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July 15th, 2010
06:13 PM ET
Veil ban a symbol of hypocrisy, fear
The French National Assembly has just done a huge favor to those elements in the Muslim world that thrive on anti-Westernism. By voting to ban the veil in public places - a move that brings a draft bill closer to becoming law - it has transformed a minor social irritant for a section of the French public into a major political issue. In doing so, it is feeding worldwide Muslim resentment against the West almost on par with the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the invasion of Iraq.
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  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Editor's note: Mohammed Ayoob is University Distinguished Professor of International Relations and Coordinator of the Muslim Studies Program at Michigan State University.
The veil is meant to keep women in the home, where they can be controlled. In a truly free society, we must be able to look each other in the face. This argument precedes any use of the burqa to conceal bombs or weapons.
These types of bans bring more resentment and distance the "Real" Muslim believers (majority). This is not democracy it is dictatorship where a person cannot express their beliefs. There are many women who wear the burqa because they themselves want to but they are not walking around blowing people up, actually they are against terrorism. Also there have been many more terrorist attacks where the burqa or veil was not involved. It is just an attack on a religion; nothing more.
I agree completely with what the article said. It is highly hypocritical for Europe to champion women's rights and freedom of choice when they themselves feel the need to dictate to others what should and shouldn't be worn, denying them the choice to be themselves. I find it strange that many here who commented are under the impression that Muslim women who wear the burka or the hijab do so under the threat of violence from their husbands. The fact that these women are wearing whatever they want with the belief that Western acceptance and tolerance might accept them for who they are- a belief that now seemed betrayed- never surfaced. How much better are Europeans than their so called extremists Muslim counterparts when they themselves are doing the exact same thing- trampling all over the rights of a minority religion in their country.
I find it laughable, reading through the comments, on how ignorant many of them are with regards to Muslims and their customs. We Muslims are backward? Muslim women were the first group of women allowed to vote, centuries before democracy took root in the West. Uncivilized? We invented the rules of hospitality, that any guest under our roofs are sacred, be they Muslim, Christian or Jew. Back when European royals were poisoning their own flesh and blood. Uneducated? In a survey done in the US, 50% of Muslims have college-level education, compared to the national average of 20-30%.
And I am very angry when people accuse us Muslims of not denouncing terrorists attacks. The leaders of Malaysia, Turkey, UAE, Indonesia have time and again denounced these attacks, calling for peace. But when we normal Muslims keep getting attacked for our own religious choices by so-called champions of human rights, it's very difficult to for us to identify these people who do so as model world citizens.
So pardon me if I don't kowtow to the pedestal you have so smugly put yourselves on.
From a Muslim scholar who was driven from Islam:
From- Ayaan Hirsi Ali's autobiography, "Infidel".
"Thus begins the extraordinary story of a woman born into a family of desert nomads, circumcised as a child, educated by radical imams in Kenya and Saudi Arabia, taught to believe that if she uncovered her hair, terrible tragedies would ensue. It's a story that, with a few different twists, really could have led to a wretched life and a lonely death, as her grandmother warned. But instead, Hirsi Ali escaped - and transformed herself into an internationally renowned spokeswoman for the rights of Muslim women."
ref: Washington Post book review.
four excerpts:
"Some of the Saudi women in our neighborhood were regularly beaten by their husbands. You could hear them at night. Their screams resounded across the courtyards. "No! Please! By Allah!"
"The Pakistanis were Muslims but they too had castes. The Untouchable girls, both Indian and Pakistani were darker skin. The others would not play with them because they were untouchable. We thought that was funny because of course they were touchable: we touched them see? but also horrifying to think of yourself as untouchable, despicable to the human race."
"Between October 2004 and May 2005, eleven Muslim girls were killed by their families in just two regions (there are 20 regions in Holland). After that, people stopped telling me I was exaggerating."
"The kind on thinking I saw in Saudi Arabia and among the Brotherhood of Kenya and Somalia, is incompatible with human rights and liberal values. It preserves the feudal mind-set based on tribal concepts of honor and shame. It rests on self-deception, hyprocricy, and double standards. It relies on the technologial advances of the West while pretending to ignore their origin in Western thinking. This mind-set makes the transition to modernity very painful for all who practice Islam".
