Living in a Multicultural Society: To veil or not to veil?

  The first time I remember seeing a 'burkha' clad,fully veiled Muslim woman was when I was nine, and lived in India. I was with my mother, who gestured towards the woman's voluminous clothes and whispered 'bundh gobi' (Hindi for cabbage). I was filled with a horrified fascination, fuelled by my Hindu mother's feelings towards Muslim 'others'. My fantasies were many. If I was naughty, would i be captured by the 'bundh gobi', bundled up in her skirts, and taken away to a distant land of the faceless?

I learned, subliminally, that these were women who were oppressed and fundamentalist. My mother spoke-without speaking- of other symbols of oppression and fundamentalism.  I heard, yet again, of how my father had been disowned and disinherited from his Sikh family for cutting his hair.

In post-colonial, independent India, my parents and their circle of friends prided themselves on their liberalism and a part of the espoused liberalism was to oppose fundamentalist religious practices. However, in the context of  'multicultural' U.K, the issue  of removing the veil acquires a completely different meaning. Paradoxically, it demonstrates a lack of tolerance that could have the effect of hindering, rather than fostering community relations.

Many have objected to the veil on feminist grounds, on grounds that 'it takes power away from women' (Rushdie). To my mind, this is an inherently dangerous position. It reminds me of the impassioned social worker who urges the Asian woman to leave her oppressive marriage, cut off relations with her extended family and live in a refuge, while she gets her life together. Who are we to judge whether a particular woman is oppressed or not?  Surely, within certain families and communities, the veil could add power to a woman's role?  Even if we are dealing with an oppressed woman who would like to remove her veil, it may take a long time for her, her family and wider community to accept her wish to do so.

If we are to live harmoniously in a multicultural society, we have to be prepared to tolerate, if not accept difference. We have to allow people to exercise agency and make their own choices about religious and cultural practices.

Reenee Singh

Director, Centre for Cross-Cultural Studies, Institute of Family Therapy.

Comments

[Eric Ross]

Reenee,

This is great stufff!

The personal experiences you are writing about here are giving me a whole new set of perspectives on these issues.

There is a sense in which a veil is just like any other piece of clothing:

We should be just as sceptical about being told what not to wear as we are we would be about being told what to wear.

I think you are also right to be sceptical about the typical generalisations we make about whether such things as a dress code are empowering or disempowering.

Someone having to wear a uniform is to some extent surrendering power by having to conform, but at the same time the uniform confers power in an environment where the uniform distinguishes the wearer as having more authority.

Also, by conforming with a veil, a woman who seeks to bring about reform among a group where veil-wearing is mandatory can perhaps direct her energies towards having an influence from within the group.

This approach may have a better chance of being effective in improving the position of women than attempting to do so by directly challenging the group by removing the veil.

Having the option to chose between the insider or outsider option leaves the individual able to match their strategy to their own style and capabilities, whereas making generalised assumptions about the relationship between clothing conformity and empowerment seems to be, as you imply, an unrealistic over-simplification.

[Barry Mason]

For me, Jack Straw’s comments raise a number of thoughts:

1. How do we respectfully raise issues of difference across (and within faiths and cultures) that have significant concerns for us. I don’t know whether Jack Straw discussed his concerns with Muslim people first and asked them what would be the most respectful way of raising the matter, but if not, perhaps that would been a better way forward.

2. With that in mind, I was recently emailing an Iranian male colleague living in the UK about an unrelated matter I raised the issue of the position for people with a hearing loss. I mentioned that I have a hearing problem, and that, while my hearing aids offer help, I need to lip read
“There are exceptions to the rule in all religions and I was wondering about the following: Suppose I was meeting with a Muslim woman wearing a niqab - would there be a polite and respectful way of asking her to raise her veil so I could see her mouth and therefore enable clear communication to take place. If not, what would be a way forward on this problem. I would value your opinion.” He replied: “to the best of my knowledge wearing of niqab is purely traditional and have no basis in original Islamic sources. Muslims adopted the tradition from (I think) Persians or Byzantines. In Mecca during pilgrimage season, women do not wear it. I cannot see there being anything improper about explaining to someone you need to see her face to be able to communicate effectively.” I have had a similar response from a Muslim woman.
No doubt it is likely that there are some people who would say it is not disrespectful to ask but that the response would be that the woman would not raise her veil. Then the issue is - so how can we move forward

