Mohamed Enassibi Group:2

Why was niqab banned in France?

France has made a massive step towards liberating Muslim women. Most women who
wear niqab or burqa are forced to do so. Some Muslim women supported banning the niqab,
regarding it as degrading. Some clerks argue that wearing the niqab is not an Islamic custom. It
is only worn by some extremist Muslim women. Accordingly, wearing the niqab was banned in
public places. But let’s put this unmitigated nonsense aside and look at the big picture, and not
to be distracted by this useless gibberish.

Switzerland has forbidden the construction of new minarets. France has banned the
hijab in schools and now it has banned the niqab in public places. All these procedures give us
clear hints of the current trend in Europe. Some European nations are so worry about the
presence of Muslims in their countries. Hence, they follow some democratic strategies to reach
the main aim which is repatriating Muslims to their countries. There are about 4 millions
Muslims who live in France which explains why France follows some restrictive procedures
targeted at Muslims.

Some claim that Muslims should adhere to the French identity, but what is identity?
Identity entails religion, culture, social behavior and so on. Hence, it is not the Muslims’ fault
that they are Muslims first and foremost. Besides, France claims that Muslim women are obliged
to wear niqab, but this may be the case in some other countries and not France. In France,
women enjoy a great space of freedom and they share the same rights as men. Accordingly,
man cannot oblige his sister or his wife to do something against her will. Therefore, women
chose to wear niqab according to their free will. Furtheremore, France claims that banning the
niqab was done to liberate those women, but the women who wear niqab will be obliged to stay
at home to avoid being fined. Consequently, they will be more dependent on their husbands
when it comes to outdoor activities.

Niqab’s is a severe breach of freedom. According to what they say, everyone can do
what he wants as long as he does not harm other people. I do not think that niqab causes any
harm to anyone. The idea is very simple: we have freedom, equality and democracy, but when it
comes to Islam, rules change. George Orwell, in his article “Politics and the English Language”,
argued that people, especially politicians, may use certain words in political contexts in order to
fool people. He gave the words “freedom and democracy” as examples of meaningless words
that are used by politicians to fool people. Hence, we should not believe them when they talk
about freedom because it became clear that they are using this word to deceive us. Banning the
hiqab is a very obvious example that they do not respect the freedom of Muslims.

Banning the niqab is not the end of the story. There will be other procedures targeted at
Muslims. These procedures are the outcome of their fear of Islam. However, Muslims are not to
be blamed for their fear. We have to listen to the words of the British historian J. A. Froude
when he said: “Fear is the parent of cruelty”.