The common impression that people have about women who wear the niqab is that they are forced to do so by their spouses or society, and are therefore oppressed. They are also believed to be uneducated, passive - kept behind closed doors, and not integrated within British society.
These negative prejudices are just that, though they are presented as facts - widely accepted, and promoted by cynical politicians every so often. Although I prefer not to be apologetic in my approach, I always find myself having to explain my choice to wear the niqab, in the hope that I can raise awareness, challenge misperceptions and help promote mutual respect.
To understand the niqab, it helps to understand the religion behind it. Islam has three simple messages – liberation from worshipping anything but the one God; following in the way of His Prophets including Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, peace be upon them; and servitude to the whole of humanity. Islam’s practical acts of liberation are many – from the duty of environmentalism (protecting ‘the Creation’ from the excesses of humankind) to the imperative of modesty for both women and men – one part of which is the face-veil.
In my view, the authentic reading of Scripture does not deem the niqab as compulsory, but rather as highly recommended: the wives of the prophet Muhammad used to wear it, and they are my role models.
Therefore the niqab is a religious symbol - and wearing it is considered by many Muslim women as an act of worship. Certainly the niqab is a spiritual journey that not many will take or understand, but those women who choose to wear it, such as myself, believe that it brings them closer to God, their Creator.
I also find the niqab liberating and dignifying; it gives me a sense of strength and empowers me. Deciding to wear it wasn’t easy - I had to go against my wishes of my parents, who discouraged me from wearing it because they feared I would face discrimination. But since I started wearing it, over 10 years ago, I have never changed my decision, nor have I ever found it a barrier. I continued my education to postgraduate level, and am now a professional molecular geneticist. Never once did I feel that the niqab prevented me from adding value to our British society – I’m involved in many community projects and events, and hold leadership positions in community organisations.
Some claim that women choose to wear the niqab do so due to social constraints and conditioning. This might be applicable to some extent in countries like Saudi Arabia or Iran, where individuals have to behave in a certain way for social approval (which can include wearing the face-veil). But in Britain, face-veiled women are minority within a minority – numbering perhaps just 0.001% of the total Muslim population in the UK (no statistics are available on this issue). Wearing the niqab is not so common within the British Muslim community that social conditioning could play any significant role: in Britain the majority of these women wear the niqab as a personal choice.
The norms of any society are the sum of its collective values, so rather than talking about the role of social conditioning in relation to face-veiled women, let’s talk about those norms. Public freedom is a cherished value in the UK, and is part of the fabric of our society. It allows individuals the right to practice and articulate their religious freedoms and rights – and offers a woman total freedom of choice to decide what she wears. Women who wear the niqab are simply articulating those religious and personal freedoms – and we cannot risk undermining them for the sake of social imaginaries, deep-seated psychological fears, or ignorance.
There are claims that the niqab is a 'security threat', but such claims are overblown. With regards to the issue of security, particularly the wearing of the niqab in court, let’s be clear that Muslim women are allowed to take off their veils, particularly in the pursuit of justice. But there’s no common approach and each case should be dealt with individually, in a manner that ensures the preservation of these women’s dignity and rights. These women are not committing any crime; they must be treated as human beings with full rights to participate equally in civil society, and to access education.
The reason, I believe, that the niqab debate has progressed this far is that there exists a wide range of far-right movements, politicians and intellectuals across the spectrum who seek to promote the hysteria that fuels anti-Muslim hatred. These people hope to make the face-veiled Muslim women emblematic of a sinister 'Other', a ‘problem’ impossible to solve or accept.
We have to overcome this authoritarian mentality which assumes a right to interfere in the lives, appearances and thoughts of other people. We all have so much to offer each other and we should extend our tolerance to respect, not merely for individuals, but for their beliefs as well. Otherwise, by all clamouring to enforce our own ideologies on the women we seek to “liberate”, we will be contributing to their collective oppression. Indeed, attempts to ban the niqab will marginalise face-veiled women from participating in public life.
It’s time to go beyond words, and to pursue peace, prosperity and freedom through social, political and interfaith harmony - seeking compassionate justice for everyone, and protecting freedom of the individual.
MNHQ have commented on this thread
Guest posts
Why I wear the niqab
MumsnetGuestBlogs · 16/10/2013 10:58
peacefuloptimist - I would argue that women should be allowed to go topless at the pool, and I'd prefer it if a lot of men would cover their chests!! 
.
I do hear what you're saying, and this problem is by no means unique to Islam. I'd be much happier if Western teenage girls didn't feel pressured to wear skimpy clothing in winter (or summer for that matter) while boys wear Ts and jeans, if men could wear dresses without anyone so much as raising an eyebrow. I don't think there should be "men's" and "women's" *anything. Just people making their own choices and everyone else leaving them to it.