3. This leads me to highlight a scenario I have used for the last three years on the Advanced Training Programme in Supervision at IFT. I have also presented it at other training events and conferences
The scenario:
‘A clinical consultant is working with a team of nine people in the helping professions. One of them, a white man, a longstanding member, has a very severe hearing loss. Another (recently arrived) member of the team, a female, is a Muslim and from choice wears a veil, Unknown to the consultant (although it soon emerges) there has been friction in the team with the person who has the hearing difficulty unable to understand what his female colleague is saying because he lip reads and cannot see her mouth. A partial solution has been to have the words of the Muslim team member repeated by another colleague. The man with the hearing difficulty is not happy about this because, he says he now feels marginalised, whereas previously this had not been the case.

If you were the clinical consultant how would you approach this issue?

4. Judging from the press, emails to various websites, and comments on radio and television by Muslims there are clearly many differences within Islam about this matter. Do people reading this web site know of another web site where this is being discussed?

Anyway, I would appreciate any responses to the above.

This site has the potential to be a great place to seriously debate important issues so I hope it gets well used.

Regards,
Barry Mason

[rheumy]

there are a very good set of links to online islamic resources at this site

http://www.deenislam.co.uk/uklinks.htm

by the way....those who would try to tear off veils should beware...

see:

http://www.ymuk.net/manchester/pinksurvivalfial.JPG

[Zaptiv]

Where does religion end and culture begin?

There was a time when it was customary for English women to wear a veil (usually a piece of mostly transparent and unobtrusive dark lace netting attached to their hat) when in mourning, and such apparel can still be commonly seen being worn at funerals.

Would such an arrangement (which would, as is no longer the custom, be worn consistently by the bereaved for some time after the bereavement) be deemed to be unsuitable (and thus a disciplinary, perhaps even a dismissal matter) as a form of dress for a teacher?

If an exception to prohibition of such an 'English veil' could be made on the grounds of the fact that it was 'less obtrusive', will such an exception nonetheless be viewed with suspicion that the real reason was that it was not 'Foreign'?

[Robert Vincent]

It seems that the wearing of the veil is a purely cultural practice. Does it bother me? No. However, wearers of the veil who insist that they are doing so because it is Koranic are being disingenuous. Secondly, there is a curious infection from western egoistic individualism in the insistence on having rights superior to those of others. Of course, there is appropriate dress in the workplace. To assert that the individual should decide on what such dress should be is very unIslamic - it reflects precisely that secular western selfishness to which Islam is, one trusts, opposed.

[Barry Mason]

Dear Colleagues,

In the fight against apartheid in S. Africa, I did what many millions of people did around the world - marched, demonstrated and boycotted. This week I did something that I never thought I would have to do again - I began a boycott of South African goods in protest against the "tragic failure of leadership", as Nelson Mandela put it, shown by the President of S. Africa, Thabo Mbeki. I will continue to take this action until he decides to use his considerable influence to halt the brutality that is happening in Zimbabwe. I am encouraging people to email their friends, colleagues, political representatives, work organisations, professional associations and trade unions to ask them to do likewise.

Yesterday I received an email, via a friend, from a nun in Zimbabwe. I quote as follows: (I have used initials instead of the name or place for obvious reasons).

"I spoke with M this evening. Her father is unwell and she went with a family group up to C (a country area of Zimbabwe) to see him. They were stopped by thugs on the way who threatened to beat them up unless they chanted pro-Mugabe slogans. They did so - but felt very bad about it. When they arrived they found the Catholic priest's house had been burnt down; M's uncle's watchman had been so badly beaten he may not live and will certainly be paralysed for life; their next door neighbour had been beheaded. People in the village known to have voted for the opposition have had their ears / arms cut off. M was obviously very shaken but (sic) it all - and especially by the fear in which people are now living."

In the fight against apartheid ordinary people made a difference. Individual, family and community life in Zimbabwe is being brutalised and President Mbeki has chosen to side with the oppressor.

I would be grateful if you would consider helping with this initiative.

With thanks and best wishes,

Barry Mason