Islamic modesty

Because showing your lingerie is much more modest than showing your face.

Germany: Feminist writes book on Islamic veil

And supports its prohibition:

The headscarf is more than just a piece of fabric, more than just another article of clothing, and definitely not some hip lifestyle accessory that heavily made-up girls should use to add a little color to their wardrobe. No, the head scarf is a "flag and symbol of Islamists" which "followed a crusade all the way to the heart of Europe by the 1980s." Or so says iconic German feminist Alice Schwarzer in her new book, "The Great Cover Up: For Integration, against Islamism".

The book was recently published in German under the name "Die grosse Verschleierung: Fuer Integration, gegen Islamismus," and its strong statements been an injection of yet more fuel into the already burning integration debate in Germany.

Teachers are no longer allowed to wear the head scarf in German public schools, and now Schwarzer has demanded the next step: Girls should be forbidden to wear it as well.

"Only this forceful act would finally give the young woman from a fundamentalist orthodox family the chance to move with freedom and equality, at least within the confines of the schoolyard," Schwarzer writes.

Many readers are likely to react negatively to this demand for a headscarf ban. In themselves, bans clash with freedoms and rights that are supposed to be self-evident in Germany: the right to individual self-determination, the freedom of religion.

Read more »

From The Mouth Of The Enemy

With a hat tip to Jihad Watch, citing this source and quoting Al-Qaida No. 2:

Ayman al-Zawahri said..."Every single woman who defends her veil is a holy warrior ... in the face of the secular Western crusade."

"Holy warrior" is another term for "jihadi."

The Islamic Veil In France

From this August 9, 2009 article in the Washington Post:

...French people have long been accustomed to Muslim women wearing head scarves and long dresses. But the sight of women covered by black veils, increasingly frequent in some towns, has become the latest test of France's uneasy role as host to the largest Muslim population in Europe, nearly 6 million out of 64 million. Because of its stark distinction from the way European women dress, the full veil has generated a public outcry, becoming a symbol widely perceived as an assault on France's secular values.

"It's ridiculous," sneered Jose Aparecio, 66, a retired plumber surveying the busy square in Venissieux. "I don't know what they're trying to prove."

[...]

Most of the outrage, particularly among Paris commentators, has centered on women's rights, based on a supposition that women who wear full veils are forced to do so by their husbands. For instance, the Council of State, France's highest administrative tribunal, upheld the government's refusal to naturalize a veiled Moroccan woman because it said her attire "clashed with the values of a democratic society and the principle of sexual equality."

But more broadly, the decision to wear a full-length veil has been interpreted as a way to defy the ideal of integration, which traditionally has underpinned France's attitude toward Muslims and other immigrants. By ostentatiously refusing to blend in, women wearing such attire have generated intense resentment among European-stock French people long uncomfortable with an unaccustomed religion in their midst.

To some extent, the resentment also has spread among Muslim immigrants, particularly the elderly, who from humble beginnings worked hard to become part of the society and now see fellow Muslims challenging their adopted values. "If they don't like it here, they can always leave," sniffed Mustafa Zemaoui, 65, a retired locksmith who was sipping on a little glass of rose wine as the lunch hour approached.

[...]

...[T]he women become "walking prisons" behind their veils and, more important, are part of a campaign by hundreds of politically oriented Islamic fundamentalists to spread their views among Muslims in poor neighborhoods near the major cities of Lyon, Paris and Marseille....

Read the entire article HERE.

I'm not sure that I have recently seen in print in a mainstream-media publication that wearing the burqa is promoting "Islamic fundamentalism," which might be better expressed by the words "Islamic terrorism." Of course, using the words "Islamic terrorism" is tabu as those words interfere with singing kumbaya with those sworn to our destruction.

What's the new euphemism? Man-caused disasters, or something like that?

Sarkozy Says, Burqas Not Welcome In France

From the Astute Bloggers:

Sarkozy Takes on Muslims

Sarkozy says burqas not welcome in France


From the AP article Sarkozy states:

"The burqa is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement—I want to say it solemnly," he said. "It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic."

Sarkozy sees the power in standing up to Muslims, while Obama is pandering and apologizing. Sarkozy is smart and likes his new leadership position in the free world. And German Chancellor Angela Merkel is right there with him.

To Niquab or not to Niquab that is the question the Michigan Supreme Court decided 5-2

Should Witnesses be Allowed to Wear Niqabs While Testifying?

