Should Veil Be Banned in the UK - Essay Example

?Should Veil be Banned in the UK Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Local Values vs. Global Values 4 Cultural Imperialism 5 National Sovereignty 7 Role of Media 8 Conclusion 9 References 11 Introduction Every religion in this world advocates some superstitions and norms to be followed by particular religious groups. Similarly, Islam states the importance of ‘Veil’ also referred as ‘Hijab’ or “full face veil” for women in the society. ‘Hijab’ is the religious teaching of Islam where women are directed to cover their head, face and body as preached in the sacred writings of the religion such as Quran, Shari'a and the Sunnah. Considering Sura 7:46, a veil acts as a separation between the resident of Heaven and the resident of Hell. In Sura 19: 16-17, a veil is remarked as the symbol of sovereignty and purity. Other explanations in the Quran also describe veil as a separation of evil with the good (Amer, 2000). On this note of an affirmative definition of veiling one shall think that why veil should be banned in the UK or any other country contradicting preaches of Islam and the belief of Islamic women. It was in the year 2006, when Mr. Jack Straw, a leader of the House of Commons in the UK stated ‘Hijab’ to increase the differences between Islamic religion and other religious groups and remarked the practice as a “visible statement of separation”. This incident was led by the suspension of an assistant teacher wearing veil in her workplace (Sultan-ul-Qalam, 2006). Since then, the practice of wearing veil in the UK by Muslim women has become debatable in relation to the judgment behind banning the veil in the economic region. The paper presented here will intend to discuss various aspects related to this issue with due regards to local and global values regarding ‘Hijab’ or ‘Full Face Veil’ along with cultural imperialism and national sovereignty of the UK. The role of media will also be analysed to obtain rational in relation to the debated topic of banning veil in the UK. Local Values vs. Global Values Abraham (2007), in his study adroitly states “Just as complex discourses have developed around the metaphor of ‘the closet’ and ‘coming out of the closet’, the metaphor of ‘the veil’ and the concept of ‘lifting the veil’ have developed their own political debates”. With due consideration to this explanation of veil, the local values can be recognised in this context. Veil which is also called ‘Naqab’ or ‘Hijab’ originates as an Arabic word that refers to as barrier. Moving further from the lexicon explanation, veil has a broader meaning in the local values of Islam. It largely indicates towards the philosophy of modesty in both men and women (Long, 2009: 93-94). However, in the current day context, the most common metaphor of Hijab is an Islamic woman wearing on veil to cover her head, her face and her body. Furthermore, according to the Islamic values, a veil also tends to provide sexual space to the women in the society indicating that women should keep themselves covered in front of any unknown male figure with whom they were unable to theoretically be engaged, i.e. men who do not relate with their family (Long, 2009: 93-94; Abraham, 2007). Even in the current practices, veil is considered by Muslim women to provide them with space in terms of sovereignty and modesty as well as in terms of sexuality (Gabriel & Hannan, 2011). On the contrary, from a generalised point of view the global values of Islam have often presented the religion as ‘barbaric’ restricting many natural flows of human life. In many instances, the religious beliefs are also stated to reflect the society to be male dominated. For instance, Islam states that men can have more than one wife provided he is able to render equal love and affection to each (Long, 2009: 92). Similarly, from the global perspective wearing a veil is considered to be a religious belief that creates a social difference between the Muslim women and men of the same as well as other religions. Thus, it is termed to barricade the human rights of women in the modernised society. As stated by Bullock (2002), the global or modernised point of view regarding veil or Hijab is that it depicts the differences between a man and a woman that apparently restricts social convergence to a large extent. Moreover, a veil in the western region is also depicted as metaphors for Islam in terms of mere costumes for Muslim women and also have often been categorised as oppressive for women indicating their female purity (Bullock, 2002). Thus, from the above discussion it can be apparently stated that in the 21st century context, the local and global values contradict each others on various grounds. Where in local values for veil relates it with spirituality and modesty, the global values relate it with a religious approach of differentiation and symbolisation of Islam. However, from an in-depth point of view, the global values regarding veil depicts the practice to be more cohesively related with cultural aspects rather than merely related to the religious aspects (Iqbal, 2010). Cultural Imperialism Cultural imperialism is defined