Islamism Rises from Europe’s Secularism

Liberal indignation at the sight of a Muslim woman in a swimsuit says far more about the fragile state of western secularism than it does the role of Islam in European societies.

Also the covering of the body does not have to be a typical Muslim phenomena. English celebrity chef Nigella Lawson in in 2011 choose to wear the fashionable long swimsuit with a head covering, which became better known as ‘the burkini” (burqini).

 

Proponents of clothing bans hail themselves as defenders of European civilisation and liberators of Muslim women from their patriarchal menfolk. they consider themselves to have the right to decide for those women whom according to them cannot decide for themselves which religion they would love to adhere and how they want to be dressed.

A covered woman, by this logic, is robbed of her agency – weak, oppressed and in need of the full armour of the state.

But those not allowing those women to wear what they would love to wear and to show or not show their body parts in one way or another are now deprived of their liberty to dress how they like and of their freedom to be religious in the way they want to be religious.

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To remember

 

• France, Socialist government imposed a “secularism charter” = in every school, banning Christianity from educational system.
• Municipalities changed enrollment form for schoolchildren eliminating words “father” and “mother”, = replacing them with “legal manager 1” and “legal manager 2”. => = George Orwell’s “Newspeak”.
• “Day of Secularism” = celebrated every 9th of December.
• October 2000, Nice, 105-member European Convention drafted Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union => only referred to the “cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe”.

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Preceding articles:

French showing to the whole world their fear and weaknesses

Does Banning Face Veils Help Us Fight Terrorism?

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Additional reading

1. Is Europe going to become a dictatorial bastion
2. On French beach French police forces woman to undress in public
3. Women in France running with naked bosom all right but with covered bosom penalised
4. France and the Burkini
5. Not limiting others but sharing peace with all

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Further reading

1. The surprising Australian origin story of the ‘burkini’
2. Burkini a boon for Muslim women
3. France’s War on the Burqini
4. French mayors dismiss suspended burqini ban
5. The Burqini Ban
6. My Burkini and I
7. What does it mean to cover?
8. Dear white people of France: being forced to undress wasn’t exactly the liberation I was longing for

+++

 

Related articles

• France’s burkini ban is an insult to all religions and Christians must oppose it
• The eternal relevance of Orwell’s Animal Farm
• Beach clashes lead to third French burqini ban
• Another Day, Another Burqini Ban in France
• 7 uncomfortable facts about France’s burkini controversy
• A Burqini is not Equivalent to a Burqa
• Italian imam posts photo of nuns on beach to discuss burqini ban then gets FB account blocked
• Uproar over Burqini ban at French resort
• Burkini ban: Norway’s right-wing Progress Party calls for full-body swimsuit to be outlawed
• French women’s rights minister defends ban on ‘hostile’ Muslim swimwear

Let's condemn...

• In France, the Socialist government imposed a “secularism charter” in every school, banning Christianity from the educational system. Municipalities have already changed the enrollment form for schoolchildren by eliminating the words “father” and “mother”, replacing them with “legal manager 1” and “legal manager 2”. It is George Orwell’s “Newspeak”.
• After two major terror attacks in 2015, France, instead of promoting a cultural “jihad” based on Western values, responded to Islamic fundamentalism with a ridiculous “Day of Secularism” to be celebrated every 9th of December.
• This narrow secularism has also prevented France from openly supporting Eastern Christians under Islamist oppression.
• The empty 13th century Oude Kerk church in Amsterdam is now used for exhibitions and can be rented for gala dinners. In front of it there is “Sexyland”, offering “Live F*ck Shows”, a coffee shop for drugs and an “Erotic Supermarket” for dildos. For seven euros one can also visit…

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French showing to the whole world their fear and weakness

Terrorist beginnings

The previous year France and Belgium had to face very serious attacks to the integrity of their nation.

In the mid-1980s Belgium had already an experience of terrorist actions. Primarily engaged in bombings within Belgium’s borders the CCC or Cellules Communistes Combattantes (Communist Combatant Cells) attacked perceived enemies of communism, specifically NATO, US and other international businesses and the Federation of Belgian Enterprises. Today many may have forgotten those Cellules Communistes Combattantes their attacks which led to several injuries and only two deaths, whilst the Bende van Nijvel or Nivelles Gang, also known as the Brabant killers managed to kill 28 people and got 40 seriously injured between 1982 and 1985, but are also left in the past.

This present day also after the bombings at the airport and metro of Brussels, and the several terrorist attacks by Islamic terrorists all over the country, made the Belgium a little bit more alert They had tears for the victims (Christians, atheists, but also Muslims) but also very sensitive to continue to live on, not giving in to the Islamic terrorists, fearing everything about Muslims.

Taken by fear and covering clothes

The French seem to be taken so much by fear they start panicking as soon as they see a Muslim man or Muslim woman. Even worse, when they notice a Muslim woman in covering clothes or in a swimsuit they get in a terrible state and start using bad words and doing abusive degrading, humiliating actions. Do they really think such devout person, covering her body parts, would be a threat for their life?

Several majors of French cities and several politicians tried to limit the way women can chose their dress. On Thursday, the council of state, France’s highest administrative court, and judicial and advisory body, examined a request by the French Human Rights League to scrap the burkini bans which were imposed and caused already several disturbing  and very embarrassing terrible humiliating situations.

Women in France facing fines and humiliation for wearing burkinis (Photo AFP/Getty)

Beachwear ban and infringement on basic freedom

The bans – made in the form of mayoral decrees – followed the Bastille Day attack in Nice and the murder of a priest in Normandy. Though they do not explicitly use the word burkini but instead ban

“beachwear which ostentatiously displays religious affiliation”,

citing reasons such as the need to protect public order, hygiene or French laws on secularism, many women wearing too much covering clothes were reprimanded and those with a burkini were forced to take it off and to pay a fine.

At a hearing before the state council on Thursday, lawyers for the rights groups in the Villeneuve-Loubet case argued that the bans were feeding fear and infringe on basic freedom.

Lawyers argued that the short-term decrees are illegal and had good reason to declare such bans to be against human rights of liberty, in a state which had liberty in its ensing, having Liberty, Equality and Fraternity as their three core values.

