OnIslam & Newspapers
Tuesday, 12 April 2011 14:16
The French niqab ban has sparked worries for risking to harm social cohesion
CAIRO – A French law banning the wearing of face-veil in public places is sparking worries for harming social cohesion and limiting the Muslim presence in the western European country.
"This law of exception in France, a nation built on laws, is harmful," Noura Jaballah, coordinator of the France chapter of the European Forum for Muslim Women, told the USA Today on Tuesday, April 12.
A French law banning the wearing of face-veil – burqa or niqab - in public places took into force on Monday.
Offenders would be fined 150 euros ($189) or required to take part in a citizenship class.
People who force women to wear a face-veil risk up to a year in prison and a fine of $41,000.
Jaballah said the burqa ban law targets a minority that should have the right to personal liberty and freedom of choice.
Hours after the law took into effect, two women were arrested while protesting the ban in front of Notre Dame.
"This law infringes my European rights,” Kenza Drider, a Muslim mother-of-four, told reporters.
“I cannot but defend them, that is to say my freedom to come and go and my religious freedom."
It is not the first time that France sets a controversial law against a Muslim outfit.
In 2004, France banned hijab in schools and public places, with many European countries following suit.
France is home to some 5-6 million Muslims, the biggest Muslim minority in Europe.
Racism
French Muslims say that they wear the outfit out of personal choice.
"If you look at the women in Paris who wear the burqa, many of them are converts and wear it as a symbol of their faith," said Samirah Akoumar, 20 a student at the Sorbonne, who wears hijab and carries a copy of the Noble Qur’an.
The face-veil, a garment that is often black, covers the face but leaves the eyes uncovered, different from burqa wore by Afghani women.
While hijab is an obligatory code of dress for Muslim women, the majority of Muslim scholars agree that a woman is not obliged to wear the face veil, or niqab, but believe that it is up to women to decide whether to cover her face.
The new French law is seen as the latest in episodes of restrictions on the Muslim presence in the European country.
"I am concerned that it is not so much a law about safety as it is one about racism," Mohammad T, 41, a garbage man, told the USA Today.
Samy Debah, head of the French Collective against Islamophobia, shares a similar view.
"The niqab law is a pretext to reduce the visibility of Muslims in public spaces,” he told the Guardian.
“It exposes an old French colonial reflex, that "Arabs and blacks" only understand force and you can't talk to them."
"This law of exception in France, a nation built on laws, is harmful," Noura Jaballah, coordinator of the France chapter of the European Forum for Muslim Women, told the USA Today on Tuesday, April 12.
A French law banning the wearing of face-veil – burqa or niqab - in public places took into force on Monday.
Offenders would be fined 150 euros ($189) or required to take part in a citizenship class.
People who force women to wear a face-veil risk up to a year in prison and a fine of $41,000.
Jaballah said the burqa ban law targets a minority that should have the right to personal liberty and freedom of choice.
Hours after the law took into effect, two women were arrested while protesting the ban in front of Notre Dame.
"This law infringes my European rights,” Kenza Drider, a Muslim mother-of-four, told reporters.
“I cannot but defend them, that is to say my freedom to come and go and my religious freedom."
It is not the first time that France sets a controversial law against a Muslim outfit.
In 2004, France banned hijab in schools and public places, with many European countries following suit.
France is home to some 5-6 million Muslims, the biggest Muslim minority in Europe.
Racism
French Muslims say that they wear the outfit out of personal choice.
"If you look at the women in Paris who wear the burqa, many of them are converts and wear it as a symbol of their faith," said Samirah Akoumar, 20 a student at the Sorbonne, who wears hijab and carries a copy of the Noble Qur’an.
The face-veil, a garment that is often black, covers the face but leaves the eyes uncovered, different from burqa wore by Afghani women.
While hijab is an obligatory code of dress for Muslim women, the majority of Muslim scholars agree that a woman is not obliged to wear the face veil, or niqab, but believe that it is up to women to decide whether to cover her face.
The new French law is seen as the latest in episodes of restrictions on the Muslim presence in the European country.
"I am concerned that it is not so much a law about safety as it is one about racism," Mohammad T, 41, a garbage man, told the USA Today.
Samy Debah, head of the French Collective against Islamophobia, shares a similar view.
"The niqab law is a pretext to reduce the visibility of Muslims in public spaces,” he told the Guardian.
“It exposes an old French colonial reflex, that "Arabs and blacks" only understand force and you can't talk to them."
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