“Muslims who have been living in Europe for decades refuse to be integrated and remain fairly isolated within their religious and ethnic communities.”
Many Muslims have a proper job and talk about the same general matters as other believers and go to the same super and hypermarkets like other civilians in that country.
It is also wrong to suppose women cannot make up their own mind and would not be able to choose their own religion and would not be able to decide themselves how they want to cloth themselves. Like atheist, Christian or Protestant women can choose themselves what they want to believe and to which religion or denomination they want to adhere, Muslim women also can be smart enough to decide themselves to which denomination in the Islamic religion they want to be apart of and in which way they want to follow the rules of that denomination.
The burkini, also known as a halal swimsuit, modestly covers all but the face, hands and feet, consisting of a top and a bottom. It resembles a wet suit with a head covering.
It has become popular with pious Muslim women, those women (like British cooking celebrity Nigella Lawson) who wear it to avoid a tan, and pious Jews have adopted a variant garment.
Lots of people do forget with a burkini the face is not covered and the clothing clearly shows the women contours and no weapons can be hidden under that clothing whilst under a male’s loose t-shirt a bomb-belt can be worn as well under the coats of people on the street weapons can be carried.
On television we saw a man saying the burkini had to be banned because weapons could be hidden, but he himself was wearing a loose T-shirt where much more could be hidden than by that Muslim woman. So normally he also should have been asked to undress.
When the French are afraid women would hide weapons under their burkini than they also should have going to forbid males and females to be dressed with covering clothes on the streets and in the shops in Summer time and Wintertime.
Can you imagine it: all having to run on European streets in a bikini or monokini whilst it is freezing cold?
The burkini poses no danger to public security. Unlike the burqa or niqab, it leaves the face uncovered. Relatively tight-fitting, it leaves no place to hide weapons.
If a woman wishes to dress modestly on the beach, that is her business, and not the state’s.
The Islamist threat to the West is very real, recognises Daniel Pipes the president of the Middle East Forum, who writes
Issues concerning Islam are arguably Europe’s No. 1 concern, ahead even of the European Union and the financial crisis. They need to be dealt with by confronting real problems, not by focusing on symbolic irrelevancies such as burkinis, halal shops and minarets. Burqas and niqabs must be banned (as the German government may soon do); freedom of speech about Islam and Muslims must be reconfirmed, Saudi and Iranian funding for religious purposes must be cut and a single legal code must apply to all.
The French better concentrate onto the real issue and should demand their state to take care of all citizens, whatever belief they may have, that they can live in a free country not having to fear Islamic or other fundamentalist terrorists and let Muslims and others wear what they wish to the beach.
…Only in Turkey and Lebanon do more than one-in-four think it is appropriate for a woman to not cover her head at all in public.
The survey treated the question of women’s dress as a visual preference. Each respondent was given a card depicting six styles of women’s headdress and asked to choose the woman most appropriately outfitted for a public place. Although no labels were included on the card, the styles ranged from a fully-hoodedburqa (woman #1) and niqab (#2) to the less conservative hijab (women #4 and #5). There was also the option of a woman wearing no head covering of any type.
Overall, most respondents say woman #4, whose hair and ears are completely covered by a white hijab, is the most appropriately dressed for public. This includes 57% in Tunisia, 52% in Egypt, 46% in Turkey and 44% in Iraq. In Iraq and Egypt, woman #3, whose hair and ears are covered by a more conservative black hijab, is the second most popular choice. In Pakistan, there is an even split (31% vs. 32%) between woman #3 and woman #2, who is wearing a niqab that exposes only her eyes, while nearly a quarter (24%) choose woman #4. In Saudi Arabia, a 63%-majority prefer woman #2, while an additional 11% say that the burqa worn by woman #1 is the most appropriate style of public dress for women.
In several countries, substantial minorities say it is acceptable for a woman to not cover her hair in public. Roughly a third (32%) of Turks take this view, as do 15% of Tunisians. Nearly half (49%) in Lebanon also agree that it is acceptable for a woman to appear in public without a head covering, although this may partly reflect the fact that the sample in Lebanon was 27% Christian. Demographic information, including results by gender, were not included in the public release of this survey.
For many Westerners it is difficult to know the different outer garments of Muslim women. Some of them have totally a wrong idea about how a certain garment may really look like. this makes some even to be against some clothing which was also regular female dress in our regions up to the 1960ies.
It is nice to be able to see the differentiates explained so clearly in the article by “an independent” who was a Beverly Hills Democratic Party lawn party member in Cheviot Hills (immediately south of Beverly Hills).
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Hijab, niqab, burka = lots of different kinds of coverings worn by Muslim women all over the world.