Burkini ban

The film-temple Cannes was the one to start all the fuss and gave the kick-off for banning the burkini because it

“could risk disrupting public order while France was the target of terrorist attacks”

by which you may wonder how such covering up of the body, still showing it is a woman in the dress, would disrupt public order. When the way of dress would create others to react negatively, the state should react on those who take on a racist attitude and not on the one who wears ordinary clothes. The second reason of imposing the restriction should ring strange bells in our ears: It is said those town imposed this law because burkinis ‘are’

“not respectful of [the] good morals and secularism”

of France. Where we do have to question which those good morals are, when you see all that body exploitation, commercial nudity, fornication, a.o.. Against the secularisation we can understand, noticing that the state wants to exclude any from of religion, Judaism, real Christianity, though not objecting the pagan Roman Catholic Church because those Catholics do not do much with their religion and for those few priests and nuns who are in such minority, why should the state bother, because most people do not take them serious.

In France though most would oppose when a nun was forced to take off her habit on a beach, though lots of French people did find it right to have Muslim women to be forced to take off their (often even less covering) clothes. We even got to see where some police officers ‘helped’ to take off the clothes of a woman who was not quick enough according to their liking. It was really degrading to see such a humiliation in public in a so called Western civilised society.

Sexual objectification

In that French society suddenly fashion designers when designing nice clothes for Muslim women are called to help the people to set up against the governement and against public order.
France’s women’s rights minister, Laurence Rossignol, accused the designers of high-fashion burqinis and hajib headscarve of encouraging the “imprisonment of women’s bodies.” Would she also accuse the high fashion places of France to encourage the Caucasian men to consider women as a sex object and lookism target or making women attractive to be the treasure of man and as such imprison them in Western capitalist society? Why suddenly fashion for Muslim women becomes ‘Sexual objectification‘ when it is not for Caucasian non-religious and Catholic people?

The objectification of women, is an important idea in feminist theory and psychological theories derived from feminism and feminist shall have a new task in coming up for the rights of Muslim women, who are now clearly deprived of their own free choice to cloth them selves in a way they find appropriate according to their faith.

Fear for God searching and  finding people

Mainly males protesting of the covered ladies bodies should have us wonder if those men do not have an other problem. And if they seriously think persons wearing such clothes could impose a danger to the community, they should come to give a better explanation. Lots of them are afraid of islamisation of their country and think that when more people show their devoutness more French people would be put to shame and shall come to consider to change their secular life and perhaps consider to come to look for God again.  For many this is clearly also a problem. Many are very much afraid that people shall start wondering about their faith and about the Truth. Many are really fearing that several people may come to know God better and come to see how the Catholic Church mislead them so much.

Forcing women to go for protection

By forcing the Muslim women to cloth in a different way than they want to do for their faith, the French push them in a corner and shall make certain groups stronger, because they shall support those women and help them. In this way we have already the Algerian businessman and political activist Rachid Nekkaz who previously  founded the organisation “Touche pas à ma constitution” (English: “Don’t touch my constitution”, a play on the slogan of the NGO SOS Racisme: Touche pas à mon pote), which pledged to pay the fine of any women convicted of wearing the burqa in public, now also has created a fund to pay for any fines incurred by women wearing burkinis, and has already helped several women by paying their €38 fine.

But also radical preachers shall get to pull the women to their site, showing how pervert modern society has become, and how much the State does everything to get people away from God. The latest measures forbidding to wear any religious symbol on public adds to the proof of the willing secularisation of the State.

At the same time the governement in France does everything to create more hate between its population and in Allah or God believing people.

Nekkaz called the burqini ban

“symptomatic of the French government’s efforts to eliminate Islam, bit by bit, from the constitution”,

adding that the French government

“wishes to battle against the visibility of Islam in France”. {Meet the man paying off burqini fines in France}

But believers in God should see the Nation wants to go even a step further. Clearly this week they have taken the step to make it very clear that they are prepared to start the battle against the visibility of any God loving group of people, being it Jews, Christians or Muslims.

Public suppression and rejection of religion

La Sophia Lara, who is currently a student reading Latin and Italian at University in Scotland, whilst she is a linguist at heart, her interests and passions also expand to ‘philosophical’ contemplations (used in the slightest of terms), travelling and making YouTube videos on her channel, reacts rightly on her blog

A France which prides itself for liberté, égalité, fraternité, has unfortunately fallen short in recent times, with more social division and socialprejudice arising within the country, due to the public suppression and rejection of religion; the consequent of which has led to violent eruptions. It is also precisely through the social persecution of the wider islamic community in such acts which aim to strip them of their beliefs, that it seems that the French government are validating individuals’ fears, rather than attempting to diffuse them. I personally believe that the government has made very little effort to try to remedy the severance, and have instead trumped the terrorist acts  as a way to divert the attention away from their own failed model of harmony. {France’s banning of the ‘Burqini’ is the rejection of its founding principles}

Suppression of dissent

In France we may notice that because of the fear for terrorist attacks and because of the fear of the unknown (the lack of knowledge of what really Islam is and should be) suppression of dissent has come to demand its place in that nation of liberty and so called freedom.

The non believers in a god or the God form the group which is more powerful than those who believe in the Almighty Divine Creator of heaven and earth, has taken advantage of the present situation to directly censor, persecute and oppress those believers in the God of gods (Allah).

Lots of French do not want to give an ear to the other victims of the terrorist attacks and do not want to know more about Islam and how certain groups are misusing that religion its name to create war and anger. They do not want to take time to consider all facts and to engage with and constructively respond to or accommodate the other party’s arguments or viewpoint.

Sticker art arguing that dissent is necessary for democracy.

For many French people, Muslims are now considered a dissent perceived as a threat, against whom action must be taken, and should be repressed plus considered as “dissidents” to get rid off.

In several blogs we could find such reactions blaming ‘all Muslims’ for the agony which came over France.

Those who do not want to believe a woman can decide herself to wear a burkini deny the right of that woman to decide for herself

In France there are lots of people who do not seem to believe a Muslim woman can be strong enough to decide for herself to wear what she wants. There are even some people, like a Dutch blogger, who want to believe because a female wants to cover her body she is giving a sign that when it would not be covered she is allowed to be raped and should be found guilty of doing so. That is turning it all the way around (wrongly). By not allowing those women to dress as they want, the state gives the signal that it does matter how people are dressed and how female beings give a signal to men if they are ready to be taken as wife or be subject to be used as something else.

