said Mabrouka Boujnah, a language teacher of Tunisian origin, to CNN.

Boujnah, who at 28 is about to have her first child, condemns the proposed law as inherently repressive and undemocratic, stating it takes away a fundamental right of Muslim women.

She and her friend Oumkheyr told CNN they prefer to cover their faces out of piety.

Oumkheyr, who refused to give her last name, is in her forties and unmarried. In a statement to CNN, she said that she even has friends who wear full veils against the wishes of their husbands.

Boujnah and Oumkheyr, both French citizens, say they are only following their religious beliefs and France should respect that.

However, while not necessarily agreeing with President Sarkozy's rationale, many French Muslims believe that the full veil goes too far.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools