Essay On The Burka Ban

Should Britain ban the Burka/Niqab? One of the many controversial issues surrounding Muslims in the U.K is whether Britain should follow in France’s footsteps and put a ban on the Burka or Niqab- the black robe which conceals the face and, in fact, every part of a Muslim woman’s body and identity. There are many opinions and viewpoints on this topic of conversation. Those people who believe in the burka ban argue that women are not being given the right to wear what they want. They speak about young schoolgirls coming out into the world not being able to show who they really are. In one source the writer stated, “The door opens to release the children into the spring sunshine and out flaps a flock of crows”. This fortifies that it is not

The women in question, they state, do not feel that they are being imprisoned in any way, shape or form. They dispute that the Muslim women who are supposedly “imprisoned” choose freely to wear the burka. The 354 women caught for wearing the burka under the initial year of the French ban, all said it was their individual choice to do so and had nothing to do with men, on whom the accusations were made against. These women speak about “louts” in the street, who allegedly shout racist abuse and occasionally use physical violence, “that ultimately creates nothing but hatred and violence”. However although this information is disturbing, many have criticized it for being irrelevant to the argument. How can a Muslim woman justify the “burka induced torment” as an argument as to why it should

For many, using a religious/cultural argument in support of a ban would seem racist in such a “politically correct” obsessed world. For Dr Taj Harjey, a Muslim man himself, this is no dilemma. He and many others argue that the general public have been forced into a false sense of reality and are “misguided”. They say that the burka should be banned in Britain as it was imported from Saudi Arabia and has nothing to do with Islamic culture whatsoever. In one case, a Pakistani woman took a case to officials. However, in Pakistani culture, the burka is of no significance. In fact 90% of women do not wear the burka. Begging the question, what is all the fuss about? The Koran, the Islamic holy book says “The Prophets wives are not like other women”, suggesting that only the prophets wives should wear the burka, stressing the fact that Muslim women are not required to wear it under any circumstances. Does that include Britain?! Similarly the Koran mentions that women aren’t allowed to cover their faces whilst on pilgrimage to Mecca; the holiest of sights in Islamic Culture. In one source the writer asks the question” If such a pre-Islamic practice is banned in Islam’s holiest site, why on earth would it be required on the streets of Britain?” Along with the Koran, the Institute of Muslim Theology claims that the burka has no part in Islamic culture, reinforcing the already compelling argument