Any woman should have the own right to decide what she wants to wear without any man giving a connotation to what she wears.

So called nothing to do with racism but for safety reasons

When the burkini ban has nothing to do with racism and anti Islam religion do we not to question

How can a piece of clothing be a threat?
How can Burkini decrease the level of security?
How can they decide what women should wear to the Beach?
How is this even a topic of discussion?! {Burkini a threat…}

Is the Moroccon, Tetouan, Swedish Sarah not right in posing

they think by forcing us to dress a certain way they are helping us… They are the ones oppressing muslim women by taking away their rights do be who they want to be and dress how they want to dress. {Burkini a threat…}

Why should any person who does not want to walk naked have not the right to cover her body up? Be her or him a Jew, Christian, Muslim, atheist or a pagan believer, who may have the right to decide what she or he has to wear?

The Swedish blogger writes

I’m so tired of the “what should muslim women wear” discussion. If my sisters don’t want to be half naked while swiming, they shouldn’t be forced. If my sisters want to cover up, they should be able to. And if my sisters want to be free, let them be free.

Stop trying to set us free from a decision we freely made!!
Stop trying to label us.
You do you, and we are going to do us and just keep being awesome.🙂{Burkini a threat…}

Madonna, France has a message for you: You can’t swim with us. #youcantsitwithus – Exclusive Madonna Holiday in France

21st century witch hunt

Texan Cartoonist Clay Jones wrote

Western Europe is proving we’re not alone in the United States with our racism, xenophobia, and mass stupidity. I’m still recovering from the hate rally I attended last week.

Human Rights groups asked France’s highest court to strike down the ban, and they agreed. The court ruled that the ban

“seriously, and clearly illegally, breached the fundamental freedoms to come and go, the freedom of beliefs and individual freedom.”

I’ll add to that with “yeah.”

and drew a very good cartoon, which you can find on his site: Claytoonz: burkini.

Maryana Kovalchuk hits the nail on the dot to think of a new witch hunt. She writes

An affront to women. A sign of intolerance towards cultural diversity and integration. A step to prejudice, discrimination, segregation and an insult to everyone who worked hard against them. {Universal concern: not naked enough}

and ads the very confronting nice picture.

Caption from film ‘Rapture’, 1999, Shirin Neshat

We only can hope the French will find a solution to avoid further Islamic terrorist attacks and shall not try any more to take away the attention of the French public, from the real problem France does not seem to be able to manage.

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Please continue  reading:

Does Banning Face Veils Help Us Fight Terrorism?

Islamism Rises from Europe’s Secularism

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Preceding articles

A world with or without religion

Women their education and chances to become a parliamentary

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Find also to read

1. 2014 Religion
2. Social media a destabilisation tool in the Middle East and Syrian conflict
3. 2015 the year of ISIS
4. Summary for the year 2015 #1 Threat and fear
5. Wrong ideas about religious terrorism
6. A world in denial
7. Man’s own fault and the choice to flee from fear
8. Being Charlie 11
9. Tears for Belgium
10. Mountains of information, disinformation and breaking away
11. Funding of ISIS
12. Paris attacks darkning the world
13. Brussels-born Salah Abdeslam key suspect Paris terrorist attacks
14. The Meaning of Paris
15. Children of Men
16. Before you blame All Muslims for the terrorist attack in Paris
17. Humanity Quote for Pax Populi
18. When will it stop
19. French Muslims under attack
20. Syrian but also Belgian connection to French attacks
21. A sleeper cell of militants was said directing attackers sent back to France from Islamic State’s de-facto capital in Raqqa, Syria
22. Massive police operation in northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis
23. Mediterranean bloodshed
24. Nice attack, terror everywhere and coup attempt in Turkey
25. France and the Burkini
26. On French beach French police forces woman to undress in public
27. Women in France running with naked bosom all right but with covered bosom penalised
28. For those Christians who say they are the Victim
29. A Secular Mindset
30. Is Europe going to become a dictatorial bastion
31. About burkinis and where burka’s are banned > Full burqa and niqab ban

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Additional reading

1. A Secular Mindset
2. Social media, sympathy & shocks
3. Blinded crying blue murder having being made afraid by a bugaboo
4. For those Christians who say they are the Victim
5. Signs of the Last Days
6. God Watches
7. Not limiting others but sharing peace with all
8. A Jew and Muslim walking together side by side down USA city streets
9. A darker and stranger place
10. Il terrorismo è l’urlo di un bambino al buio
11. Remain lovingly = No path for softies
12. You Matter
13. How to Find the Meaning of Life and Reach a State of Peace

