On Wearing a Niqab

There's a row in merry olde England as to what Muslim women should be allowed to wear. Some Muslim women are strolling around the streets of London completely covered except for an eye-slit in a garment called the niqab.

More than a few Londoners don't like it. The controversy has been going on now for several years and will no doubt continue for several more. More and more people want to make it against the law to wear the niqab.

There have been incidents. A niqab-clad lawyer was told she could not represent her client because the judge could not hear her. A teacher similarly garbed was told to go home. A student pressing her desire to cover herself head to foot while attending school, sued and lost.

One newspaper columnist, David Sexton, said he thought Britain was too lax. "I find such garb," in the context of a London street, first ridiculous and then directly offensive."

The wearing of the niqab does not seem to be an absolute necessity for Muslim women. The Muslim poobahs in Great Britain have said a plain old headscarf [hijab] is adequate. And only a very small minority of Muslim women in Great Britain wear the niqab.

The more devout Muslim women, however, believe wearing the niqab is something they must do; it is part of their identity. One young woman said "If I dressed in a Western way I could be a Hindu. I could be anything. This way (wearing the niqab) I feel comfortable in my identity as a Muslim woman."

There are other Muslim women, who, since 9/11, see the niqab "as a form of rebellion against the policies of the Blair government in Iraq and at home." A 24-year old Muslim said "For me it is not just a piece of clothing, it's an act of faith, it's solidarity."

Then some Muslim women have been taught that it's specifically a religious thing. A young Somali woman claimed that "Wearing the niqab means you will get a good grade and go to paradise ... when you wear something for Allah you get a boost."


Religions are fascinating. Does Allah require men wear specific clothing? I guess he says men must have beards, but what else? Isn't the real reason for the niqab to keep men from looking lustfully at a woman's physical charms? But why is that necessary when a man can have up to four wives anyway?

Could the niqab requirement be a way that Muslim men control Muslim women? Kinda the same thing as keeping 'em barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen?

If the more devout wear the niqab and go to paradise, what does that mean for the less devout who wear only the hijab or nothing at all?

It's kinda sad, too, that a woman would best find her identity in clothing that hides her entire physical being - except for her eyes.

It's all very confusing. And why would a god who could create an entire universe care about what clothing a few minor characters in his cosmic play wear?