THE French President Nicolas Sarkozy believes “the niqab is not a religious symbol, but a symbol of the debasement of women.” He said: “The burqa is not welcome on the territory of the French Republic, and we cannot accept in our country that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of dignity.” The niqab is France's big issue of the day, and the prevailing trend suggests that France is leaning towards taking away the rights of Muslim women to wear the niqab. This ruling, if it came to be, would leave France in crisis with the Muslim community, reminding us of what occurred when the hijab was banned in public schools. Some French officials have attempted to preempt the crisis with talk of respect for religions, assuring people that the ruling would not target religion, and warning against the possible confusion concerning Islam. The issue contains nothing but confusion and the niqab which France so despises, and terms as “backward”, is, in the end, an Islamic dress, worn by Muslim women in accordance with the teachings of their religion, or the traditions of their religion, as well as the fact that Muslim women have not sought protection from the tradition of wearing the niqab. Whatever the matter, let's presume that the view of the French is correct, and that the niqab is not a religious symbol. What of personal freedom? What about respect for peoples' traditions and privacy? What would the reaction of the French and Europeans be if a Muslim nation banned western women from revealing their heads and faces, believing it to be against the modesty of women, and counted among the reasons authorizing the ban a counter offensive to the French attack on Muslim women? There is no agreement among Muslim scholars on the form of the hijab or the niqab, and nobody doubts that religion and customs are intertwined in the issue. This explains the diversity of Muslim women's dress from one country to another, with some parts of the Muslim World taking up the French position and calling for the hijab and niqab to be banned, but these reasons do not permit the French or anyone else to take away the freedom of Muslim women to choose their dress. What France is doing today is tyranny and oppression in the name of freedom and defense of women's rights and women's dignity, and that's to say nothing of the French attempting to constrict Muslims and make them sick of living in France, but by devious and unpleasant methods. – Dawood Al-Shiryan, Al