as dominion of one culture above another. The banning of veil in the UK can in this context be evidently be related with cultural imperialism, although it is still to be proved whether the prohibition of full face veil is an instance of the same. The authority in favour of the decision to ban veil in the UK considers that it is often pressurised on the Muslim women by their family members and peers which restricts their right for equal treatment, autonomy and expression among other factors (Article 19 Law Programme, 2010). Considering the remarks of Mr. Straw related to the banning of veil reveals this aspect quite evidently. Supporting the view point of Mr. Straw, the then honourable British Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair also stated ‘Hijab’ as “a mark of separation” (Sultan-ul-Qalam, 2006). From a theoretical perspective, it is said that Islam has neither forced women in wearing the veil and nor is it unique to Islam only. Veil is also in the tradition of Christians, Assyrians, and many other ancient religions (Sultan-ul-Qalam, 2006). However, in the practical scenario of practicing veil has often been observed to be imposed on young Muslim girls by their families. The banning of veil in London was supported by many Muslim young girls such as Nesrine Malik. As she states, the veil along with the Burka made her feel “apologetic, withdrawn and subdued”. She further stated that in real means the veil or the dressing rule prescribed for Muslim women infringed their human rights demonstrating them as sexual object. In her words, “most of all, I felt infantilised, stripped of the right to dress how I pleased due simply to the fact that I was a woman, and hence, purely a sexual object to be concealed lest it should inflame desire” (Malik, 2010). From this point of view, the practice of veil can be termed as an example of partial cultural imperialism where Muslim culture dominates the western culture by barricading modernisation of clothing choices by women. On the other hand, the dominion of western culture over the Islamic belief to practice veil can also be remarked as an example of cultural imperialism. Considering the statement of Malik (2010), “The French vote to ban Muslim women from covering their faces in public is just as oppressive as the Islamic law forcing them to do it in the first place”. Therefore, the banning on veil from both the perspective of local values and global values tend to be an example of cultural imperialism. National Sovereignty National sovereignty is termed to be quite crucial in a republican country. It indicates the egalitarianism existing between the citizens of the republican. It is in this context that secularism often becomes a significant barrier to national sovereignty. The terms secularism is defined as a separation or differentiation of one citizen from another. Secularism in often practiced on the basis of culture, religion, gender or income group which in turn tend to affect national sovereignty to an extent (Litfin, 2003). In this context, the practice of veil can be stated to affect the national sovereignty of UK to a large extent. As stated by Asad (2006), if veil is termed to be a symbol of Islam, it shall be referred to as a base for secularism where not only the religion Islam is differentiated from other religious castes, but is also a differentiating base between the female and the male population. On the contrary, the banning of the veil by UK government can also be viewed as an attempt to control public space by exercising the sovereign power of the centralised state (Asad, 2006). With concern to the similar aspect, Scott (2010) states that the banning of veil is largely concentrated on the political empowering over religious beliefs and public sovereignty rather than its loyal focus on the aspect of “female emancipation”. The explanation provided by the government on this ground noted that “Discourage fundamentalist Islam taking root in Europe” can be apparently witnessed as an example of secularism and reflection of sovereign power over religious (Article 19 Law Programme, 2010). Thus, it is likely that the banning of veil in the UK shall affect its national sovereignty at large. Role of Media The role of media in shaping the debate on banning of veil in the UK has been quite extensive. For instance, it was through media that people became aware of the probable decision of the government regarding the banning of veil remarking it as a symbol of Islam that in turn tends to affect secularism and national sovereignty at large. It was also through the media that people was introduced with the cultural values of veil and the grounds on which the government decided banning the practice (Rahbani, 2010). It is worth mentioning that through online news media, local people were not only informed regarding the banning of veil, but they were also provided with a platform to discuss their point of view expressively with other members of the society. Notably, Jafri (1998) states that it was the media that fundamentally linked the Islamic custom of Burka also termed as “hijab” or “full face veil” with the ever threatening trouble of terrorism. On the