Look even as a Muslim I don't agree with the veil. It's utterly unreasonable; no guy is going to be instantaneously attracted to you because he sees your face. Yes beauty is to be revered and ppl should cover themselves modestly but I want to see your face if I'm talking to you! If somebody is gonna say sone stupid reasonabout how men will be attracted to the women, then it's the mans lust that is at fault not the womens appearance. Look I myself, in my personal beliefs am very different from many amuslims but I don't appreciate all the stereotypes, and generalized comments hurled at Islam and Muslims. I'm not gonna lie, it has been a violent religion, but it doesn't mean that every Muslim you see is out to blow stuff up. Keep that invmind please
The veil on a woman's face is there meant to protect her sacred beauty. A woman's beauty is to be REVERED, not to be exposed like a snob. But hey, who is able to understand this in a society where woman pretend to be man, and man pretend to be woman? Only one who doesn't come from the insensitive mud & money world can possibly understand what the purpose is of protecting a woman's beauty....
In an open society I have the right to see your face and you have the right to see mine. One of the most pressing issues among Muslims is recognizing women's rights. But as with all of these prehistoric "man" made myths, women's rights are nowhere. Thus, we have to decide for ourselves what those rights are and cannot refer the matter to some barbaric texts.
http://www.islamicsolutions.com/islam-a-quick-introduction/
From the reference:
"Islam is an Arabic word that means peace. That word is given by God to human beings as a gift. Islam stands for peace inside you as well as peace outside and around you. It means making peace with God and making peace with God’s world and creation everywhere."
The reality: an example,
The significantly stupid civil war between the Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq (actually Sunnis and Shiites kill each other all around the world). Apparently these warring factions have short memories when it comes to the "peaceful" koran? And what version of the koran does each side read? What language is it in? Whose side is Allah on anyway? 96,845 – 105,596 Iraqi civilians killed so far in this civil war! What would Mohammed say? And where is Gabriel in all of this? Do we really need this global Shiite-Sunni horror to spill over into the USA or anywhere else in the non-Muslim world?
The reality:
Reality:
Sunnis and Shiites kill each other all over the world? Not where I am from. We live in peace. In any case one shouldn't judge Islam by some of its adherents. As in all faiths there are all kinds of people with all kinds of pre-Islam baggage -cultural and otherwise.
What about the American Civil war? What about all the other civil wars? Strife in Ireland etc. The reality is no one ever identifies a Christian terrorist but are quick to label someone with a name like Khan as an Islamic terrorist. Having a traditional Muslim name doesn't automatically make a person a Muslim. To be a Muslim one must submit to God, to love and obey Him- and part of that means loving and respecting His creation , not blowing them up.
So please do not judge Islam by the undesirable behavior some people who are called Muslims.
Nabihah,
We judge Muslims by their operating manual and what they do based on what said manual tells them to do. The 24/7 koranic-driven carnage is proof that Islam is not a peaceful religion and that no Muslim can be trusted as long as the koran exists in its present form.
Reality, do you personally know any muslim people? I doubt you would spout such nonsense if you did. Also, you still have no references for anything you post which makes me think they are all untrue.
Frogist, See this morning's newspapers and yesterday's and on and on for descriptions of the latest koranic driven horror at various locations aroung the globe.
Once again it proves that eduation and humane compassion doesn't seem to fly with muslims. SOMEHOW AND I MEAN SOMEHOW THESE MUSLIMS NEVER SEEM TO COME OUT PUBLICLY AND DENOUNCE THE RADICAL CLERICS, THE PROPAGANDA ON THE WEST, THE KILLINGS, THE WOMEN ABUSE, THE CHILDREN ABUSE AND THE MURDERS THAT THEY AND THEIR BELIEFS INFUSE ON OTHER CULTURES AND NATIONS AS A FACT; BUT IT ALWAY SEEM TO BE THE WEST FAULT AND EVERY OTHER NON-MUSLIM PERSON ON THIS PLANET !!! THEY ARE SOME MUSLIMS WHO RUN AWAY FROM THEIR OWN COUNTRY BUT YET THEY TURN BACK TO THEIR WAY OF LIFE IN THEIR ADOPTED HOMELAND. THEY ARE TRULY A SCOURGE ON THE EARTH, EATING AWAY AT EVERYTHING ELSE UNTIL IT IS ASSIMILATED OR DESTROYED. CAN ANYONE IMAGINE IF THE ENTIRE EARTH'S POPULATION WAS ALL MUSLIMS??? KILLING IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, JIHAD, PERSONAL VANDETTAS, EVERYFORM OF ABUSE AND SHARIA WOULD BE A WAY OF LIFE EVERY SINGLE DAY – IN OTHER WORDS SLAVERY AT A NEW SCALE !!!!