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Further of interest

1. Egalité and Fraternité are great, but we need to ask ourselves some very difficult questions about Liberté
2. Pope on Charlie Hebdo: There are limits to freedom of expression when faith is insulted
3. Terror Is A French Word
4. Timeline of European terror attacks
5. Some thoughts on the Paris attacks
6. France Makes Major Shift Toward Fascism in Wake of Paris Terror Attacks
7. The Brussels Attacks: A Paris Perspective
8. Reaction from U.S.A. President Barack Obama
9. Brussels, Europe’s jihadist breeding ground, now itself under attack
10. Misunderstandings of Islam: Violence and Riots Break Out in Molenbeek
11. A Culture Comes Together From Paris Attacks
12. Terror attack in Nice!!!
13. France Attack: More Than 84 Dead As Truck Filled With Bombs Crash Into Crowd.
14. A Celebration ended with terror
15. Nice truck attack leaves France and the world in shock
16. Why we should try to understand violence
17. Explaining Terrorism
18. Hypocrisy Abounds: Free Speech as Cover for Islamophobia
19. Nice Terror- “Keep Eiffel Tower Dark until ISIS conquers France”
20. Updated: Muqtada al-Sadr wears military uniform: Some thoughts on the secularisation of Muqtada al-Sadr
21. A2 Sociology: American devotion to religion is waning, according to new study
22. A2 Secularisation
23. A2 Beliefs: UK one of world’s least religious countries, survey finds
24. A2: Faith, hope and secularity: Ireland on brink of change as church power wanes
25. Studies in Church History 52: the Church and doubt
26. Religion: A Diminishing Prospect?
27. Secularisation 1
28. Secularisation 2
29. 5 Feature Ideas on Religion
30. How God left the Netherlands – or is it the other way around?
31. The War on Nothing
32. Are All Lives Equal?
33. Anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant rallies grow in Europe
34. Morality, values and Developing right choices
35. Why Gender Equality Is Not Just About Equal Rights
36. Gender Equality and Equality
37. A dying Western culture is the problem
38. Islamism Rises from Europe’s Secularism
39. Modest Swimwear: The Burkini
40. East Essence: Shop Islamic Clothes For Your Whole Family!
41. Ban The Burka
42. Planned ‘Burqini Day’ irks French far-rights
43. The Burkini Ban and the French Secularist Hypocrisy
44. Third French burqini ban after Corsica clashes
45. France’s banning of the ‘Burqini’ is the rejection of its founding principles.
46. Burkini and French Secularism
47. French Web Round-Up: 5 Things That Made Me Smarter This Week
48. Thoughts on Burqini
49. Breaking News: France requesting to Saudi Arabia’s ‘Morality Police’ for training their police force!
50. Dear white people of France: being forced to undress wasn’t exactly the liberation I was longing for
51. France’s War on the Burqini
52. What women need is security
53. What does it mean to cover?
54. Islam, France, Burkini: A chit chat on FB
55. My Burkini and I
56. France’s highest court suspends burkini ban in test case
57. The Burqini Ban
58. Burkini Ban: How an Innocent Pun Became Another Way to Erase Muslim Women
59. Anti-burkini decrees
60. French mayors dismiss suspended burqini ban
61. Amid Burkini Controversy, European Right-Wing Suggests Restricting Islamic Faith.
62. Meet the man paying off burqini fines in France
63. More prejudices than burkini ban
64. The Big Deal About the Burkini
65. Australian designed Burkini taking the world by storm.(Haute couture)
66. French resorts defiant as top court suspends burkini ban | The Times of Israel
67. French mayors uphold burkini ban to keep beaches ‘sexy, not terroristy’
68. Burkini = Look for the very good cartoon
69. an other cartoon: Battle of the Burkini
70. The Thing with the Burkini…
71. Women’s Freedom to Choose
72. Planned ‘Burqini Day’ irks French far-rights
73. Dear white people of France: being forced to undress wasn’t exactly the liberation I was longing for
74. France’s highest court suspends burkini ban in test case
75. France’s Top Administrative Court Overturns Burkini Ban
76. A Good Court Thing
77. Politicians still playing games after #BurkinBan was deemed ‘definitely illegal’
78. Meet the man paying off burqini fines in France
79. French mayors dismiss suspended burqini ban
80. Dear France
81. Who Wins the War on Terror? Love wins.
82. Love. Above all.
83. 1. 99 Word Blog (#024) Banned Burkinis
    2. Current Events Corner 8/16/2016
    3. “France is at War with its own Citizens” – Yasser Louati on the Cannes “Burkini” Ban
    4. Uproar in France over ‘burkini ban’ at Cannes beaches
    5. #62 French police force Muslim woman to remove her Burkini on Nice beach (photos)
    6. Undress for safety
    7. Nudism/Naturism and burkini madness: Why not ban all clothes at the beach?
    8. Does Banning Face Veils Help Us Fight Terrorism?
    9. Why are the burqa and burkini being banned?
    10. Fashion vs the Government: The Burkini Debate
    11. The scandal of women’s bodies in secular Europe
    12. French burkini ban exposes the myth of neutral secularism
    13. Burkini and French Secularism
    14. Ban of burkini: theresult ofmalechauvinism or secularism
    15. France’s Burkini Ban: Identity politics go to the beach
    16. Forcing a Muslim Woman To Undress is Not Fighting Oppression. That IS Oppression!
    17. Banning The Burqa And Burkini Is Not The Correct Liberal Response To Conservative Islam
    18. The Hypocrisy of the Burkini Ban
    19. A Burqini is not Equivalent to a Burqa
    20. Corsican town becomes third in France to ban the burkini after #Islamics riot
    21. France’s Burkini BigotryBurkinis in the land of Liberté, égalité, fraternité
    22. To Burkini Or Not To Burkini: The Ages Of Men Deciding What Women Should Wear
    23. French Burkini Bans Face Legal Challenge as Tension Mounts
    24. France has for its name, the contrary of Liberty and Fraternity practice.
    25. A cover story
    26. Does France have a problem with racism?
    27. Everyone everywhere wants to tell women what to wear
    28. The Day The News Made My Blood Boil
    29. Beachwear bull
    30. Women protest French burkini ban outside French Embassy in London
    31. Show us your bits..
    32. It’s Always the Cover Up
    33. Thoughts of the Day: Burkini Ban
    34. Doing something for something’s sake is a dangerous strategy
    35. Burkini Ban : French Farce
    36. Burkini beach
    37. Facebook 45 – Suorkini
    38. The burqa-One mermaid’s opinion
    39. burkinis or bikinis?
    40. Burkini vs Bikini
    41. The Burkini
    42. Burquini – How It Happened
    43. Burkini Ban: Nice
    44. Cannes Ban
    45. Why the Burkini ban poses a threat to Muslims and Non-Muslims alike
    46. #Burkiniban – the problem is veiled ideology
    47. 24 August 2016 – All Lives Matter (or Overly Clad Women)
    48. Why the French burkini ban is damaging feminism
    49. Dear French PM, The Burkini Ban Is Abhorrent
    50. Burkini being a threat
    51. The Burkini ban
    52. Liberty, Equality, Bigotry?
    53. From Bloomers to Burkinis: The Same Old Story? by Sarah Ansari
    54. Modern feminism makes no sense at all
    55. Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the Burkini : “C’est une provocation”.
    56. And the Debate about Burkini Ban continues #burkiniban
    57. Can’t we just put all the cards on the table?
    58. The folly of the #Burkiniban
    59. Bitches, Puhleeeeze….
    60. Ban the Burkini.
    61. The Burkini Ban
    62. Everything under the sun
    63. Very simple solution RE: Olympics and Burkini
    64. Next time I go to swim I might wear a good burkini
    65. Saudi Arabia Bans Stripy Fisherman Shirts and Berets
    66. Another Attack on Western Civilization from Muslim Women
    67. The Burkini Ban Is Pointless And Racist
    68. The Burkini Ban is good. Not to let your Country turn into Saudi Arabia – without Oil – in a couple of Decades, we must defend it. The right that our countries remain western.
    69. So! (en) | Islamic veil across Europe
    70. Pope urged to wear swimming trunks
    71. Where’s the Outrage Over Nun Beachwear? – The Daily Beast
    72. the decomposition of logic and democratic values
    73. Freedom of choice. It’s not so simple.
    74. Europe has been awash with racial tension this summer
    75. France’s ‘burkini ban’, one step too far?
    76. In hiding
    77. #BurkiniBan
    78. France has ‘misunderstood’ burkini, Australian designer says
    79. “Burkini” Ban Accomplishes Nothing Positive
    80. The Hijab and MeIslamophobia or nah?Islam and the downfall of European culture
    81. The Islamisation of my Country – 1
    82. So let me get this straight…
    83. At what point does a ban become a chance to publicly humiliate?
    84. New Feminism – via Unapologetics
    85. Ban the Burqa, Allow the Burkini :: Middle East Forum
    86. If you ever had any doubt that Bill O’Reilly of FOX News wasn’t actually a Muslim-sympathizing liberal, this will remove it
    87. Quebec opposition MNAs reopen divisive debate over religious attire with call for ban on burkinis
    88. Salafist fuckin’ la revanche
    89. The best tweets showing the absurdity of the #BurkiniBan on French beaches
    90. Australian burkini designer profits from French ban
    91. Burkini, Bikini. Potato, potarto.
    92. New Feminism
    93. “Burkini”ban in Quebec: Samer Majzoub interview on CJAD by Aaron Rand.
    94. Why an Italian atheist should thank France for the burkini affair
    95. Kini Miney Mot
    96. More French towns spread ban on the burkini
    97. How Western is the Bikini?
    98. Twitter 48 – Burkini
    99. Twitter 49 – Hollande
    100. Twitter 50 – Tormentone
    101. Twitter 51 – Maledette femmine disinvolte
    102. Costume Drama
    103. Patrick Weil : « Qu’on laisse en paix les femmes voilées » | L’Opinion
    104. Port du burkini: un débat futile, selon Trudeau
    105. Parlons… du “burkini”
    106. Quand le maillot faisait polémique
    107. Quasi quasi mi metto un burkini
    108. Le burkini, c’est sexy
    109. Message de Coluche pas sage : “Le burkini sur la plage – Y’a quelqu’un qui pourrait expliquer aux Musulmans dits modérés du Sud que Carnaval, ça se fête une seule fois dans l’année civile en France, le Mardi Gras ? Sinon j’m’ramène une plume au Q sur la plage et j’fais carnaval tous les jours comme eux, moi aussi !” !
    110. Das Burka-Getümmel
    111. Femminismo, Burkini e dichiarazioni delle donne CL – Alle radici del sessismo, o della cazzata mediatica del mese di agosto 2016
    112. Filosofia dell’anima e femminismo – Burkini
    113. La discussione sul burkini in spiaggia è una stronzata apocalittica.
    114. Io, donna ebrea, sto dalla parte del burkini. A una condizione
    115. Di burkini e di diritti
    116. Vamos à la playa
    117. Κάννες: 10 μουσουλμάνες μπήκαν με μπουρκίνι στη θάλασσα, παρά την απαγόρευση
    118. Γιατί οι Κάννες απαγόρευσαν το μαγιό-burka;
84. Fatwa 131471, Burkinis und die Welt