In our opinion, the best legal controversies arise when two compelling principles smack headlong into each other.

Here’s one: should a devout Muslim woman be required to lift her veil when testifying in court? The issue pits two cherished American values: the desire to let people practice their religions freely against the desire for transparency and integrity within our justice system.

The issue has been kicking around courts in Michigan for some time, as it turns out. And the Michigan Supreme Court made a bit of news on the topic on Wednesday when it voted to give judges authority over how witnesses dress in court. The new statewide rule, which gives judges the authority to regulate the appearance of witnesses — such as asking them to remove face coverings, was approved by a 5-2 vote. The dissenters said there should be an exception for people whose clothing is dictated by their religion. Click here for the AP story; here for the Detroit News story; here for the AP story.

According to the AP story, the issue arose recently in Michigan, which has a large Muslim population, when a Muslim woman went to small-claims court to contest a $3,000 charge from a rental-car company to repair a vehicle that she said thieves had broken into. Hamtramck District Judge Paul Paruk told Ginnah Muhammad (pictured) he needed to see her face to judge her truthfulness. Muhammad refused, insisting on keeping her niqab on during the 2006 hearing. Judge Paruk dismissed the case, claiming he needed to see her face to determine her truthfulness.

Muhammad sued the judge in federal court, and lost. The case is currently on appeal to the Sixth Circuit.

But after Muhammad sued the judge, the Michigan Judges Association and Michigan District Judges Association lent their support to a court rule giving judges “reasonable” control over the appearance of parties.

That's the WSJ and the comments are very interesting....
one muslima hits the nail on the head for the planet without realizing it....

• 
  

Huma wrote:

Absolutely ridiculous. Speaking as a Muslim woman who used to wear hijab and jilbab before 9/11/2001, when Muslim women who observed traditional form of Islamic dress like that were assaulted across the country,(WTF IS SHE TALKING ABOUT?) lifting the veil when it’s something you’ve committed to wearing is not possible. It is a non-negotiable matter. It is a commitment that a woman makes to God to cover her face from men that aren’t a part of her family, and no man-made law should be able to supplant it especially when we are fortunate enough to have safeguards like the first amendment available in this country.

Giving judges supposed ‘reasonable’ control over situations like these is terrible public policy because it in essence cuts off a portion of the American population (niqabis) from utilizing the justice system, leaving them with little effective recourse if they are wronged.

Absolutely ridiculous.

No man made law can supplant what God decrees.
As my grandmama would say...."FARSHTAY?".
The point of democracy or a republic, is that WE MAKE THE LAW, and all other rules are subservient, of course.

Another commenter sums up the argument succinctly as well...

• Anonymous wrote:

I would like to wear a paper bag over my head if I ever have to testify in court.

Indeed.
I wonder if Huma realizes she just delineated the fault line between Islam and freedom.

French Feminists attack Obama over Islamic veil

It takes feminists all the way from France to finally say what American feminists ought to have been saying for years.

Saturday, 06 June 2009
French feminists attacked US President Barack Obama's defence of the Islamic veil yesterday, accusing him of dealing a blow to the rights of millions of women in order to appease religious sentiment.

Obama was due to arrive in Paris later in the day, after a Middle East tour in which he gave a speech in which he accused countries like France of hiding "hostility towards any religion behind the pretence of liberalism."

France bans girls and young women from wearing Muslim headscarves in state schools, and women's rights campaigners here see its widespread and sometimes compulsory use in the Islamic world as an abuse of women's rights.

One French women's rights group, Ni Putes Ni Soumises ("Neither whores, nor submissives"), said: "Reducing the dialogue between civilisations to a dialogue between religions is once again to instrumentalise women.

"By attacking secularism and defending the veil, the President of the United States [...] has hurt the struggle of millions of women, some of whom pay with their lives every day to escape fundamentalist violence," it said.

Anne Saugier, president of the International Women's Rights League that was founded by Simone de Beauvoir, accused Obama of seeking to reconcile the United States with Muslims "on the backs of women."

"What a slap in the face for those women in Algeria, Iran and Afghanistan who died in atrocious conditions for having refused to wear what they consider the most radical sign of their oppression and segregation," she said.

Wearing some variety of headdress – whether a scarf over the hair, a veil or face mask or a full length "burqua" – is compulsory in some Muslim majority countries and common among Muslim communities in others.

