Like the  hijab , its more liberal cousin, the  niqab  arouses controversy at every turn in modern democratic states – especially when it jars cherished institutions such as Parliament, the courts, or schools. 

In Toronto, in a case currently before the courts, a judge has ordered a woman testifying in a sexual assault case to do so without her niqab.

She protested, saying it was an issue of modesty and comfort – of Islam.

But Ontario Court Justice Norris Weisman ruled that it was more an issue of comfort than religious freedom, and that she must show her face.

THE REALIST

Saira Zuberi

Toronto-based minority rights activist

“This is one of those contentious things, because most people don’t actually believe it’s a requirement and there are those who actually believe that they have to do it.

“It’s like the case in the election (with voters having to unveil).

“It really ends up being a little bit of a tempest in a teacup. You’ve got this tiny percentage of people that it applies to; it’s minuscule. You’re talking about Muslim women voters who happen to also wear niqab who would actually refuse to identify themselves. This tiny percentage.

“And they’re not actually contravening the law, because there are thousands of people who vote by mail, who are not required to show ID.

“It just ends up being a lightning rod for those people who get angry because, `Oh, we’re making too many concessions for all these people …’ You know?

“I don’t think it’s a huge number of people who are asking for this.”

THE PRAGMATIST

Shahina Siddiqui

President of the Islamic Social Services Association

“There’s a law of necessity in Islam, where you can relax what your understanding of the requirements are.” If there are reasons of security or law, exceptions can be made, “and that’s why they (unveil) for driver’s licence, for passports and for crossing borders.”

“I’ve travelled with women who wear niqab and at airports they do remove it. And some will say, `Oh, can I do it in front of a woman attendant?’ And some don’t bother with that either … It can be done, even in Muslim countries. When they’re required to, they do it.”

Since the case on trial was a sexual assault, “For her, it’s her security blanket … I would say the judge should take that into account. And I don’t know if she’s an immigrant or a new refugee … As a social worker I always try to look at all the variables.

“I mean, it is a religious obligation, but in this case it’s also an added question of how secure she feels. But generally speaking, exceptions can be made. The issue is, is this that case?”

THE ETHICIST

Alia Hogben

Executive director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women”It is not a religious requirement to cover your face. That’s put very simply. Some women do this because they think it’s more modest.

“It’s about modesty for both women and men – don’t flaunt yourself, dress modestly, etc.

“But the emphasis seems to have shifted, to focus on women rather than men. And a lot of women are interpreting it, or are having it interpreted for them, that modesty means covering yourself. That’s a personal choice a Muslim woman makes. It is not a religious directive.

“The judge sounds like he carefully considered it all and felt that it was important that her face be seen in court.

“When there’s been some sensitivity … they have done (testimony) in other rooms, particularly for children, instead of having to face the whole court….

“If this woman is frightened … then that’s another question … And that should be addressed, absolutely. But covering her face in an open court is not necessary.”

OTHER CASES

In the U.K., one magistrate stormed out of a Manchester court when faced with a veiled defendant and another judge adjourned because he said he could not hear a veiled Muslim lawyer’s muffled voice.

Soon after, in 2007, a judges’ advisory panel said judges should use discretion, and could choose other options – such as a live link or clearing the public gallery – instead of forcing a woman to unveil.

In Canada, without any veiled Muslim woman contesting election regulations, the niqab became an issue in 2007 among politicians, election officials and the media.

It surfaced again briefly in the election of 2008, when Canada’s chief electoral officer said a veiled voter would have to swear a special oath if she didn’t remove her veil.

take off niqab 

A judge has ordered a Toronto woman to testify without her niqab at a sexual assault trial – raising the thorny issue of whether Muslim women should be allowed to appear as witnesses wearing a veil that covers everything but the eyes.

The issue is a collision of two rights, pitting religious freedom against the right of a defendant to face an accuser in open court.

The case could be precedent setting because it doesn’t appear there is any Canadian case law addressing the question of Muslim women in the courtroom. In Canada, home to about 580,000 Muslims, the case will be closely watched, amid fears about Muslim women coming forward in criminal cases.