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Related articles

• Lindt Café Inquest, Part 15: Not All Islamic Terrorists Are As Advertised
• Muslim Immigrants in Western Europe – Terrorist attacks harms integration
• FED UP Germans Put Obama to Shame, Make Devastating Move Against 45,000 Radical Muslims
• The Islamic State responds to Pope Francis: “We are making a religious war, and we hate you
• Islamic Terrorist Mayor Of London Wants To Jail People Who Say Mean Things On The Internet
• Republicans, Democrats ignore Arab rights
• Muslim Olympian Mocks Beheading: Hijab Wearing Ibtihaj Muhammad
• Are Nonstop Muslim Atrocities the “New Norm”?
• No to Terrorism, Yes to Human Rights by Yamna Ayadi, Tunisia
• Jordan Arrests Writer For Sharing Anti-Terrorist Cartoon On Social Media Deemed Offensive To Islam

Pew Research: How People in Muslim Countries Believe Women Should Dress

Writing at Pew Research last year, Jacob Poushter shared University of Michigan research revealing how Muslim populations believe women should (be forced to) dress.

An important issue in the Muslim world is how women should dress in public. A recent survey from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research conducted in seven Muslim-majority countries (Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey), finds that most people prefer that a woman completely cover her hair, but not necessarily her face…

…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.

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Preceding articles

The Dress Code for Women in the Quran

Coverings Worn by Muslim Women

Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”

Allowing dress code according liberty of religion

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Additional articles

1. African misery and women inequality
2. Festival of Freedom and persecutions
3. Fitting the bill in the North and in the East

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Related articles

• Saudi Arabia taking on Islamic extremism (thearabdailynews.com)
• Saudi Arabia announces formation of 34-state Islamic military coalition (lunaticoutpost.com)
• Official: Saudi Anti-Terror Team to Fail While Riyadh Supports Extremism (en.farsnews.com)
• Muslim nations announce anti-terrorism coalition (descrier.co.uk)
• SAUDI ARABIA-ISLAM – Islamic anti-terrorism coalition, a way for Riyadh to “save face” (asianews.it)
• Saudi Arabia launches ‘Islamic military alliance’ to combat terrorism (opensourcesinfo.org)
• Saudi Arabia failed to inform Pakistan on alliance…. (worldbulletin.net)
• Update: Al-Azhar welcomes Saudi-led Islamic alliance to fight terrorism (madamasr.com)
• Saudis Lead New Islamic Counterterrorism Alliance (newser.com)
• Saudi Arabia Forms Islamic Counterterrorism Coalition (theepochtimes.com)

Allowing dress code according liberty of religion

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In this contemporary world with many refugees coming into our regions from Muslim countries, lots of people become afraid their culture may take over ours. Undoubtedly the last ten years we have seen the dresses of many women changing to less colourful hip fashionable dresses into monotone long dresses which are associated with Muslim faith.

