The Controversial Muslim Veils

© BBC

With the recent veil bans that the parliaments of Italy and France have agreed on discussion has entailed. As of today, at least 27 women in France have been fined for wearing a burqa, Italy passed a "draft law" August 2 to prevent the use of this Muslim veils, and the British government, as well as other European countries, is also considering the approval of  some variation of this laws (New York Times). Have this countries gone a step too far by prohibiting the use of a full face veil?

In some Muslim countries -such as Pakistan or Afghanistan-, the use of a veil is no longer mandatory by law, but most women still wear a veil of some sort, the Muslim culture has remained highly unchanged by law. These women wear veils, maybe not willfully, they simply have to wear it to be able to lead a normal life in these countries, people are not used to seeing a woman on the streets with no veil on and Muslim culture punishes not using not a veil if not by means of physical torture, by affecting the reputation of the family, and men do not want to be seen as weak (Women in World History).

I believe that banning this tradition may put the French and Italian governments in a tricky position, since this is not the only tradition that has a controversial background, and though they are not banning the religion itself, it could be perceived as a direct attack to it. Changes in culture are to be gradual, and it is hard to think about changing the way people behave overnight, but governments must continue working to give these women the rights they deserve. 

Works Cited

New York Times. "Muslim Veiling News." New York Times. Web. <http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/m/muslim_veiling/index.html>.

Asser, Martin. "BBC NEWS | Middle East | Why Muslim Women Wear the Veil." BBC News - Home. Web. 24 Aug. 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5411320.stm>.

Women in World History. "Historical Perspectives On Islamic Dress Essay (Women in World History Curriculum)." Women In World History Curriculum. Web. 24 Aug. 2011. <http://www.womeninworldhistory.com/essay-01.html>.

Introduction & Background

© Bettmann/Corbis

Introduction


So, after much indecision, it looks like at least for the next six months I'll be posting a weekly entry on "Sharia law" as part of my English project. It's a really controversial topic, and as much as I wouldn't want to be biased, I am... so throughout the following fifteen weeks I will be writing about what I learn and my opinion on it. Feel free to comment.


P.S. I'll try to keep mistakes to a minimum for all you Grammar Nazis out there.


Brief Background


Sharia law is one of the most controversial aspects of the Islamic religion, it's basically their "legal system [...] derived from both the Koran, as the word of God, the example of the life of the prophet Muhammad, and fatwas - the rulings of Islamic scholars" (BBC).


Sharia law has been condemned widely since it differs to most legal systems in the fact that it ends up being a way of living that Muslims under it must follow; it covers things that go from serious crimes to very simple daily tasks. Most concerns are in the human rights violations, but in practice Sharia law is somewhat different in each country. In some nations, such a Saudi Arabia, it is much more common to see people getting very gruesome punishments (BBC).


A very important aspect of Sharia law is that Muslims are expected to follow this set of rules even when living out of there country, some Sharia courts can be found in countries such as the United Kingdom, but this is a topic I'll dwell upon later (BBC).


I hope this gave you and idea on what Sharia law is, of course this is a much broader and complex topic, but you'll hear from me every week.


Works Cited
Casciani, Dominic. "Q&A: Sharia Law Explained."  BBC News. 4 July 2008. Web. 17 Aug. 2011. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7234870.stm>.