similar context, it was through media that feminists and other socialists asserted the practice of full face veil as oppressive for Muslim women and as a symbol of secularism (Jafri, 1998). Common people, belonging to both the Muslim and Non-Muslim religious castes, depicted their personal view points by commenting on the reports and the news published in the media channels, such as the online news, blogs, printed forums, television discussions and so on. Even in documentaries the “hijab” or “full face veil” has been demonstrated as oppressive that undoubtedly acted as fuel in the controversies related to the banning of veil. Multiple examples have been demonstrated on the media revealing various aspects related to this practice and the experiences of Muslim women in this context (Rahbani, 2010). For example, the experience of Taslima Nasrin, who was a Bangladeshi feminist, was also disclosed through media publications that stated the unfair treatment of women in Islam (Jafri, 1998). As the study of Rahbani (2010) reveals, where on one hand the Islamic media channels were mostly busy detailing the values and beliefs of full face veil, the western media publications were mostly based on the oppressive treatment experienced by Muslim women due to the practice of full face veil. However, it is of no doubt that in both the cases, people were able to reframe their point of view that in turn made significant contribution to the debate (Rahbani, 2010; Jafri, 1998). Conclusion Concerned with the factors of cultural imperialism and national sovereignty along with the aspects of local and global values, it can be stated that the practice of veil can be both acceptable and objectionable depending on the personal view point of a person. Remarking the veil as oppressive and barrier to the libertarian towards the equity and human rights of women in the age of modernization, the banning of veil in the UK shall be supported. On the other hand, considering the facts regarding cultural imperialism and national sovereignty, the banning is likely to be objected (Long, 2009). However, it is worth mentioning that the main objection in practicing veil is the tradition to cover the full face and body by the Islamic women. Notably, there are various types of veil referred in Islam which states it to be mandatory to cover the hairs of women and not necessarily cover the face or body of Islamic women. Not only in Islam, but this kind of belief can also be observed in many other religions including Christianity (Sultan-ul-Qalam, 2006). Thus, the UK government can ban the “full face veil”, “hijab” or “Burka” rather than prohibiting the practice of veil, i.e. to cover hairs. Conclusively, it is worth stating that wearing a veil or not should be the decision of women themselves rather than the religion or the government. If the true focus is on the human rights of women in the modernized society, then it shall be more acceptable to provide them with the freedom to take their own decision to wear veil eradicating the judgments and influence of the religious speakers, the community, the family, and even the government. References Abraham, I., 2007. The Veil and the Closet: Islam and the Production of Queer Space. Queer Space: Centres and Peripheries. Amer, S., 2000. Uncovering the Meaning of the Veil in Islam. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Article 19 Law Programme, 2010. Justifications For and Against Full Face Veil Bans. Legal Comment Bans on the Full Face Veil and Human Rights: A Freedom of Expression Perspective. Asad, T., 2006. French Secularism and the “Islamic Veil Affair”. The Hedgehog Review. Bullock, K., 2002. Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil: Challenging Historical & Modern Stereotypes. The International Institute of Islamic Thought. Iqbal, N., 2010. Beyond The Veil: London's Burka Wearers Go On the Defensive. ES London Limited. [Online] Available at: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/article-23894883-beyond-the-veil.do [Accessed on September 30, 2011]. Jafri, G. J., 1998. The Portrayal of Muslim Women in Canadian Mainstream Media: A Community Based Analysis. Afghan Women’s Organization. Litfin, K., 2003. Towards an Integral Perspective on World Politics: Secularism, Sovereignty and the Challenge of Global Ecology. Journal of International Studies, Vol: 32, pp. 29-56. Long, M., 2009. Islamic Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures. Marshall Cavendish. Malik, N., 2010. Burka Ban: Why Must I Cast Off The Veil? Telegraph Media Group Limited. [Online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/7896536/Burka-ban-Why-must-I-cast-off-the-veil.html [Accessed on October 2, 2011]. Rahbani, L. N., 2010. Women in Arab Media: Present But Not Heard. ASWAT. Scott, J. W., 2010. France's Ban On The Islamic Veil Has Little To Do With Female Emancipation. Guardian News and Media Limited. [Online] Available at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2010/aug/26/france-ban-islamic-veil [Accessed on October 2, 2011]. Sultan-ul-Qalam, M., 2006. Assessing British MP Jack Straw’s Comments Concerning Hijab In Islam. USA and Lajna Imaillah Media Watch. Read More