Much Ado About Niqab?

Sobia Ali

 

 

The niqab, or the face veil, has by now become an infamous symbol of fear--whether it is fear for those "poor oppressed" Muslim women, or fear of their "crazy, suicide bombing" brothers, husbands, fathers, or sons; or maybe even fear of them. Regardless, the niqab has now become associated with controversy whichever arena within which it presents itself.

The latest of these controversies in Canada arose with Elections Canada's decision to allow Muslim women who wear the niqab to vote without showing their faces. These women will simply need to produce two pieces of identification. This decision let loose a firestorm of debate, with the Prime Minister weighing in, expressing his disappointment in the decision: “I profoundly disagree with the decision,” he stated, adding that the role of Elections Canada was not to make its own laws. “I hope they will reconsider this decision,” Harper concluded.
           
The interesting aspect of the debate is that Elections Canada was the only debater to defend this decision. Even the most conservative Muslim organizations expressed a sense of surprise and disappointment with the decision. Many felt this decision would place Muslim women in a negative spotlight, possibly even sparking antagonism toward the entire Canadian Muslim community. The conservative Muslim organizations, such as the Canadian Islamic Congress, voiced that niqabi women would be comfortable revealing their faces to a female elections worker. “It's a non-issue for us,” president, Mohamed Elmasry stated.

The liberal Muslim organizations pointed out that, in reality, the niqab is not a requirement of Islam and as such does not need to be treated as a matter of religious freedom, rather as a cultural relic. Farzana Hassan, president of the Muslim Canadian Congress, expressed the organization’s concerns by demanding from Elections Canada that “this silly provision allowing masked women to vote, be rescinded immediately. The sanctioning of the burqa and [niqab] as Islamic attire is a rude joke, and insult to Muslim Canadians.” However the rationale, all seemed united in their opposition to the decision.
          
This latest incident is just another example of the politics that  play out on the female body. In an attempt to be culturally sensitive, Elections Canada tried to accommodate Muslim women, and, subsequently, the Muslim population. However, this did not happen as already demonstrated. Instead, Elections Canada simply added their voice to the political field that  is the female Muslim body.
         
For generations, nay, centuries, scholars in the Muslim world have been debating how to control the female body. Famous Muslim feminist Fatima Mernissi states that traditionally eleventh-century Islamic scholar Imam Ghazali’s implicit theory of female sexuality has determined that the female body be considered so sexually arousing it may distract men from fulfilling their duties to the greater Muslim community. Ghazali claims that the woman is the "hunter" and the man her passive victim. The woman is seen as powerful, but whose power is used for the destruction of Muslim social order. Women are seen as vehicles to disorder and chaos in society. Men are seen as weak, not being able to resist the allures of women. Thus, rules of veiling and seclusion to the home are established to prevent women from leading men astray with their overpowering sexuality and sexual urges. Therefore, for the greater good of the community, it is necessary to cover the distraction that is the female body, and control the weapon that is female sexuality.          

The non-Muslim world has not been innocent in this political game. They, too, have used the Muslim female body to push their political agendas. Stephen Harper, in his sympathy for the plight of those "poor" Afghani women, has stated the importance of liberating these women from the shackles of their burqas, in Canada’s mission in the war-torn country. Meanwhile, he has all but eliminated funding to the Status of Women right here in our country. George W. Bush and his ilk have done the same for the women in both Afghanistan and Iraq, using the "oppression" of those women to justify their presence. Historically, the British and French justified their colonizing invasions of Arab countries by claiming to liberate those poor, helpless Muslim women from their hyper-macho, cruel Muslim men. Never mind that many did not support women's liberation in their own respective countries.

In the Elections Canada debate, the stakes are not so high. There are no invasions or colonizations. There are no assumptions of oppression or attempts to control. However, the Muslim female body has once again been brought back into the limelight for better or for worse. The manner in which She has been politicized by Muslims and non-Muslims alike has become very apparent. With international debates about not only the niqab, but also the hijab (the head covering which leaves the face exposed), the need to deal with politicization of Her body seems vital at this point in time. It is high time the Muslim as well as non-Muslim community stop using the Muslim woman's body to forward political agendas and let Her be.  

Photo Credits: All photos associated with this article courtesy of Sobia Ali (all permissions granted).

"Much Ado About Niqab" is Sobia's first article for Edwards.