In the wake of the furore about a proposed ban on the niqab in the UK, author Na'ima B Robert reflects on what may lie behind the debate.
How many non-Musims have ever actually spoken with a woman who wears the niqab, the face veil that is causing all the fuss across the Channel? How many can say that they know a woman who wears niqab personally, or that they have a niqab wearer in their family?
How many can say that they know anything about the niqab other than what they have been drip-fed by the mass media and the slew of 'harem horror' blockbusters that glory in the depiction of Muslim women as perpetual victims of culture and patriarchy, each of them dying to be liberated from the oppression of the veil?
Judging by the language (ranging from vitriolic to downright patronising) that is used to describe the niqab (or 'burqa') and, by extension, the women who wear it, I am guessing that the answer to the above questions is few, very few. Few can say that they know anything more about the niqab than what they have heard on the radio or read in the paper. It's simply another case of strange brown people doing strange things, isn't it?
And here lies the rub.
For while the niqab remains an exotic aberration, a garment of fearful mystery based on an incomprehensible set of values, it will continue to provoke fear and loathing on Western streets. Western cultural programming teaches that those who cover their faces have something to hide, are a threat, and mean to harm. Highwaymen, ninjas, Darth Vader and bank robbers in balaclavas are the only things that most Westerners have as reference points when they see a woman with her face covered.
Although the same cannot be said of the Asian population in this country, there is still a huge gulf between the mainstream British Asian population and Muslim women who cover their faces with niqab. It would not surprise me to find out that other Asians hold some of the same stereotypes as Britons whose culture is far removed from that of Muslims.
When are we going to rewrite the narrative? When are we going to go beyond the stereotypes and the two-dimensional labels and get to grips with who these women really are? We are not a threat, we are not dangerous and we are not to be feared. We are ordinary women who have chosen to dress in a way that helps us to better ‘live’ our faith. We are just as ordinary - and extraordinary - as any woman out there.
The niqab does not cause us to morph into clones or rob us of our personalities, no matter how uniform we may appear on the outside. In a society as obsessed with appearance as ours, it is useful to remember that not everyone dresses to advertise their personality - or physical assets - to the world and that there is more to a woman than what she shows on the outside.
The 'burqa ban' may never become law in the UK. It may yet be overturned by the courts in France. But the problem still remains. Even without legislation, public feeling towards the niqab is overwhelmingly negative and, I believe, the time has come for this feeling to be addressed. True understanding of 'the Other' does not come from legislation, it comes from communication, from education. This is how it was with black people, Jews and immigrants from the Asian subcontinent. Were these groups not stereotyped and discriminated against until their narrative was allowed to be heard, until they were permitted to take part in the public discourse, until they were humanised?
I feel that now is the time for the Muslim woman to be humanised, to be heard, to be accepted for who she is, in all its different forms. The time has come for Muslim women and, in particular, Muslim women who cover, to engage constructively with our society. We must be bold and resolute and laugh to scorn the naysayers, the fear-mongers and those whose fortunes depend on dividing our society into 'us' and 'them'.
For the more cooperation there is between Muslim women and the wider society, the fewer stereotypes there will be. Why? Because individuals will have recourse to personal experiences that contradict the negative stereotypes put forward by the scare-mongers. When the media or politicians say that women who wear the veil are oppressed and submissive, degraded or walking around 'in coffins', individuals will be able to say, 'Hang on, I know a woman who wears a niqab and she is nothing like that!' It is this humanising of the niqab wearer that will, I believe, prevent this issue from becoming as explosive and divisive as it could become in the future if it is handled the wrong way.
So, I say to my niqabi sister: say 'Good morning' to your neighbour, chat with the teller at Sainsbury’s, joke with the kids at school, offer to help in your local community centre, raise funds for a cancer charity, invite your non-Muslim colleague round for tea. With every bit of human contact, we will succeed in eradicating fear and suspicion and we will reclaim our common ground - our shared humanity.
And to you who have never spoken to a woman in niqab, I challenge you to put aside your preconceptions and be open to this communication. Dare to entertain the notion that there just might be something really beautiful, inspiring and life-affirming about that woman behind the veil.
Na'ima B. Robert's book From my sisters' lips (Transworld) is an intimate look at British women's lives behind the veil. Although not from an Asian background, she has had the temerity to write a novel based in a Pakistani family, Boy vs Girl, that features a funky niqabi auntie who drives a red Mini Cooper.
You can view the book trailer here
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With that said, "Good morning! I'm well, how about you?"
I was intrigued by the terminology, shouldn't it be 'between the mainstream British Muslim population' rather than 'British Asian' for the article to demonstrate some continuity? For that matter it is inaccurate to take the view that attitudes on niqab outside the British or even Western population are welcoming or without prejudice.
What the author seems to have overlooked is the fact that the general view of most British Muslim women who do not wear niqab varies widely. There are a spectrum of attitudes some supportive and some not so, as demonstrated by the above comments, therefore it is an incorrect assumption to conduct the debate, or in this case the article, as though all attitudes are the same. For the record I too am a Muslim woman and do not feel comfortable with the niqab although I respect those who wish to wear it.
Judge the people with the truth and not the truth by the people.
"I fully believe that whether she wears hijabs, niqabs, burkas, veils, bikinis, miniskirts, or all of them, or some of them, each woman is fully capable of being confident, educated and in control of her own life. Where I think we have gone wrong is with the judgments, both moral and social, we place on women’s appearances and prescriptions of dress."
Quotes from Bokhari's article, http://oyetimes.com/views/columns/4553-a-real-burqavaganza-the-little-play-that-once-could
Yes, I have tried to talk to niqabis, no good response. I think they my respond better to a white christian, but because I am also Muslim and look similar to them in my brown skin they think I should dress like them. I get verses from the Quran quoted to me and other nonsense of how I should not dress so westernly or loosely.
Again, I agree with Tahmena Bokhari's article 'niqab vs bikini' and her other artcles which convinced me niqab/hijab/whatever should not be banned. But I do feel discrimination goes both ways. I do not feel welcomed by these niqabi women or the community that supports isolation of women.
For M.B. I still don't get the connection between "red sports cars" and those who wear a niqab. And as for "their minds are not so progressive".... define for me what is a progressive mind? And assuming that you hvn't ever talked to a burqa-wearing women, what makes you say that "their minds are not so progressive"?
As for this article, i think it is well written and i really like the suggestions you made about niqab-wearing women to interact more with others. I personally don't wear a niqab/burqa but i do know a few girls/women who wear niqab and are very interactive with different types of ppl.
I am from a Muslim background and I think niqabis and hijabis discriminate against women like me who are not religious and wear whatever I like.