Should a woman be allowed to wear the face veil?

The last few weeks and months have seen intense media debate on the issue of the right of women to wear the niqab, or face veil. Birmingham Metropolitan College, for example, recently introduced a ban on the wearing of a face veil, and then reversed their decision.  I cannot possibly do justice to such a complex issue in a short article, but for what it’s worth, here are a few of my thoughts on the subject… 

First, a short reflection on the legal aspects. Placing a ban on the wearing of a veil is, potentially, indirect discrimination (you have implemented a policy where everyone is required to keep their face uncovered, but the making of such a policy potentially has an indirect impact on Muslim women wishing to wear the face veil).  In law, indirect discrimination is permitted providing you can objectively justify your decision. To do this, you must be able to show that your policy, provision or practice is a ‘proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim’. An example – you decide that you need to ask women to remove their face covering to ensure that, prior to sitting an external examination, they are who they say they are, to prevent fraud (a legitimate aim). A proportionate response might be to provide a room with a female member of staff so that a student can remove the veil in private for the purpose of identification. 

Where it gets tricky, is to try and justify a ‘blanket ban’ on the wearing of a veil while a person is on the premises of an organisation, for example as a student.  What might be the legitimate aim here? And if there appears to be no flexibility, sensitivity or respect for a woman’s right to wear the veil, how might you justify this as a proportionate response?

You can read a more detailed explanation on the meaning of a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim by reading the EHRC technical guidance for the FE and HE sector 

To download the EHRC guidance, click here

Second, the views of Muslim people. Since I am not a Muslim, I don’t feel I can do any justice to this, and I am very interested in the views of my Muslim colleagues on this one. I found the letter published in the Times Newspaper on 18 Sept 2013 by Imam Dr Hargey, very interesting. He is director of the Muslim Educational Centre in Oxford, and argued with some passion that the wearing of the veil is un-Islamic and should be banned. I was also extremely interested to read the interview with Sahar Al-Faifi, a 27 year old molecular geneticist, who gave an equally persuasive argument on why the wearing of the veil is an important aspect of her faith.

In a recent debate on BBC One, Shalina Litt made a compelling argument for being allowed to wear the face veil as an act of devoted worship and a way of showing her faith, and questioned why she needs to keep having to justify her decision to do this. In the same BBC interview, Ajmal Masroor, an Imam to four London mosques, pointed out that the debate should not be about whether Islam promotes the wearing of a face veil or not; instead, the debate should be about the right of a woman to make the choice herself, in the same way that any woman should have the right to choose what to wear generally. He highlighted how easy it is for people to use the wearing of the face veil as an excuse to vilify, mock or attack Muslims. 

Interestingly, both Shalina and Ajmal felt that it was important to remove the face veil in a professional workplace environment such as teaching or nursing (although I am sure that there are other Muslims who will disagree). Finally, they made the astute point that a debate about this issue should not be frivolous, nor disproportionate, given other important issues facing Britain today such as binge drinking and sexual exploitation. 

Third, the lack of practical guidance at a national level. Government initially implied that they supported individual organisations wanting to introduce a ban (David Cameron, for example), then others expressed concern for this position (Nick Clegg for example) and the current position seems to be that it is up to local schools to sort out their uniform policy and for individual colleges and universities to make their own decisions and work out their policy based on their own context. This unfortunately brings an uncertainty on how organisations should go forward. 

Mussurut Zia, from the Muslim Womens Network UK, is one of many Muslims who have highlighted that lack of understanding and knowledge breeds fear, and have called for an open discussion and debate. MPs have also called for a national debate. I applaud this – we don’t tackle issues by putting our heads in the sand.  But if we are to have a national debate, I sincerely hope that it is conducted in a responsible and respectful manner, and Muslim people, including Muslim women who wear the niqab, are at the centre of leading such a debate. And I would welcome, as a response to such a debate, the issuing of practical, unambiguous and specific national guidance, for example to local authorities, schools, colleges and universities.

I will keep you posted.

Comments

[Tony Guest]

Thank you for this addition to the debate which provides a helpful summary with a good balance of views from various perspectives. I cannot help but add that from my own perspective and that of many others, it is difficult to understand why someone wishes to effectively hide their face from others. So much of who were are, how we feel and what we wish to convey (and sometimes may wish not to) is communicated via our faces. It would be good to have an open debate with those Muslim women who chose to wear the niqab helping those of us who are currently struggling to understand why they do so. I also agree that national guidlines are required for local authorities, schools, colleges and universities.