I’m following the growing animosity towards conservative Muslim female attire with interest and trepidation. Burqas and Niqabs are far from en vogue with the authorities in many European countries, including France, Belgium and Turkey.
Another story of Burqa-based friction hit the news in December last year in Belgium as a Muslim woman was fined for wearing the full-body covering in public in Brussels.
Uncovering the Debate
The Belgian Muslim woman in question was stopped while taking her kids toa n Islamic school in the Etterbeek municipality of Brussels. She was spot fined 35 Euros for violating a local ban that prohibits covering the face in public places.
When she was detained for wearing her burqa a second time, the woman was fined 200 Euros. She refused to pay up and the issue went to court.
“The rule is the rule, and we must obey it,” local mayor Vincent De Wolf said, in an statement to Belgium’s La Capital Newspaper, recounted in RIA Novosti.
Equality for Both Sides: The Perfect Paradox
I’ve never worn a burqa, but what fascinates me is that as resistance grows, so does determination by Muslim women to wear whatever form of covering they feel best defends their modesty. I keep reading about the resurgence in hijabs and other coverings among Muslim women in all the countries intent on banning the veil.
In democratic countries that favour freedom of speech and freedom of expression of faith this poses a paradox. The ban on burqas and niqabs is designed to create equality, yet those who protest it, defend their right to express their faith as equally as their sectarian counterparts.
Reenactment of An Age Old Belgian Law
Belgium’s Muslim community ranges from 400,000 to 600,000 people: a significant given the size and population of the country. Islam is the largest minority religion in Belgium: Muslims make up 6% of the Belgian population and 25% of the population of the capital, Brussels.
By the beginning of 2006, around twenty Belgian municipalities had issued a ban on walking the streets completely veiled. There were a few cases of Muslim women being fined 150 Euros. for ignoring the ban.
People on the streets must be identifiable according to a Belgian executive order dating from 1993 but which is based on a law dating back to the Middle Ages. Veils that don’t completely cover the body, such as hijabs, are permitted.