The final debate prior to a national election in Canada for the prime minister’s position was partially focused on the right of Muslim women to wear a niqab. The number of Muslims in Canada is about 1 million people. According to Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey about 3.2% of the Canadian population, making them the second largest religion after Christianity. Muslims are not likely to influence the outcome of the election. The dilemma for western nations is the question of acceptance of Muslims. If their growing numbers results in sharia law taking priority over national laws then there will be a problem.
So what is a niqab? The BBC offered the following explanation and drawings of the various head covering used by Muslim women.
Hijab, niqab, burka – there are lots of different kinds of coverings worn by Muslim women all over the world.
The recent attacks on Niqab wearing female bring up some earlier discussions I had last year and this year with different people of different religions. in Belgium burka’s may be forbidden but not much is done against those who still wear it. The regional government of Ticino has introduced fines of up to $13,000 for women (or presumably men too) wearing a burka or niqab in public.
With the many Muslim refugees coming into Europe and with Muslim terrorists having become more active in our own regions people have become more afraid for those women and perhaps also men who are dressed so that we can not recognise who is behind the clothes.
Under Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the previous Canadian government had hoped to persuade the Supreme Court of Canada to hear its case for striking down lower-court rulings that allowed women to wear the niqab — a face covering used by some Muslim women — at citizenship ceremonies. He was floundering in the polls until he turned the niqab into a hot-button issue. Some say he’s distracting voters from his poor management of the economy, his war on the environment and his anti-refugee policy.
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Interim Conservative leader Rona Ambrose, who was a member of the Tory government that filed the leave to appeal, issued a statement Monday following the Liberals’ announcement.
“The new government is entitled to end this appeal,”
she said.
But Ambrose added:
“As a woman who has advocated for women’s rights around the world my entire adult life, I do not believe the niqab affirms the equality rights of women and girls, nor does it reflect the values of an open, tolerant society. This is a matter for which the government must now answer.” {Liberals drop legal bid to ban niqab at citizenship ceremonies}
The hatred shown to women who wear a veil should have many to rethink how those shouting awful words are educated.
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Be careful when you want to watch this video: the language used in this video is awful and can be shocking
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People also should see that there is a big difference in the outer garments and that in the 1950ies women in our regions also wore veils and head scarf and this should still be possible today by all women, not only Muslim women and had nothing to do with giving women no rights.
In a 2014 discussion with Meditating Muslimah about the Muslim faith and some articles I wrote on the Ottoman Empire plus about the hijab to be or not to be a religious obligation she wrote:
First let me say that I think on most things we actually agree– i.e. religion should be separate from state, and no state should be dictating to its citizens what they have to do or believe when it is a matter of personal faith and choice. Our disagreement is over what the Ottoman empire and Turkish government do/ have done on this subject.
My knowledge on this subject comes from being married to a Turk, but also more than that because I have many Turkish friends; one of whom, a very good friend of mine, also happens to be a Turkish historian specializing in the Ottoman Empire and history of the early Turkish republic.
My definition of religious freedom is being able to freely practice the tenants of one’s faith without interference from the government (as long as doing so does not harm anyone else). By this definition, the fact of the matter is that under the Ottoman Empire there was religious freedom in that anyone of any faith was free to live out their faith. Yes, the empire was strongly intertwined with Islam. But they did not prevent people of other faiths, namely Christians and Jews, from living out their faith freely. No one was forced to wear anything. No one was forced to be Muslim. Christians and Jews lived peacefully and freely alongside Muslims in the Ottoman Empire for centuries.I believe what you are thinking of when you speak is about modern day Saudi Arabia. Personally, I disagree with their forcing everyone to abide by their version of sharia law; not only is it un-Islamic to force people to live by sharia, but many of the rules in their version of ‘sharia’ have no basis in the Quran or hadith.
In those articles on different platforms and on her site I also discussed the ‘Islamic Hijab (Veil)’ and wondered about the responsibility both men and women have in applying Hijab, as well as addressing the doubts one may have, and logically explaining ‘Why Hijab?’.
In my historical articles I looked at woman in the previous centuries, deprived of her human values and transposed to a material thing used by men for enjoyment or sometimes used as a slave and how the danger exist certain groups are willing to come to such a situation again. The fact remains that the exploitation of a woman and deprivation of her rights, the confiscation of her humanity reached a point where it became difficult for modern man to imagine, but we at present time can imagine how certain groups again try to push women in a certain corner and do not want them to show their own self to others.
For those who are upset by certain Muslim traditions and views I would like to bring to the attention a remark from Discovering Anthropology
In line with the specification, we were told to discuss the disadvantages that women face in the developing world and then discuss whether the West has helped the developing world to lessen the disadvantage faced by women living there.