I realise this may seem like a contradiction, saying that I oppose the niqab but think people should be free to wear what they like. But it's not the niqab itself I disagree with, it's that only women wear it. Why isn't it more spiritual for men to remove themselves visually from society in the way it is for women? It comes back to the basic reason that men don't wear skirts but women wear trousers - because by doing something "womanly", men are making less of themselves, because society and religion tell us that women are inherently lesser than men.
Thank you for posting peacefuloptimist 
I think it's more than a clothing choice though. Covering your face, and therefore any facial expression, is a huge opt-out from society. I make the (possibly wrong) assumption that despite OP having a successful career, the vast majority of niqab wearers will have little interaction outwith their immediate family? Am I wrong? At pretty much any occasion or situation I can imagine, I would find it intensely difficult to converse freely with a woman wearing niqab because I couldn't read all the facial expressions and cues which are so much a part of language. It's a physical and emotional barrier in a way that any fashion choice like hot pants, just isn't. The only parallel with hot pants is the freedom of choice thing, which I think is a massive red herring. You can't expect to wear niqab and be spoken to in the same way as a non-niqab wearer, male or female. It's an entirely different experience and an awkward and difficult one, in my own experience. And that makes me sad for the woman, because she is living less of an existence than she otherwise would be. She's hiding her face and her emotions.
peacefuloptimist - again, I find that situation just as sad as women who feel they have to conform by covering up. Any situation where women are altering their appearance by several orders of magnitude more than men, just in order to be accepted, to be "normal", is so, so wrong.
I respect your views Anne. I think unlike many you are very consistent in what you are saying. I do agree with you that its not right but unfortunately this is the situation in most parts of the world. Women are always made to feel that they need to do that little bit extra to be attractive to men. I think many stand to profit from making women feel insecure about the way they look and by holding up standards or models of beauty that very few women can actually fit in to naturally.
So how do we know amongst all these women out there, who is wearing it by own choice or not?
So the solution to that is to take away the choice from the women who are telling you they are wearing it out of their own choice? If you are concerned about women not having their personal choice taken away that should apply both ways right? If they want to wear it they should be able to and if they dont want to wear it they shouldnt have too. For my example I used Saudi Arabia, a country in which niqab is to a certain extent enforced though Im not sure if its enshrined in law or whether its just societal pressure. However we are talking about the UK. Dont confuse the issue. Actually I have been to Saudi and when I was there I didnt wear niqab. No harm came to me. However the rules are lax in the two holy cities (Makkah and Medina) because muslims visiting it come from all over the world so they can not enforce their dress codes as there are too many violations for them to cope with. Even in the Muslim world only a minority of women wear niqab.
In the Middle East men don't cover their faces.
They cover them with beards. I did explain the similarity earlier. By the way in the Middle East many women dont cover their faces either. We are talking about a worldwide minority except for one country where it is enforced.
she is living less of an existence than she otherwise would be.
This doesnt offend me but it annoys me. Who are you to tell her that her existence is less then what it should be? She is living the existence she has chosen for herself. Do you think a nun, or a buddhist monk live less of an existence? Why is it only muslim women whose religious garb has been deemed oppressive? The parallel between hotpants and niqab is more then just choice. Why arent men in this society expected to wear hotpants like women. Why arent men wearing clothing that is just as revealing as women? Why is it in the summer when I go out in a hijab and dress people ask me arent you hot when the man covering an equal amount of skin to me (with the exception of the headscarf) is not asked the same question? Is it because there is some unspoken rule that when the sun comes out women's clothes should come off. You struggle to communicate with niqabis because you are not used to it. I have absolutely no trouble communicating with them, probably because I have more interaction with them. As for needing to see read facial expressions and cues, well how do people are blind cope, if its such an essential part of communication?
I hope I am not being offensive or rude ShreddedHoops but Im trying to get across to you how patronising it is to Muslim women to be told how they should be feeling. Right now its about niqab but I have seen these same sorts of discussion being played out about hijab and as a hijabi you can see my face and I can interact with you in every way except my hair is covered. However the argument still follows along the same lines. I can understand and accept that niqab makes you feel a certain way but it doesnt actually cause you any harm. I feel intimidated by people with lots of tattoos and piercings but at least I can admit to myself that my discomfort is irrational. I wouldnt dream of taking away their choice just because I think they look a bit scary and you know what its probably because like you I dont have much interaction with them either.
Newsletters you might like
To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.