Seeing beyond the veil/niqab
Administrator on July 21st, 2010
Last week the Conservative backbencher Philip Hollobone tabled a Private Members’ Bill calling for a ban on wearing a burka or niqaab (face veil) in public places. The Bill follows moves in a number of European countries, including France and Belgium, to ban the wearing of a face veil in public.
The UK government has responded to Mr Hollobone’s proposal by saying that it will not ban the burka. The Immigration Minister Damian Green has said that forbidding women in the UK from wearing certain clothing would be “un-British”. He said such a law would run contrary to the conventions of a “tolerant and mutually respectful society”. In an interview with the Telegraph newspaper, he has said it would be “undesirable” for Westminster to vote on a burka ban, and that there was no prospect of the coalition government proposing such a bill.
Makkah Mosque welcomes the government’s confirmation that it will not be banning the veil. Whilst it is accepted by the vast majority of Muslim scholars that wearing a face veil is not a mandatory requirement of Islamic dress for women, it is important that Muslim women are allowed to dress in a way in which they feel comfortable. Imam of Makkah Mosque, Qari Asim, said: “The small minority of British Muslim women who choose to wear the face veil should not have their freedom to express their religious views curtailed. Britain’s tolerance is one of the things that makes this a great country to live in and the current government’s desire to preserve this tolerance deserves to be applauded.”
