French president Sarkozy has called for the ban on burqas, the full body cover worn by a small minority of Muslim women in France.
Mr Sarkozy said that while freedom of religion was paramount in France, the burqa represented a symbol of the debasement and servitude of women: “The burqa is not welcome on the French Republic’s territory. It is not what the French Republic wants for the dignity of women … we cannot accept in our country that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from society and all identity.”
In Australia artist Gay Hawkes and I ran a seminar on Muslim head dress and religious tolerance and freedom. We heard various concerns of the non-Muslim audience. The views encompassed those of Leslie Cannold arguing for the ban on the hijab (head scarf) in Australian public schools,
But arguably what matters most in assessing the need for an Australian ban is the way Australian Muslims and non-Muslims understand the hijab. My impression is that, rightly or wrongly, many Australians see the scarf as a symbol of the gender-based oppression women suffer in many non-Western countries, and thus a challenge to the credo of gender equity preached and largely practised in Australian public schools.
Because equality of people and of opportunity is a critical value that Australian schools must – and must be seen to – uphold, the wearing of the hijab in public schools must be banned. At the same time, as per the original advice the French Government received on banning conspicuous religious symbols in schools, Jewish and Muslim holy days should join Christmas and Easter as official school holidays.
An interesting view from Irfan Yusuf, Sydney based author of Once Were Radicals: My Years as a Teenage Islamo-Fascist, published by Allen & Unwin 2009, who writes the marvellously titled ‘The fuss over the burqa is out of kilter’,
By focusing on a tiny minority of Muslim women, Sarkozy risks alienating the majority of French Muslims, including those who agree with his basic proposition that the burqa is offensive and degrading to women.
At our seminar we also heard pro-hijab views. One such positive Australian perspective ‘Islam On Parade’ was seem on ABC TV, Compass, given by a young married Muslim couple who are striving to change the face of Islam in mainstream Australia by breaking down barriers and building bridges between Islam and the wider Australian society, but the challenges they face are great. Muslim woman, Sallee,
Why do I wear the hijab? First and foremost it’s an act of faith. Because I believe that God has asked me or instructed me to dress in this manner. Just as Mother Mary wore it, I continue on with that same faith and I wear it in the same fashion.
In this diverse and different Australia,
- Will our Australian freedoms allow freedom?
- Will our tolerance not only tolerate, as in ‘put up with’, but positively embrace difference?
- What values give us the will and way to embrace difference?