In October, Ontario Court Justice Norris Weisman reached his “admittedly difficult decision” to force the complainant to testify with her face bared after finding her “religious belief is not that strong … and that it is, as she says, a matter of comfort,” he wrote in his ruling.

Lawyer David Butt is representing the woman and next month in Superior Court will argue that the Oct. 16 ruling should be overturned.

“For complainants in sexual assault cases, courtroom testimony is extremely difficult and often traumatic,” he said last week. “During such times of great anxiety the courts should respect religious rights and practices that bring comfort and sustenance, particularly when they do not undermine the fairness of the proceedings.”

When the complainant indicated last fall she wanted to wear her veil while testifying at the preliminary hearing, defence counsel told the judge that assessing her demeanour was of “critical importance” when tailoring questioning.

Weisman asked the woman to explain her objections.

“It’s a respect issue, one of modesty and one of … in Islam, we call honour,” she replied. “It’s also about the religious reason is to not show your face to men that you are able to marry. … I would feel a lot more comfortable if I didn’t have to, you know, reveal my face.”

The woman also said only her family sees her without the veil.

Butt, who was granted standing at the hearing last fall, argued the judge must consider the Charter which protects religious freedom when making his decision. Butt argued the accused can hear her voice and inflection, see the expression in her eyes and body language.

In his judgment, Weisman wrote “at the 11th hour we learned … she has a driver’s licence with her unveiled facial impression upon it.” She told court she took comfort the picture was taken by a female and there was a screen between her and potential male onlookers.But Weisman wrote the “driver’s licence can be required to be produced by all sorts of males,” such as police officers and border guards.

“In investigating just how important a belief this was, it came down to her candid admissions that it was a matter of her being `more comfortable’ and to me that really is not strong enough to fetter the accused’s rights to make full answer and defence,” the judge added.

Thanks to a publication ban and the nature of the charges, the names of the complainant and the two accused cannot be published.

Debate about Muslim women and head coverings has surfaced in recent years over girls wearing the hijab to play sports and whether voters must show their faces.

While Justice Weisman was asked to rule at the outset of the preliminary hearing, which is now on hold, the matter was put over and arguments in Superior Court are now scheduled for March 2. Defence lawyer Hilary Dudding will appear on behalf of one of the accused men. She declined to comment.

A relative of the woman said it’s distressing the judge has exceeded his “jurisdiction and ventured into the interpretation of religious laws concerning the veil, not to mention the fact that … (she) has observed the veil for many years in accordance with her” beliefs.

“This is primarily an issue of protection the court offers to victims of sexual assault – especially those from minority communities, who experience the added stigma of bringing these deeply personal issues into open court.

Alia Hogben, executive director of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, said, in court “the laws of the country should be acceptable,” and although it is important that “sensitivity be shown … showing the face is acceptable.”

In the United Kingdom, a panel of judges drafted guidelines in 2007 that said Muslim women should be permitted to wear the niqab, as long as it does not interfere with the administration of justice, according to the Equal Treatment Advisory Committee of Britain’s Judicial Studies Board. “Such decisions, however, should be made on a case-by-case basis,” the committee said.

Forcing a woman to choose between taking part in a court case or removing her veil could affect her sense of dignity, exclude and marginalize her, the guidelines said.

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 probes lives of Muslim women

“I will be the Muslim,” she deadpans, aware that her hijab and long dark skirt make her stand out

She’s okay with that.

It’s the assumptions made about her because of the thin piece of material covering her head that are an issue, and something she hopes a symposium Thursday at 6 p.m. at the University of Toronto will help remedy.

“The first thing people see is my hijab,” says Osman, a third-year public health student at U of T.

“I have people coming up to me asking if my father makes me wear the hijab, or my brother does. Or they assume I don’t speak English.”

Osman, who grew up in Toronto, says tonight’s event is meant to dispel assumptions and help non-Muslims understand why some women choose to wear the hijab.

It’s an expression of faith, she says, adding no one forces her to wear it. It’s a choice she makes every morning as she prepares to leave the house.

