Niqab debate
contributed by Ali Zafar

Indian actress Shabana Azmi - a recipient of an international peace prize - was labeled a prostitute after speaking against Muslim women covering their faces - or wearing the niqab.

"The Quran speaks about women wearing clothes to cover her modesty. A woman is supposed to cover herself to be modest. She does not need to cover her face. A time has come for a debate on the issue," Azmi said as she received the International Gandhi Peace Prize in London on Oct. 26 - an award that in the past has gone to the Dalai Lama and Bishop Tutu.

But that comment was enough for Delhi's Jama Mosque Imam, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, to label Azmi a "Naache Gaane Waali Aurat," an Urdu phrase for prostitute.

Azmi is the latest casualty in the niqab debate, which was ignited in early October by former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw who said the veil was a disturbing sign of the divisions in British society.

However, even within the Muslim community, people are divided on whether the niqab is an Islamic tradition or a form of political extremism.

"The niqab has nothing to do with religion but people associate it with religion…if you read the actual text in the Quran, it doesn't say women should wear the veil, only that they should dress modest," said Hamdi Hussein, a first-year assaulted women and children advocacy student at George Brown College. York University's Islamic studies professor Minoo Derayeh agrees.

Derayeh quotes Chapter 24, Verse 30 of the Quran which states: "And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof."

Derayeh said when this verse was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, hostility towards Muslims was rampant so Muslim women were told to cover their jewelry or as the Quran says "ornaments" in order to avoid robbery.

But some conservative Muslims argue the Prophet's wives wore the niqab, which is reason enough for all Muslim women to wear it. Although the Prophet's wives' dressed modestly, Derayeh said there is no proof they wore anything resembling the current day niqab.

"The concept of the niqab was introduced in the 14th century, so it never existed during the Prophet's time," Derayeh said.

Tarek Fatah, former speaker for the Canadian Muslim Congress, said the niqab takes power away from women and puts it in the hands of men.

"It makes women completely dependant upon the husband. You can't deal with a person who has no face…it's also a way of telling the woman she is the source of all evil so cover up," Fatah said.

Fatah added radical Muslims use their faith to push their political goals such as forcing women to wear the niqab. "Lies are perpetuated in the name of Islam, and anyone who opposes them is considered an apostate."

As for Hussein, she has no fear of being called an apostate. Instead, she wears a hijab and only by choice. "It's part of being modest, so that's why I wear it."

Asked if she would consider wearing the niqab Hussein said, "I don't wear it because I don't have to and because I don't want to isolate myself, I want to meet people but if you wear the niqab then you're very isolated."

But she added "if women choose to [wear the niqab], its fine because we do live in a democracy and they should be allowed…it's their individual choice but don't associate it with the Quran or Islam."