Having lived in Saudia, Algeria, Kuwait and seen all the local women wearing full burkas. I used to wonder which part of the Koran said they must. I also lived and worked in Egypt for a year as well as Turkey and Azerbaijan for 5 years. The burka is nowhere in sight in these muslim countries. Now a respected Egyptian Muslim author has come out with the fact, That no where in Islam Culture nor the Koran does it state a woman must be fully covered.
Perhaps it may be time to look past what each may think in terms of personal preference. We didnt seem to have any problems with that when we banned tobacco smoking from all non-Arab establishments in the western world. What people wanted to do was of small consequence when the juggernaut of municipal and other legislative bodies decided that smoke was bad and was to be eliminated no matter what. Unless you are Arab, of course, in which case it is your culture and you can have your hookah and smoke it too unlike having an ashtray at any Ontario bar.
The argument I like the very least is the one at the end of this article:
Kanwar, a Muslim who has written eight books, including one on the sociology of Islam, echoes Sarkozys comments. The burka is not mandated by Islam or the Quran and is therefore not religious and protected under the Charter.
The idea of using some absurd holy book as a basis for determining what is legal or no in France or Canada or frankly anywhere at all including, but not limited to, Saudi Arabia, is repugnant to me and should be to anyone. Imagine Canadian legislators bringing in imams or rabbis or priests to argue a point of biblical minutia in order to determine the legality of some bit of barbarity which they wish to make acceptable in a democracy. Sorry. Democratic nations have laws based on secular principles and constitutional ones. These are the only sources that should ever be considered for making a thing legal.
A woman from the Canadian Muslim Womans congress also agreed that this practise has no justification in the Islamic world. She stated that Canada should ban Burkas for many reasons , health of the women, freedom of the woman's rights, and terrorism,. She also said it is difficult to have Canadian Troops fighting in Afghanistan to release women from the wearing of the burka under taliban rules. While at home in Canada Muslim women that wear the full burka under orders from their husband or fathers. This too me also makes a lot of sense.
No sane, free person would choose to wear a burka By Licia Corbella, Calgary HeraldJune 27, 2009 A while back I was asked to give a talk at my kids school about my December 2008 trip to Afghanistan.
As I waited to be introduced, I hid in an auditorium storage room wearing a burka I bought in that war-ravaged country, thinking Id be out in a minute, maybe two. But the introduction took a lot longer than I had anticipated and by the time I came out to greet all those shining faces, I was very nearly hyperventilating from the oppression of it. I didnt time my self-imposed confinement to the burka, but I probably wore the suffocating tent-like garment with mesh over my eyes for no more than 10 minutes. I told the kids I felt like I was buried alive.
I also told them that while in Afghanistan, I asked all of the many women I met there whether they liked wearing a burka. Not one said yes. In fact, they all said they hated it almost as much as they hated the Taliban.
Its no wonder. The burkas toll on these women was harsh. Many had lost most of their teeth and hair as a result of not having enough vitamin D, which comes from the sun. During the time of Taliban rulefrom September 1996 to November 2001 no portion of their skin, save their hands, was ever allowed to be exposed to sunlight. Think about the horror of that. The Taliban insisted that homes with women in them had to blacken their windows, lest a man pollute his delicate sensibilities by gazing upon the uncovered face of a woman behind the glass. On Monday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy stated during the first presidential address to a joint session of Frances two legislative houses of Parliament in 136 years, that the burka was not welcome in France.
We cannot accept to have in our country women who are prisoners behind netting, cut off from all social life, deprived of identity, said Sarkozy.
Hes right. Women in burkas dont seem human. After just a short while in Afghanistan, women in their blue burkas seem like ghostly apparitions devoid of a face, individuality or humanity.
At first, when my translators would tap me on the shoulder and suggest I take a picture of that burka over there, I would gently correct them by saying, you mean, that WOMAN in the burka? In a couple of days, however, I too was referring to them as simply burkas.
In Francewhere its already illegal to wear any conspicuous religious symbol in state schools including a head scarfa parliamentary committee is studying the issue of whether or not to allow women to cover their faces for supposedly religious reasons. As Sarkozy said, the burka is not a sign of religion, it is a sign of subservience. The Muslim Canadian Congress agrees and urged Canadas government to ban the burka.
The decision to wear the burka is by no means a reflection of the genuine choices of Muslim women, said MCC president, Sohail Raza in a news release. The argument that Muslim women opt to wear the burka does not withstand scrutiny when considering the repressive nature of orthodox Muslim society in general.
Reached at his Calgary home, Mahfooz Kanwar, Mount Royal College professor emeritus of sociology and criminology, says many well-meaning Canadians believe it is tolerant to allow Muslim women the choice of wearing the burka.
There is no choice involved in this, and allowing it will lead to intolerance, said Kanwar.
Some people say banning the burka would be a slippery slope and would lead to the banning of wearing a scarf over your mouth in the winter while outside, said Kanwar. But the real slippery slope can be seen in some Islamist ghettos in Paris or in Denmark, where non-Muslim women are harassed for not covering their hair to the point where they have been forced to start doing so to prevent verbal and physical attacks by semi-literate Muslim men. Thats the real slippery slope.
Kanwar, a Muslim who has written eight books, including one on the sociology of Islam, echoes Sarkozys comments. The burka is not mandated by Islam or the Quran and is therefore not religious and protected under the Charter. In Canada, gender equality is one of our core values and faces are important identifying tools and should not be covered. Period, added Kanwar, who is also a director with the MCC.
Many French politicians are on the side of a burka ban including some prominent Muslim politicians like Fadela Amara, Frances cities minister. Amara has called the burka a coffin that kills individual liberties, and a sign of the political exploitation of Islam.
Funny, but coffin was a word several women I met in Afghanistan used to describe their burka. Consider the words of Massooda, a 36-year-old widow, who looked more like 60 as a result of her harsh life. I will never wear a burka again, she said defiantly. They will have to put me in a coffin before I walk around in one again.
Thats choice. No sane, free person would ever choose the burka.
Last but not least as mentioned I have spent many years in Muslim countries where burkas are worn and also wher they are rarely worn. On the a/c coming out of Riyadh or Jedda or Kuwait City. The female passengers are in full black burka. When the flight departs Saudi or Kuwaiti airspace. These women all make a mad dash for the washrooms and return in Gucci and Versace miniskirts , net stockings as well as a few conservatively dressed in Dior. So obviosly once out from under the thumb of a husband Father or brother they make their own decisions.
Red Friday Remember Everyone Deployed
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