The fact that it is not part of the wider Toronto culture to wear the hijab only makes it a much more personal decision, she says. When every woman wears the hijab, as is the case in many Muslim countries, Osman says there is little debate about whether to go along.

But in Western society, the hijab is not the norm, so wearing one has less to do with conformity and more to do with expressing one’s faith.

Tonight’s event is part of Islam Awareness Month at the university, organized by the Muslim Students’ Association. The symposium – Women Living Islam: a Glimpse into the Lives of Muslim Women – runs from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Leslie Dan Pharmacy building at 144 College St.

It will feature talks by three women with unique perspectives on wearing traditional Muslim attire in Canada.

Calla Evans will talk about a documentary she made by following the lives of five Muslim women.

Sandra Noe, a recent convert to Islam, will discuss how friends and co-workers reacted to the change.

And Heba al-Shareet will describe what it was like to grow up as part of Winnipeg’s small Muslim community.

In a feature dubbed Rent-a- Muslim, non-Muslims can be paired with a Muslim student who can answer their questions.

There will be a public question and answer period, Osman says, but Rent-a-Muslim recognizes that people might be shy about asking questions, for fear of appearing ignorant or rude. In that case, they can ask their questions in private, without fear of others hearing.

“The idea is that they will learn something, and take it back to their friends and family,” says Osman. “With knowledge comes understanding.”

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some respect for a moderate Muslim

 If Santa Claus were ever to pay me a visit and grant me a wish, I would reply with one word: respect.

I would wish that society at large would show some respect towards me and my faith. I am judged negatively whenever someone of my faith is accused of committing a crime. I am viewed as an enemy within, a home-grown fanatic whom everyone should guard against.

I am harassed at the boarding gate when I leave the country, as if I was going to an Al Qaeda convention. I am also bullied by the customs and immigration officers when I come back home, as if I don’t belong here.

I am pulled aside for extra inspections, as if I was carrying instructions on making weapons of mass destruction. I am told repeatedly to tell the real truth about what I am bringing with me that I have not declared.

When a crime occurs where a Muslim is the primary suspect, I am asked to issue a statement in the strongest possible terms against terrorism and to dissociate myself from the crime. Whatever language I use in my denunciation, I am told is not enough and I must do more.

On the day after the crime, the headline reads: “Moderate Muslims Fail To Speak Up”, even though I have spoken and have condemned the crime.

When I try to access my own money, the bank teller reminds me of the seriousness of money laundering. A bank supervisor recently alleged that my signature did not match the signature they had in my file. I emptied my wallet and showed all my identifications, to no avail.

Although I have lived in Canada for more than a decade and have been working hard to pay taxes and make ends meet, I am still viewed as a foreigner who belongs somewhere else.

A colleague at the airport where I work asked me recently, “Why did you choose Canada, a Christian country, and did not go to your own people instead?”

Another co-worker said the other day that she cannot tolerate seeing Muslim women covering up. “I feel the urge to remove the piece of rag by force,” she said. “Why in the world would she hide her beauty?”

Another airline employee suggested that we should stop Muslim women from entering the country if they choose to wear the hijab (head cover).

I cried like a child when a friend said that the only way the world can solve the problem of terrorism is to nuke the Muslim world. Only then will the planet live in real peace, he said.

It is deeply troubling to see how Muslims are treated in society. While I was having dinner at work, my colleagues next to me were discussing the shooting death right after the 11 September tragedy of a Sikh man in the US who was thought to be a Muslim.

One of the people involved in the conversation blamed the murderer for not doing his homework in making sure that the person he was targeting was a real Muslim. The people in the cafeteria did not find the statement troubling and they all laughed approvingly.

We are reminded—again and again—that freedom of expression has limits. But when the same freedom involves the dehumanization of Muslims, it has no limit.

I don’t think I am asking too much if I expect some respect from my fellow countrymen.

I might have some lunatics in my midst but who doesn’t? If Christians are not held responsible for the death and destruction their co-religionist George W. Bush caused in Iraq, why should I be held responsible for the acts of a few mad men who might create mayhem in the name of my faith? 