Habillement modeste pour des musulmans et des non-musulmans (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With the knowledge that observing hijab and covering the woman’s face in front of men would be established in the saheeh Sunnah that explains the Book of Allah according certain groups of Muslims. We should know that not all groups or denominations of the Islam do restrict women with strict dress codes which seem to limit their freedom, according our Western view.

It seems that certain Muslim women are convinced that the words

“and to draw their veils all over Juyoobihinna (i.e. their bodies, faces, necks and bosoms)”

mean that this covering the face came from the Prophet, because he was there and they asked him about everything that they did not understand about their religion.

When we want to live in a free democratic state we should allow to everybody the right to live according to their faith. This means that we also should respect those women who do want to cover their face with a veil, like they consider their religion wanting this from them.

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Preceding articles

The Dress Code for Women in the Quran

Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”

Coverings Worn by Muslim Women

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Related articles

• Vernon Hills students join their Muslim peers in wearing hijabs (dailyherald.com)
• Muslim Students Association Hosts High School ‘Walk a Mile in Her Hijab’ Event (dailysurge.com)
• Live now: Buckhorn, leaders on Muslim support (abcactionnews.com)
• Wheaton College Professor Comes Out Wearing Hijab, Quotes ‘Pope Francis’: ‘We All Worship Same God’ (christiannews.net)
• Young Muslim Americans say discrimination is ‘worse now than after 9/11’ (fusion.net)
• School Forces Students to Write ‘There Is No God But Allah’ (patriotupdate.com)
• Wheaton College professor wears hijab as sign of solidarity (dailyherald.com)
• Christian professor wears Hijab – Zionists hit the Wall (rehmat1.com)
• Fleeing The Hijab (everydaygyaan.com)
• The Legality of Muslim Exclusion (acslaw.org)

Coverings Worn by Muslim Women

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.

 

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Preceding articles:

Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”

The Dress Code for Women in the Quran

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Further reading

1. Peeling off the oppressive layer
2. Burqa, Niqāb and Analogies
3. The Burqa Question(s)
4. Muslim Masks: Niqab and Burqa
5. Islamism, Feminism & Defiance
6. Richard Dawkins on Palestine, Jews, Science and the Burqa – Newsnight
7. Why Are We So Terrified of Muslim Women?
8. Hijabs Oppress Women! Unless It’s For Fashion…..
9. Veiled Mystery
10. Chances of Love
11. The burqas are better in Langkawi
12. Liberal dictators?
13. Get Your Face Out for The Lads
14. Is the Burqa truly Islamic?
15. Burqas/Veils – liberating feminist attire or misogynistic throwback to primitive superstition?
16. The Fashionable Strangers
17. Unveiled: It’s now NO burqa or €405 fine in Netherlands
18. Afghan artist challenges the burqa through graffiti
19. Gisele Bundchen Wears Burqa To Visit Plastic Surgeon
20. Opinion of the Day: Bündchen and the Burqa
21. Who cares if supermodel Gisele wears a burqa?
22. When Salman Khan wore a burqa
23. Comfortable Outfit for College
24. A Week Of Women – Day 1
25. Ban Burqa – Full body Islamic covering
26. To ban or not ban the burqa?
27. On The Naqab Debate
28. Debate Surrounding the Full-Face Veil: France, Belgium and Spain
29. And the Debate About the Full-Face Veil Continues in Spain…
30. On the niqab…
31. On Veil Bans and Cultural Contradictions – Excerpt
32. French Police Reminding Travelers Of The Burqa Ban In French Alps
33. Cameroon Bans Burqa In Far North Region
34. The dream
35. On International Women’s Day, Clothes and Being Female
36. Reflections of a Muslim Woman in a post 9/11 World
37. Le regard des hommes
38. Muslimah, Buang Saja Jilbabmu
39. Il tuo burqa finisce dove inizia la mia libertà. Ode al Ticino.

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Related articles

• PEW RESEARCH: How People in Muslim Countries Believe Women Should Dress (directorblue.blogspot.com)
• Christian professor wears Hijab – Zionists hit the Wall (rehmat1.com)
• Thea Porter, Godmother of Bohemian Chique (agnautacouture.com)
• The Lights That Failed: Terrorism Double Standards in San Bernardino, Paris…and Baicheng? (counterpunch.org)
• Human rights campaigner heckled at blasphemy lecture (telegraph.co.uk)
• Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation” (steppingtoes.wordpress.com)
• Inside ISIS capital Raqqa with beheadings, crucifixions and bombs in the sky (dailymail.co.uk)

Coast Contact

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.

Some wear a headscarf to cover their…

View original post 268 more words

The Dress Code for Women in the Quran

Naturally the Quran is not the only source of law that is authorised by God. In that book is clearly also referred to the previous letters of men of God, like the books of Moses and the minor and major prophets.

It is good to see how certain people of the Muslim faith want to mix the writings of those prophets with the writings of ordinary beings who lived after Muhammad and brought their own rules into books they say all Muslims have to follow.
As such we do have to know and Muslims also should have to know, that what happened in Judaism and in Christendom also happened in Islam. Also in that religion human thought for many became more important than the Words of God Himself.

The niqab has become a symbol of the Muslim faith. It is worn by many Muslim women in public areas and in front of non related males. Worn mainly in the Arab world and in the Muslim countries of Africa and Asia it has become part of our streetview as well the last ten years.

Everybody should see that many Muslim scholars have invented extreme rules for women’s dress which are not found in the Quran. In our previous article we showed that some say that women should be totally covered except for their face, while others who are even more extreme, say that all women must be covered from head to toe except for two holes for the eyes to see! They should know if they want to dress accordingly they should take into account the dress-code of the country where they are willing to live in. In many European countries we may not walk naked on the streets, so we do have to respect that limitation of freedom, but also the opposite people may not be dressed so that nobody can recognise who is behind the outer garments.

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To remember

1- Quran source of law that is authorised by God (6:114).

2- Quran complete + fully detailed (6:38, 6:114, 6:89 and 12:111).

3- God calls on His true believers to make sure not to fall in the trap of idol worship by following the words of the scholars instead of the words of God (9:31).

4- God calls those who prohibit what He did not prohibit, aggressors, liars and idol worshippers (5:87, 6:140, 7:32, 10:59).