The professor also forgot to mention the significantly stupid civil war between the Shiites and Sunnis in Iraq (actually Sunnis and Shiites kill each other all around the world). Apparently these warring factions have short memories when it comes to the "peaceful" koran? And what version of the koran does each side read? What language is it in? Whose side is Allah on anyway? 96,845 – 105,596 Iraqi civilians killed so far in this civil war! What would Mohammed say? And where is Gabriel in all of this? Do we really need this global Shiite-Sunni horror to spill over into the USA?
Again, why mosques and burkas should not be allowed anywhere in the USA or anywhere else:
On April 17, a refugee camp at Kohat in Pakistan was struck by two suicide bombers that disguised themselves with burqas, the full-body veil worn by some Muslim women to make sure none of their skin is exposed.
Terrorists have repeatedly donned burqas in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as in the United Kingdom, Iraq, the Gaza Strip, India, Somalia and Mauritania. In the United Kingdom, one man who tried to set off a bomb in July 2005 in London was able to escape by wearing a burqa. The use of this clothing makes counter-terrorism more difficult because female police, which are in shorter supply, must be used to search those wearing it. The police chief of Iraq’s Babil Province in August 2008 complained about this after two burqa-wearing females attacked Shiite piligrims.
That's ridiculous. Female police officers are needed to search any women who are brought in, not just the moslem ones wearing burqas. And if you odon't have enough, hire some more. Also why do these accounts, for which you have provided no references, mean that we should ban mosques as well? Again, your argument has many holes. If you just dislike muslim people, then just say that. That way we know your bias from the get go.
Apparently the professor failed to Google "burka bombs". And obviously, like all Muslims, he has been Bred, Born and Brainwashed with the biggest fraud ever pulled on humankind, i.e. the mythical revelations of a mythical angel to one warmongering Arab named Mohammed.
Reality, I've read your other posts on Islamic people, and I find them reprehensible. Just because some people use certain items to make a bomb doesn't mean we ban those items. Fertilizer, backpacks, batteries are all available for purchase without restriction. Your argument doesn't hold water. It's only that burqas are moslem, and that's why you see them as a threat. Why haven't any of the comments posted as replies to yours caused you to pause and reconsider your ideas?
THE ARTICLE "VEIL BAN A XYMBOL OF HYPOCRISY, FEAR" WAS IN ITSELF AN ARTICLE OF HYPOCRISY AND FEAR ON THE PART OF THE MUSLIM PROFESSOR WHO WROTE IT . LEST I REMIND HIM HE IS THE ONE USING RHETORIC TO FURTHER
INSTIGATE A DEEPER REPULSION OF THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY. USING THE WORD VEIL VS BURQA IS A PLAY ON WORDS TO DIMINISH THE USE OF CONTROL MUSLIMS EXERCISE OVER WOMEN IN THE MIDDLE EAST. HE TALKS ABOUT CHOICE OF THE WOMEN BUT HE IS NAIVE IN BELIEVING THAT THEY HAD A CHOICE IN RELIGIONS IN THE FIRSTPLACE.SO HOW COULD THEY HAVE A CHOICE IN DEVELOPING HEALTHY LIFESTYLES. COVERING A PERSON'S FACE SEPARATES THEM FROM OTHER PEOPLE AND INHIBITS THEIR ABILILTY TO COMMUNICATE. BASIC PSYCHOLOGY TEACHES THAT PRIMARY COMMUNICATION IS NONVERBAL. ALLOWING WOMEN TO COMMUNICATE IS POWER AND MUSLIM MEN ARE THE HYPOCITES. BEHEADING,STONNING, AND LASHES ARE THE RESULTS OF FEAR. THEY ARE TOOLS TO EXERCISE CONTROL BY FEAR. IN WRITING THIS ARTICLE YOU ARE TRYING TO EXERCISE THE SAME KIND OF MANIPULATION OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BUT IT IS NOT GOING TO WORK !!!