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Terror stalks Surrey twins

Terror stalks Surrey twin Sajid Hameed, originally from Karachi, Pakistan, moved to the United States to build a new life for his family. He worked as a lab technician in San Jose, California.
But the racial hostilities towards Muslims in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 destroyed that dream.
“I was laid off after 9/11. I believe this was done deliberately because of my religious background,” said Sajid.
Disillusioned, he switched over to the taxi business.
Sajid says he was soon after assaulted by a passenger, an incident he describes as a hate attack.

Muslim Tears Depress – Stop Non Compatible Immigration

By Dick Field

“It is unfair to depict us Muslims as potential terrorists.” “I am so upset that people avoid me in public or stare at me just because I wear a hijab.” “Why is it we Muslims can’t just be treated like anyone else?” “The border authorities are obviously stopping me because they are racially profiling me.” “It is pure racism; all Americans and Canadians are racists, just because we are different; you people think it is OK to insult our religion; but you wouldn’t allow anyone to insult your religion?” “We are not all Jhihadists, you know.”

More and more we become depressed with Muslim complaints about how they are wrongly depicted in North America.  Many of these complaints about our open societies come from Muslim leadership, rational or radical, but we also have to bear them from countless ordinary Muslim men and women.  The latter complainants are almost always levied by those who insist on deliberately flaunting their religious dress in all public places at all times and insist on challenging our laws to accommodate their peculiarities.

Tears appear as they cry that we are unfairly “Islaphobic,” (a new buzz word supposedly meaning an irrational and prejudicial view towards the believers of Islam).  We are said to be racist, discourteous, unwilling to accept differences and labeled with a hundred other unpleasant names.  “We are after all, Canadians just like everyone else,” they insist.

We are told that Muslims don’t like our dress, our laws, our religion, our form of dating, and our form of marriage relationships.  They cannot stand the idea of a family member marrying outside their religion.

None of their home countries, where Islam is in the majority, are free and democratic yet they still push everywhere to institute their religious law in one form or other in the West.  Frankly, we have yet to see a western non-Muslim suicide bomber?  Or a western wife executed by the State for being found in a car with a strange man.  Or a western daughter killed by her father for disobeying her father by dating a non-Muslim schoolmate.

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Women who wear hijab in Egypt just have a bad reputation.”

We were diving in and out of Cairo weekend traffic, heading towards a hotel by the pyramids for dinner, when the driver mindlessly blurted out this comment. I was the only one in the car wearing a hijab.

What made this remark different from previous one-liners about my hijab is that it came from an upper-class, educated Arab. He was old-money, educated in the West and a self-proclaimed liberal. The type who wears authentic GAP clothing, swings Gucci totes and has inherited an exclusive country club membership from grandparents.

I started wearing the hijab 10 years ago, when I was 18, in my hometown, Ottawa, Canada. It was a scary yet exhilarating decision to make. I knew I would be making a proclamation to the rest of society that I was different. At a time when other kids were piercing and tattooing their body parts, I was choosing to become more religious in a faith that was misunderstood – even before September 11.

I would be the second to wear a hijab in my family; my mother took the plunge in her late thirties. Even though I was born in Kuwait to Iraqi parents and spent my childhood in Abu Dhabi, by the time I was 14 my family was ready to call Canada home and I was growing up learning how to embrace Canadian values.

Nevertheless, my name was foreign, I spoke both Arabic and English at home and I stood out like a sore thumb in my Wasp-ish high school, where I was one of about five Arab teenagers. But I never felt resentment; I was proud of being different. By university, I was just another teenager trying to carve out an identity and looking into my heritage for answers. I read and talked to others about why they were Muslim. And soon, I felt as if I was actively following my faith; before, it had seemed as if I was only born into it. I wanted a way to express this choice outwardly and make it public and the hijab gave me this option.

I talked to women about why they wore it. They told me about their experiences as Muslims living in the West. I knew it was going to be a struggle, but one that I wanted to go through. My first hijab was a black hand-me-down from my mother. I wore it as a sign of rebellion, religiosity and deference.