The command to follow the Quran alone is given very clearly in the Quran, see: Dozen Reasons

Quranic guidelines for women’s dress

First Rule: The Best Garment

“O children of Adam, We have brought down to you garments to cover your private parts, as well as for adornment, yet the garment of reverence is the best. These are some of God’s signs, perhaps they will remember.” 7:26

To revere God + know that He is always watching us = basic rule for dress code in Quran

Any woman knows quite well what is decent + what is revealing => not need to be told <= know how to maintain righteousness + how not to

Second Rule: Cover your Bosoms

in 24:31 = God commands women to cover their bosoms = crucial words mentioned in connection to this topic, namely the ‘hijab [Any partition which separates two things (e.g. that which separates God from creation)]’ + the ‘khimar’.

The word ‘hijab’ in the Quran

Hijab = term used by many Muslim women to describe their head cover

‘hijab’ = veil or yashmak + screen, cover(ing), mantle, curtain, drapes, partition, division, divider.

in the Quran:

 7 times: 5 of them as ‘hijab’ + 2 times as ‘hijaban’ => verses: 7:46, 33:53, 38:32, 41:5, 42:51, 17:45 & 19:17.

None used in Quran in reference to what traditional Muslims call today ‘hijab’ = head cover for Muslim woman!

‘hijab’ = old Jewish tradition =>  infiltrated into hadith

Religious Jewish women still cover their heads most of the time + especially in the synagogues, at weddings + religious festivities = cultural =/= religious

Some Christian women cover their heads in many religious occasions while nuns some years ago also covered their heads all the time, though that seems long forgotten

‘hijab’ = traditional dress + has nothing to do with Islam or religion

Mixing religion with tradition =  form of idol-worship = implies setting up other sources of religious laws besides law of God.

‘khimar’ in Quran:

in 24:31 While the 1 basic rule of Dress Code for Muslim women can be found in 7:26, 2nd rule of dress code for women can be found in 24:31.

Some Muslims quote verse 31 of sura 24 as containing the ‘hijab’, or head cover, by pointing to the word, khomoorihinna, (their khimars), forgetting that God already used the word ‘hijab’, several times in the Quran.

the words of God – 24:31 are:

“And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and to guard their private parts and not to show their adornments except that of it which normally shows. They shall cover their cleavage with their ‘khimar’. They shall not show their adornments except in the presence of their husbands, their fathers, the fathers of their husbands, their sons, the sons of their husbands, their brothers, the sons of their brothers, the sons of their sisters, other women, their slaves, the male attendants who have no sexual desire and the children who are yet to attain awareness of women’s nakedness. They shall not strike their feet so as to reveal details of their hidden ornaments. You shall repent to God all you believers, so that you may succeed.” 24:31

Arabic word khimar = cover => Any cover such as a curtain, a dress, table cloth, blanket, a coat, a shawl, a shirt, a blouse, a scarf etc.

Third Rule: Not to reveal any of their adornments

found in 24:31 = God commands women not to reveal their adornments (beauty spots) except what is normally apparent (face, hair, lower arms and lower legs .. etc).

” …. not to show their adornments except that of it which normally shows.”

 very general term = to allow women freedom to decide on what is shown of her body.

Righteous women = make correct decision so as to conform to general code of morality, + also according to time, place +  occasion.

word ‘zeenatahunna’ (adornments) in this verse refers to woman’s beauty spots which carry a sexual connotation, examples are “thighs, breasts, back side … etc) > expose details of certain parts of body.

For more detailed analysis of 24:31 please go to: Corruption of 24:31

Fourth Rule : Lengthen your Garments

“O prophet, tell your wives, your daughters and the wives of the believers that they shall lengthen their garments. This is better so that they will be recognized and not molested. God is Forgiver, Merciful.” 33:59

not say how long is long => God knows we will be living in different communities + have different cultures => insists that  minor details of this dress code will be left for the people of every community to decide for themselves, as long as righteousness is always maintained.

Many Muslim scholars have invented extreme rules for women’s dress which are not found in the Quran < => There are no words anywhere in the Quran which command women to cover all their bodies

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Preceding article:

Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”

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Additional reading

1. Scripture words written for our learning, given by inspiration of God for edification

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Further reading

1. In the Name of Religious Freedom
2. Hijab, Chador, Niqab and Burqa…Oh my…
3. NP Explainer: What’s the difference between a hijab, a niqab and a burka?
4. Reverting to Islam: Part Three; Hijab
5. 5 On: The Abaya
6. Is banning Niqab need of the modern western society or is it the dogma of a feudal symbolism which is creating inconvenience to others
7. 2nd afflication : the behavior towards woman
8. What’s the point?
9. bring on the burka
10. Missing niqab point
11. Wherein lies the beauty…
12. Odd logic for wearing the Burka
13. The ethics behind banning the burqa
14. Al Queda Leader Captured Dressed As Woman. Should The U.S. Ban Burqas?
15. S.A.S v France: Towards a General Prohibition of the Full-Face Veil in Europe?
16. France’s Burqa Ban: A Brave Step That We Muslims Should Welcome
17. China is using the Paris attacks to tout its anti-terror efforts at home
18. A new law in China may make it illegal for men to force women to wear a burqa
19. Most Canadians say faces shouldn’t be covered at citizenship ceremonies: poll
20. Lucky to be in Canada
21. Senegal Bans Burqa to Stop Terrorists Disguising In Islamic Dress
22. Senegal considers burqa ban to stop terrorists disguising in Islamic dress
23. Why we wear  burka – Story of Two Pakistani muslim Sisters
24. Are ‘Burkas’ The New Bandanas?
25. Watford, UK.
26. 16-year-old boy arrested over murder of woman in Burka (Nahid Almanea) and young father (James Attfield) stabbed more than 100 times
27. “18 Year-Old Burqa Wearing Alcoholic Abortionists Public Enemy Number 1”: Fred Nile
28. Ban The Burka – An Excellent Idea – And Here’s Why!
29. Face Veil: Why The Ban?
30. Quebec’s opposition parties want chador banned from public sector
31. Dutch Cabinet Backs Partial Burqa Ban
32. Dutch Partial Ban on Islamic Veil in Public Spaces
33. Character Study: the most interesting woman in the world
34. Racist or not…
35. Rampant Sexism
36. My Thoughts On Religious Headscarves
37. Chastity.
38. International Women’s Day 2015: Afghan men wear burqas to campaign for women’s rights
39. The hypocrisy of modern feminists
40. Liberals Are Hypocrites On Women’s Rights
41. The walk to freedom
42. Spice Bazaar–Istanbul
43. Savior Complex?
44. Like it here or leave
45. You imagine anyway…
46. Afghanistan
47. Dinilai Sudah Usang, Wanita Iran Ramai-ramai Lepas Jilbab
48. Logika Islam Mengenai Perempuan

