Is veil in regards to covering of face, Islamic? There is no mention of 'covering of face' in the Quran, it is not a religious requirement rather more of a cultural evolution.
"Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to.." (Quran: Surah An Nur 24:30-31)
Head covering however is not only Islamic but also a part of Christianity and Judaism.
"And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head - it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or shaved off, she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head." (New Testament: St Paul; I Corinthians 11:3-10)In the Jewish culture, veil is also considered part of the woman’s modesty. It has been written many times that it was a custom of Jewish women to cover their head in public, sometimes, even covered the whole face leaving one eye free.
"It is not like the daughters of Israel to walk out with heads uncovered" and "Cursed be the man who lets the hair of his wife be seen....a woman who exposes her hair for self-adornment brings poverty." (The Jewish woman in Rabbinic literature: Rabbi Dr. Menachem Brayer)
"Rabbinic law forbids the recitation of blessings or prayers in the presence of a bareheaded married woman since uncovering the woman's hair is considered nudity". (Swidler, cit.121-123)
And nowadays in the Jewish culture, the traditional veil is replaced with a wig as another form of hair covering.
Up until the 1960ies head covering veil was considered normal in the west as well. To date the catholic nuns cover their heads and not look any different from a Muslim woman wearing a hijab. Veil is supposed to give modesty and hence protection, which few of us continue to endorse despite the external pressures of the current society.
However the issue is not whether veil is Islamic as being currently debated in the media, rather whether the ban on veil is just? It is a ban on human rights and violation of equality in the name of secularism. Quoting President Sarkozy 'secular nation's values', what are these values may I ask? How is wearing a burqa/veil not dignified? Is baring a woman the new definition of dignity? And how is forcing someone not to wear veil any different than forcing someone to wear it? Is that equality or justice or secularism as the French so claims?! Or simply suppression!
In this day and age, one would think that it is the innate right of a human being in a civilized nation to practice religion or culture in the way they desire without fear of being persecuted. To cover your face or not is a personal preference and it should not make a country insecure. The French ban is a perfect example of pure fundamentalist extreme. What happened to free will? The French ban proves there is no freedom in France. What happened to standing against tyranny? Are we to sit still and continue to watch the prelude to the twenty first century holocaust? After all history does repeat itself!
In this day and age, one would think that it is the innate right of a human being in a civilized nation to practice religion or culture in the way they desire without fear of being persecuted. To cover your face or not is a personal preference and it should not make a country insecure. The French ban is a perfect example of pure fundamentalist extreme. What happened to free will? The French ban proves there is no freedom in France. What happened to standing against tyranny? Are we to sit still and continue to watch the prelude to the twenty first century holocaust? After all history does repeat itself!
Photo courtesy of 'Real Freedom means being able to wear a veil' by Daniel Finkelstein