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I thought about the law in France that introduced the banning of the Burka in public. The aim of the law was, at least in part, to enable the integration of all sections of society by reducing perceived pressures on women to conform to what was thought of as male oppression in certain communities. In this example, it seems, the women who it effected most were consulted the least, thereby possibly subjecting many of them to alienation or a different form of oppression.
It seems to me most things we talk about in our society are linked to some core values that we hold. We are, I think, often unaware of how much our Western values shapes the way we think and how that can result in us imposing what we believe to be helpful measures that can dis-empower people from various minorities or from other parts of the world. {Cultural Bias}
When women who want to live according to their faith are feeling no t at ease to wear a headscarf in public our society is at risk to bring discrimination under its citizens. when women (or men) feel that anything they say or do is perceived as representing Islam, even if it is not correct, and they get the feeling always to be walking on eggshells and when they do not like being labeled and therefore have to abandon that what they would love to do, we are in big problem. {Why we stopped wearing the hijab – Canadian Muslim women reveal their reasons for removing the headscarf in public –}
Women wearing hijab
No objections should be made for women in the West wearing a headscarf, a hijab, a shayla, a khimar or wearing a al-amira or the more closed chador. Concerning the niqab there may be many debates and controversy, but in the West we should reject when it leaves only some place for the eyes and does not see the whole face. The use of a burka should be prohibited for security reasons and for the possible restrictions for the person wearing it, that may be behind it. though we must recognise there are also many differences in sorts of burkas. The burka worn throughout Middle Eastern nations and most Muslim nations around the world, with a few liberal or democratic governments being less strict about its use can leave just a small line open in front of the eyes or can show more of the eyes..
According to me Islam may be a religion of balance, moderation, and modesty that places a strong emphasis on the maintenance of proper boundaries, whether social or moral. The practice of hijab among Muslim women is grounded in religious human doctrine, yet the Qurʾan does not require it. To cover their faces is according to me a man-made religious ordinance and not a Low from Allah, but in case women would like to wear a head scarf this they should be able to do. Concerning the burka, that is a whole different matter and this should not be allowed for the reasons said above.
Meditating Muslimah reacted
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It doesn’t matter whether or not YOU believe hijab to be a religious obligation. Many Muslim women (including myself) read the Quran and decide for themselves that it IS a religious obligation, or at least that they believe it is an important part of their faith, something that God wants them to do as a part of being modest. This is their opinion, and their right to decide. They have a right to live their faith how they feel they are supposed to. However, I do want to point out that there is a flaw in your understanding of the Quran verse you quoted. The flaw is in the translation of the original Arabic word: “they should draw their veils over their bosoms.” The word ‘veil’ here is ‘khimar’. It means a garment/ scarf / veil that covers the head (and possibly also face). So the implication is that the head covering should also cover the chest (there is some disagreement as to what exactly a khimar was, but most agree it was a shawl type garment that covered the head. This is why some such as myself do not feel it obligatory to cover the head). There is also another verse that discusses covering, again using the word ‘jelabib’ in Arabic: “O (most illustrious) Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters, as well as the women (wives and daughters) of the believers, to draw over themselves some part of their outer garments (when outside their homes and when before men whom they are not forbidden to marry because of blood relation). This is better and more convenient for them to be recognized (and respected for their decency and decorum) and not harassed.
God is indeed All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate” (Quran 33:59). The word “outer garment” here is actually the word ‘jelabib.’ There is of course some disagreement between Muslims regarding what exactly a jilbab/ jelabib is, but most agree that it means a loose outer garment that also covers the head. But because neither of these verses are clear, many, including myself, understand when Muslim women choose not to cover their heads.
Those who insist that covering completely in niqab (covering the face, i think this is what you mean by burka) or even insist on telling Muslim women that they MUST were hijab are wrong in forcing their beliefs on others, however, it does not mean they misinterpret the Quran or that they say there is something there that is not — who are we to judge who is right or wrong in the interpretation of something that is not clear today?
It is however considered a historical fact, and discussed throughout authentic hadiths, that the wives of the Prophet Muhammad were required to cover their whole bodies and faces (in order to protect themselves and the Prophet from rumors of adultery). Some of the believing women may have chosen to follow their example in that time. I believe there is nothing wrong if someone chooses to follow this example too in modern society, though personally it is not my preference. For more on the definitions of khimar and jilabib you can see here: http://www.al-islam.org/hijab-muslim-womens-dress-islamic-or-cultural-sayyid-muhammad-rizvi/quran-and-hijab
According to me 
Stepping Toes 