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Related articles

• Anti-Islam Quran Burning Blocked by Counter Protest (revolution-news.com)
• Muslim Students Association Hosts High School ‘Walk a Mile in Her Hijab’ Event (dailysurge.com)
• Vernon Hills students join their Muslim peers in wearing hijabs (dailyherald.com)
• U.S. judge sworn into office on Quran (ncrenegade.com)
• Threats and Violent Attacks Against Muslims in the U.S., Just From This Week (theintercept.com)
• Why Not Radical? (grumpajoesplace.com)
• The Legality of Muslim Exclusion, Part II: The Establishment Clause (acslaw.org)
• About Islam (adrianvance.blogspot.com)
• The Rise of Hate Search (amren.com)
• The Bible and the Quran – Equally Violent? (holyspiritactivism.com)

Meditating Muslimah on “hijab to be a religious obligation”

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

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Additional reading

1. Migrants to the West #2
2. Mother of Ukraine or Crimea
3. Caliphs and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government
4. Turkey witnessing a surge in xenophobia
5. Is Turkey attempting to resurrect the Ottoman Empire
6. RIA Novosti: The West’s Turkey Problem
7. The trigger of Aurora shooting
8. Caliphs and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government

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Further reading

1. The Freedom of the Hijab
2. Cultural Bias
3. An Imagined Offence
4. US Muslim Women Debate Safety of Hijab amid Backlash
5. Lifting Veil off Attitudes about Niqab, Hijab
6. Is the Burqa truly Islamic?
7. MPs in Swiss canton of Ticino back burqa ban
8. Switzerland bans the burqa, imposes £6,500 fine on Muslim women
9. Swiss niqab law carries $13,000 fine, and other reasons to fear for humanity
10. Why the intention to ban burkas in Switzerland is more than just right-wing politician rhetoric.
11. Is a ‘burka ban’ really necessary in Switzerland?
12. Veil of Isolation: Britain Tackles the Niqab Debate
13. Coverings Worn by Muslim Women
14. The Dress Code for Women in the Quran
15. Woman with Burka
16. Hijab
17. The niqab ban: 2011-2015 – The new Liberal government officially puts an end to the former Conservative government’s attempt to ban the niqab during the citizenship oath
18. June 24, 2015: Under the Niqab
19. The Niqab Debate
20. Niqab row: Canada’s government challenges ruling Zunera Ishaq can wear veil while taking oath of citizenship
21. Niqab issue being ‘pushed on the populace’
22. Niqab issue is thinly veiled racism
23. Niqab issue is about fear of the unknown
24. Niqabs are harmless and legal
25. A must watch: Why are you wearing that?
26. Is Muslim female face covering nothing more than sharia Bolshevism?
27. The Niqab Time Bomb
28. Worse than niqab issue: pajamas worn in public
29. Lawyer in niqab case says Canada must confront anti-Muslim sentiment
30. The Niqab Is Dominating Canada’s Election
31. Tory laws on Liberals’ hit list
32. Niqab Subject to New Court Rules
33. Federal government formally drops niqab appeal
34. Liberals drop legal bid to ban niqab at citizenship ceremonies
35. Show your face or don’t come to Canada
36. Niqab issue is hijacking federal election
37. No face coverings in Canada
38. Britain First breaks another irony meter
39. The ‘enemies of reason’ are inside the gates
40. What other customs will be imposed on us?
41. Why we stopped wearing the Hijab
42. Islamism, Feminism & Defiance
43. Chad: Now the most intelligent and forward-thinking country on earth
44. Cameroon Bans Face Veil
45. This Election has become a scandal beyond all proportion — Voter Fraud being encouraged by FB group.
46. A most colonial strategy: Saving Muslim women, demonizing Muslim men | rabble.ca
47. The “Racist” Man at Target
48. Glasgow Based Hate Incident Shows Aggression Levels That Are Concerning
49. Video: Pregnant Muslim Woman Verbally Abused On London Bus
50. Muslim Woman Allegedly Abused In Hospital Maternity Ward
51. Assault On Niqab Wearing Women Shows The Male Violence Many Suffer
52. Muslim Girl Punched In face In Birmingham For ‘Wearing A Hijab’
53. Man Attacked Muslim Woman And Stabbed Boy In The Face Outside Melbourne State Library
54. Muslim Woman Abused In Tesco Store For Wearing Face Veil Urges Victims To Report Hate Crime
55. You’re as Cold as ISIS
56. Al Queda Leader Captured Dressed As Woman. Should The U.S. Ban Burqas?
57. OH oh!!! Armed cops rushed at a suspicious looking man wearing a hijab – to find he’s cheating on his wife
58. Meet me in the Middle
59. Middle East Lifestyles – What about the ladies?
60. Bigotry veiled as liberation
61. YSL or “Shut Up and Run”
62. Unveiling the reality
63. Jet Ski (In a Niqab)
64. Welcoming Syrian refugees: with or without the niqab
65. Advice to the Muslim Women by Sheikh Saalih al Fawzan
66. My Thoughts On Religious Headscarves
67. UK: Multi-faith peace gathering of women in Baitul Futuh Mosque of Morden
68. Immigrants have already changed Canada
69. Citizenship rules should apply equally to all
70. God she’s hot! (Wait isn’t there something written about lust?)
71. I’m the Pretty One…
72. Oops!
73. Religie, democratie & vrijheid
74. Voile intégral: Couillard confiant de pouvoir légiférer malgré l’approche d’Ottawa
75. Frankreich gewinnt gegen Extremistin
76. Terror-Schleier verboten
77. Ale będziesz musiała chodzić w burce? Czyli o wyprawce do Iranu
78. இஸ்லாமியப் பெண்கள் அணியும் ஆடை (பர்தா) பற்றி அகில இலங்கை ஜம்இய்யத்துல் உலமா

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