The Burka and the Law

The best missed photo opportunity I have ever seen occurred last Christmas when I made my annual pilgrimage to the local supermall. A Muslim woman draped from head to toe in a black burka and chadri—the lace net covering the eyes—was happily window shopping and totting a pink Victoria’s Secret bag. It was a perfect culture clash.


In the last couple of years, my native Europe has been agonizing over Muslin-related legislation. The Swiss voted against allowing the building of any more minarets in their small nation, though the construction of new mosques sans minarets is still allowed; the Belgians passed a law against full Islamic face veils (the fine for wearing one is $34); the French and Italians are considering similar bans, as are the Dutch.

There’s little guiding these laws but fear. There are five million Muslims in France alone, and Islam will be the number two religion within a decade. The influx of Muslims to Europe rivals any migration of the last century, and the issues surrounding employment, money, education and social benefits are rife with anger and apprehension. The alarm over terrorism is fresh and growing. Almost every European country has been struck by acts of terror, from the killing of a filmmaker in Belgium to the subway bombings in England, to the railroad mass murders in Spain.

The other issue of course is that a burka—or a yarmulke, for that matter—identifies the wearer as different, and whereas the small round knit top-of-the-cranium cover is relatively discreet, a burka is out there for all to see, and in this world of equal rights, thin glass ceilings and Sadie Hawkins mores, why in the world would a woman want to buck the Western system and dissimulate her identity?

The history of the burka is confusing. According to Wikipedia, veiled virgins are described in Roman literature praising “the modesty of those ‘pagan women of Arabia’ who ‘not only cover their head, but their whole face...preferring to enjoy half the light with one eye rather than prostituting their whole face.’ It is conjectured that such pre-Islamic Middle Eastern face veils may have originated as a sort of sand mask in windy conditions…The masking of women's face and body may have been employed to diminish the abduction of women of childbearing age when one group was being raided by another. With all women hidden behind a veil it is argued that the chances of being taken were substantially reduced as the women of child bearing age could not be quickly distinguished from post-menopausal women in the turmoil of fighting.

“Many Muslims believe that the Islamic holy book, the Quran, and the collected traditions of the life of Muhammad, or require both men and women to dress and behave modestly in public. However, this requirement, called hijab has been interpreted in many different ways by Islamic scholars and Muslim communities.

“The Quran has been translated as stating: "O Prophet! Say to your wives and your daughters and the women of the faithful to draw their outergarments (jilbabs) close around themselves; that is better that they will be recognized and not annoyed. And God is ever Forgiving, Gentle."

“Another verse in the Quran is translated as: "And say to the faithful women to lower their gazes, and to guard their private parts, and not to display their beauty except what is apparent of it, and to extend their headcoverings (khimars) to cover their bosoms (jaybs), and not to display their beauty except to their husbands, or their fathers, or their husband's fathers, or their sons, or their husband's sons, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their womenfolk, or what their right hands rule (slaves), or the followers from the men who do not feel sexual desire, or the small children to whom the nakedness of women is not apparent, and not to strike their feet (on the ground) so as to make known what they hide of their adornments. And turn in repentance to Allah together, O you the faithful, in order that you are successful."

What I am waiting for is something completely outrageous.

In Virginia, some animal sacrifices are now legal when performed ritualistically for a religious purpose. I’m not sure where I stand on that, but I think manly men should create a male-only sect where one is required to expose his penis as a matter of faith. It would be the exact opposite of the burka, and make just as powerful a statement. If the issue is one of free speech—which in this country is what burka-wearers claim—then I want my free speech rights as well.

The line starts at the left.