Letter sent to the Toronto Star
Feb. 16th, 2004 06:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rfmcdonaldre: Prohibiting hijab fundamental issue
Mr. Ghanim's comparison of the hijab to prayer is off base, since the hijab is not a religious requirement of Islam. Modesty is a requirement, for both sexes. The three sections in the Koran dealing with the issue of dress command people of both sexes to cover "private parts," order women to cover their bosom, and require wives of Muhammad (not wives of all Muslim men) to seclude themselves to protect themselves from hostile men. Further, women are not responsible for men's lewd thoughts since they cannot be responsible for the sins of another. As the Koran itself says (24:30, 31), "Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them. Lo! Allah is aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display their adornment only that which is apparent."
The French ban does not force young Muslim women to be immodest. What it was intended to do was to respond to the concerns of many French--including a plurality of French Muslim women--that young women were being pressured by conservative relatives and neighbours to don the hijab against their own wishes. In the abstract, these women might have a choice to wear the hijab or not; if, in practice, their only choices are to wear the hijab or risk stigma and possible physical attack as immoral women, talk of choice is a mockery.
The law, as it is currently constituted, provides a space for young French Muslim women to refuse wearing the hijab at minimal threat to themselves. It isn't a harmless solution. So far, though, it seems to be the best of a set of options which all inevitably involve some degree of harm, allowing the largest number of French Muslim women to engage with their religious communities and wider French society on their own terms.
Randy McDonald
Kingston, Ont.
UPDATE: I go into more detail about my perspectives on the hijab here.
Mr. Ghanim's comparison of the hijab to prayer is off base, since the hijab is not a religious requirement of Islam. Modesty is a requirement, for both sexes. The three sections in the Koran dealing with the issue of dress command people of both sexes to cover "private parts," order women to cover their bosom, and require wives of Muhammad (not wives of all Muslim men) to seclude themselves to protect themselves from hostile men. Further, women are not responsible for men's lewd thoughts since they cannot be responsible for the sins of another. As the Koran itself says (24:30, 31), "Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and be modest. That is purer for them. Lo! Allah is aware of what they do. And tell the believing women to lower their gaze and be modest, and to display their adornment only that which is apparent."
The French ban does not force young Muslim women to be immodest. What it was intended to do was to respond to the concerns of many French--including a plurality of French Muslim women--that young women were being pressured by conservative relatives and neighbours to don the hijab against their own wishes. In the abstract, these women might have a choice to wear the hijab or not; if, in practice, their only choices are to wear the hijab or risk stigma and possible physical attack as immoral women, talk of choice is a mockery.
The law, as it is currently constituted, provides a space for young French Muslim women to refuse wearing the hijab at minimal threat to themselves. It isn't a harmless solution. So far, though, it seems to be the best of a set of options which all inevitably involve some degree of harm, allowing the largest number of French Muslim women to engage with their religious communities and wider French society on their own terms.
Randy McDonald
Kingston, Ont.
UPDATE: I go into more detail about my perspectives on the hijab here.