But I found it difficult from the outset. There was always the idiot on the bus who yelled “Terrorist!” at the top of his lungs, or the woman who disgustingly stared me down at the mall, or the old guy breathing “go back home” in the grocery line. It gets tiring always having to justify your actions. But, in my experience, where more enlightened classes mixed I was given a space to lead by example and an opportunity to express my abilities without condescending judgement. By the time I was 25, I was reading the news and reporting for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. I was engaged with my community at large and I felt accepted.

I brought this attitude with me to Egypt in late 2006. What I was not ready for was the switch – while I blended in without harassment on the street, it was among Westernised liberal Egyptians that I experienced prejudice. Much like the old man in the shopping line, or the guy yelling on the bus, it did not matter to them what my accomplishments were. I was wearing a veil and it disgusted them.

The first time I was hit with this was when I introduced myself to a famous Egyptian cartoonist. I wanted to look over his shoulder as he drew his latest sketch and tell him I enjoyed his work. Instead he looked me up and down and asked where I was from. When I answered “Canada”, he asked if I wore the hijab there. When I answered yes, he pointed a finger at me and said, “Well, you are aware that this is how the servants dress”. In a classist society such as Egypt, calling someone a maid is another way of saying that person is uneducated. He did not ask me my name, or what my story was. Instead, he felt he was totally within his rights to insult me, because of my scarf.

In a country where there exists a culture of shaming women into taking on the hijab to conform with local ideas of modesty, there is also a culture of shaming educated, upper-middle class hijabis. I was made to feel backward, brainwashed and a symbol of political Islam instead of a woman who had made a choice.

Having come back to live and work in the Middle East, I have been forced to re-evaluate my identity. I knew I did not identify with many of the ways Egyptians practised their faith. I am a Muslim who was raised in the West, so I practise my faith differently. Equally, I do not identify with the way some of Egypt’s elite define being Western. I respect non-conformity. Even though I have to field personal and often rude questions from so-called liberals here, I still feel it empowers me to have control over my body. And while it is not as exhilarating to wear it as when I was 18, I still like surprising people when they are unsure of what to make of me in a hijab.

I also now know life as a woman is not going to be that easy. We are judged no matter what we do. So if I am to be labelled, I am determined to define my category. And while the struggle I face because of my hijab can get very tiresome some days, I am just not ready to give it up.

Hadeel al Shalchi is a writer for The Associated Press, based in Cairo.

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Surrey, B.C. — Irshad Manji writes beautifully that Muslim women in Canadian society must not be denied the right to wear the hijab, for freedom is “the great gift Canada offers to immigrants” (Canadian Freedoms Clothe The Muslim Body Politic – Oct. 14).

Yet Ms. Manji also notes that many Muslim females are not volunteering to cover – including some students I teach. She argues that we must remind newcomers of their liberties, including their right not to wear a head scarf or veil.

Globe and Mail

To honour the memory of Aqsa Parvez, the Mississauga, Ont., teenager killed last December, schools must find a way to remind female students of their liberties.

Concern for flowing fabric that could tangle around a swimmer’s legs or get caught in the filter intakes

CALGARY, ALBERTA CANADA — (OfficialWire) — 08/22/08 — The city of Calgary, Alberta, has decided to allow Muslim women to wear the hijab headscarf and Indians to wear saris in public swimming pools, safety allowing.

One of the restrictions enacted was that saris wouldn’t be permitted in the deep ends of pools because the flowing fabric could tangle around a swimmer’s legs or get caught in the filter intakes, the Globe and Mail reported Friday.

Heather Bruce, the Canadian city’s superintendent for aquatics and fitness, said a study found some Muslims and people of other religious minorities weren’t “participating in the water because they didn’t feel comfortable wearing traditional swimwear,” and the goal was to accommodate everyone, but safely.

“Young women and girls, around the age of 12, would stop taking swimming lessons because they weren’t comfortable in traditional swimwear,” Bruce said.

Official Wire

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