It is considered by some a sign of women's subjugation and repression, and banned in some public institutions in some countries, but in his speech in Cairo on Thursday, Obama went out of his way to defend it on three occasions.

"It is important for Western countries to avoid impeding Muslim citizens from practicing religion as they see fit – for instance, by dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear," he said.»

Muslim-owned shop bans customers wearing veils
Telegraph

A Muslim-owned jewellery shop has decided to ban customers wearing veils after being targeted by robbers disguised as Islamic women.

Everyone entering ATAA Jewellers in Glasgow must reveal their faces under planned new rules to protect staff from further attacks.

The store owners decided to act after two Asian men wearing traditional Muslim women's clothes – including niqab veils – made away with thousands of pounds worth of jewellery earlier this month.

The pair, who were also carrying handbags, pretended to be interested in buying some items but attacked staff with pepper spray when cabinets were unlocked.

Now the Sadiq family who run the shop are planning to put up a sign informing customers that they cannot wear any headgear that covers the face.

Any Muslim women who are more comfortable in a niqab will be encouraged to telephone in advance to ensure that a female member of staff is present during their visit, to confirm their identities.

"It is our safety that matters as well at the end of the day," Rukhsana Sadiq told the BBC Asian Network. "God forbid anything like this happening to anyone else."

The family said they accepted the policy may offend some Muslims, but expect other businesses to take a similar approach. Criminals wearing Islamic veils have carried out at least one other robbery in the city.

Local councillor Hanzala Malik backed the plan. "I know in Scotland that banks will not allow their customers coming in with motorbike helmets, I don't see why it should be different for people wearing the Niqab. It is an issue about identifying people," he said.

The disguise potential of traditional Muslim women's dress has been exploited several times in recent years. July 21 bomber Yassin Omar donned a burka as he fled after the failed attacks, as did BBC journalist John Simpson to gain entry to Afghanistan during the 2001 invasion.

Indonesia: Non Muslims to wear hijab and massageuses to wear padlocks in their pants

About the obligation for non-Muslims to wear hijabs:

In Padang, capital of the province of West Sumatra, the atmosphere is increasingly that of an Islamic state. Female students who do not wear the headscarf (hijab) are frequently suspended from school. The requirement to observe Islamic customs, sanctioned by the controversial regional law of 2005, is also imposed on non-Muslim girls, and has generated an atmosphere of strong pressure on religious minorities. The proliferation of local laws inspired by sharia (perda syariat) is a growing phenomenon in Indonesia, but the central government has chosen not to intervene for now, in spite of protests from religious minorities and human rights NGO’s.

About the massageusses:

Chastity belts are gaining popularity in Indonesian massage parlors as a way to stop clients and masseuses from getting too close, parlor owners say.
A number of massage parlors in Batu, Indonesia, are requiring female masseuses to wear padlocks over their pants zippers to prevent men from bombarding workers for sex, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

Indonesia has already a terrible history about Islamic fundamentalism, with campaigns which included sexual violence against Timorese females, recognised by UN, and more than 500.000 communists killed because they opposed Suharto, whose troops also carried abductions and mass killings in the mid-1980s.
Last year 100.000 people in Indonesia, asked for the coming of the Global Caliphate in an event. They were summoned there by Islamist group Hibz ut-Tahrir.

Spain: Islamic Radicals have planned to give some conferences for Imams' indoctrination

Justice and Spirituality (JyS), a radical movement which has spread throughout Spain and which wants the removal from power of the Moroccan King Mohammed VI and to substitute it by the Islamist State of Morocco, is going to celebrate next March 4th a course to train imams. And they want to do it without notice, using the Islamic Federation of the Murcia's Region, an organization they control.

So, it is scheduled that in these conferences take part several leaders of this Moroccan Islamist movement. Among others, Mohamed El Abbadi, number 2 of the Direction's Council and president of the Council of Uprightness from Justice and Spirituality. In 2006 he was detained in Morocco and condemned to a year in prison for violating the precint the authorities have instaled to his home, where he was meeting Islamist leaders of the opposition to the Moroccan King. He has several judicial processes against him in his country. El Abbadi has recommended as President of the Islamic Federation of the Murcia's region his own son-in-law, Said Mendi, an imam who lives in Cartagena, who was sent important quantities of money from the Moroccan country.

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