Is the niqab bad for society?

[barryqwalsh]

Omer Aziz is a columnist, and a student of international affairs and law.

Recent discussions about the place of the niqab in Canadian society have left him with opinions at 180 degree odds with each other. As someone who was raised in the Muslim faith, he personally opposes the wearing of the niqab.

But he says a ban on wearing them would be just as bad for society.

Listen 14:06

Is the niqab bad for society - Home The 180 with Jim Brown CBC Radio

 

[S.J.]

Wouldn't it be funny if white people started wearing masks and claim religious persecution when the cops tell them they can't do it? Show up at DMV for your driver's test with a mask on, walk in a liquor store wearing a mask, go to the bank with a mask on?

 

[Muhammed]

Omer Aziz is a columnist, and a student of international affairs and law.

Recent discussions about the place of the niqab in Canadian society have left him with opinions at 180 degree odds with each other. As someone who was raised in the Muslim faith, he personally opposes the wearing of the niqab.

But he says a ban on wearing them would be just as bad for society.

Listen 14:06

Is the niqab bad for society - Home The 180 with Jim Brown CBC Radio

Judging by the fugliness of that dude in the picture, it should be a requirement.

He's a disgusting sub-human.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Rather have mentally ill people be they Muslim or otherwise easily recognized than have em blending in.

 

[Hollie]

Is there something wrong with forcing women into shame sacks?

 

[Muhammed]

Is there something wrong with forcing women into shame sacks?

"Shame sacks"?

Different people have different standards of modesty.

One woman could feel perfectly comfortable wearing a tiny bikini on the beach while another woman would feel completely naked by just showing the hair on her head in public. Or even just her eyes.

It should be up to her.

Women shouldn't be forced by law to bare their bodies.

 

[Valerie]

Women shouldn't be forced by law to bare their bodies.

wow, you're really going out on a limb right there!

 

[TheOldSchool]

The Niqab should be legal except when identification is legally necessary.

 

[Muhammed]

Women shouldn't be forced by law to bare their bodies.

wow, you're really going out on a limb right there!

How so? Could you elaborate?

 

[Valerie]

Women shouldn't be forced by law to bare their bodies.

wow, you're really going out on a limb right there!

How so? Could you elaborate?

considering no one is proposing forcing women to bare their bodies by law..

or as the next guy suggests, neither is anyone proposing making the niqab illegal..except when identification is legally necessary.

 

[Muhammed]

The Niqab should be legal except when identification is legally necessary.

I think I can agree with that.

It's the people who want to outright ban it that I don't get.

At risk of presenting a strawman argument, I'll say that it seems to me that the usual justification for banning it is that it's repressive to women.

However, the only girl I know that regularly covers up a lot says that in her view, it's empowering rather than repressive because she is the one who decides who can enjoy her visually aesthetic beauty.

And that's just a head scarf. She doesn't wear a face covering. She just covers her gorgeous brunette hair with a scarf when she's at work or shopping or whatever.

 

[TheOldSchool]

The Niqab should be legal except when identification is legally necessary.

I think I can agree with that.

It's the people who want to outright ban it that I don't get.

At risk of presenting a strawman argument, I'll say that it seems to me that the usual justification for banning it is that it's repressive to women.

However, the only girl I know that regularly covers up a lot says that in her view, it's empowering rather than repressive because she is the one who decides who can enjoy her visually aesthetic beauty.

And that's just a head scarf. She doesn't wear a face covering. She just covers her gorgeous brunette hair with a scarf when she's at work or shopping or whatever.

Whenever I see a girl in a Niqab I think she's a complete fool.

But I think it's absolutely and fundamentally wrong to ban her from wearing it. Hell if I want to wear my Jack Sparrow Halloween costume tomorrow that's perfectly legal! Even if it freaks some people out!

 

[Muhammed]

Hell if I want to wear my Jack Sparrow Halloween costume tomorrow that's perfectly legal!

I did that once and it scared the hell out of me.

I thought I was going to be torn limb from limb by insane, manic tween girls.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Hell if I want to wear my Jack Sparrow Halloween costume tomorrow that's perfectly legal!

I did that once and it scared the hell out of me.

I thought I was going to be torn limb from limb by insane, manic tween girls.

Um... why were you around such young girls on Halloween...

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

"Recent discussions about the place of the niqab in Canadian society..."

Fortunately this isn't an issue in American society, one of the many benefits of the First Amendment.

Consequently, any measure with the intent of 'banning' the niqab would be in violation of the Free Exercise Clause, and invalidated accordingly.

 

[Muhammed]

Hell if I want to wear my Jack Sparrow Halloween costume tomorrow that's perfectly legal!

I did that once and it scared the hell out of me.

I thought I was going to be torn limb from limb by insane, manic tween girls.

Um... why were you around such young girls on Halloween...

Play the guitar and they will come.

 

[Muslim75]

Good Muslims are not supposed to like Niqabs, Burqas and other similar dressing items. Many bad Muslims do, however. It is logical that governments ask for it to be banned. It does not surprise me. To me, these dressing items are just instruments to oppress women and degrade Islam.