Niqab ban in France: my thoughts

In case you were unaware, French President Sarkozy is calling for a ban on the niqab on France (they already prevent Muslims from going to school with a headscarf), i.e a ban in total. Nowhere in public can you wear a niqab. Except the man (my sister, a non-muslim, exclaims, "the ignorant tool!") doesn't even know the right word for the Islamic facial covering.

He is calling for a ban on the "burka". Now I understand that some people call the Pakistani chador with a mesh screen and more pleating (more pleating is typical of Aghanistan's "burka") the "burka." They do so in error. This garment is a chador, and is purely cultural. Having worn one, yes, I own one, I can say for a fact it is not an Islamic garment, as Islamic clothing is meant to make a woman's life in public easy. In an Afghani chador I cannot see my feet or to the side of my face. I do not have free hands as I have to HOLD the garment closed, whereas in my niqab and my abaya I have free movement of my limbs and no impediment to my sight. Also, in the sunnah Aisha R.A (may Allah be pleased with her) never covered her eyes in total with fabric. She always had her sight free. So the Afghani "burqa" and Pakistani mesh chador are not Islamic garments. If that is what President Sarkozy meant when he said "'The burkha is not a religious sign, it's a sign of subservience, a sign of debasement. It will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic.' " I would have agreed with him. It is not welcome in my life for sure. I like the use of my hands and arms, and I like to see where I am going. That's halal for a woman, ya know?! Anyways, and so.... he still would have been using the wrong term. You think if you are gonna pass a law, you'd use the right name for it. Ya know, to stop confusion?

If you are going to put it in writing that women in France are not allowed to wear burkas then this is what you are banning: A Gulf mask worn to keep the sand out of the mouth resembling a falcon's beak. Hmmmm..... Or, if you still think that Afghani thing is what a burka is (cuz we already know you're ignorant and can forgive you for that) this: Yeah, besides some pervy dude who likes to dress up in latex under this Afghani ebay find and take lots of pictures of himself while creepily storing Muslim women's photos on his flickr site, WHO ELSE IN FRANCE IS WEARING A "BURKA"?!!!!!

"The president was supporting a weekend call by dozens of French politicians for a parliamentary commission to study whether the burkha, which is growing in popularity in France, should be banned. He laid out his support for a ban even before the panel has been approved - braving critics who fear the issue could stigmatise Muslims in France. "

Of course, we know you mean niqab, Mr. Sakozy. But niqab is this http://ilovehishmatheblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/in-progress-types-of-niqab.html. Sure, of course, you do have the words in your vobaulary to ban all of these, but can you truly ban scarves, and face coverings? Because niqab:

...is very similiar to this:

It'd really hurt the Paris fashion industry, ya know. For example...

Christian Lacroix:

Alexander McQueen:

John Paul Gaultier Christian Dior:

Givenchy:
Karl Lagerfeild over at Chanel:

LOL, tell it to Lagerfield, Dior, Lacroix, Givenchy, McQueen, and Gaultier Mr. Sakozy: "'In our country, we cannot accept that women be prisoners behind a screen, cut off from all social life, deprived of all identity,' he said to extended applause in Versailles, at a joint session of France's two houses of parliament. " I doubt they will applaud you truly decide to pursue banning facial covering for ALL women citizens of France. You only intend to ban it from Muslim women, and it is obvious, dahhhhhhhhhling.

If you ban my niqab, I'm just going to wear two of Mr. Gaultier's bridal veils. Because unless you want to ban hats, high colars, and bridal veils, good luck. You HAVE TO OBVIOUSLY attack the muslimeen. And if you decide to, only Allah subhanhu wa ta'ala alone can help you. Good luck with that Mr. Sarkozy. France has Western Europe's largest Muslim population, an estimated 5 million.

My niqab does not cut me off from society. You're the one that wants to seperate your country "women" from niqab but they don't want freedom from it. They have the freedom to take it off in France, and since they don't they obviously want to wear it. You oppress them by forcing them to leave the country like refugees, banning them from workplaces and schools because of their beliefs.

Mr. Sarkozy "declared that the full-body religious gown is a sign of the 'debasement' of women. " This is what I consider the debasement of women Mr. Sarkozy:

Your wife's body sold magazine covers, clothing, perfume, music.... She danced naked like a piece of meat for the cameras and I guarantee you men besides yourself jerked off to the sight of her naked flesh. I don't think bad of her for this. That some abuse something she made in art or need of finance is their sin not hers but MY body is not a commodity, though I don't doubt I could sell it for a small fortune IF I wanted to (I just don't believe in doing so---Muslim women do not hide because we are ashamed---we do not hide at all but reveal WHAT IT IS WE BELIEVE IN AND THAT IS INTREGRAL TO WHO WE ARE). I won't even put it (my body/face) on display even on the street, before your eyes, because what have you done to guarantee my protection? What have you done to see the curves of my body? I am not attracted to you. You don 't have ideals I share. You have never offered anything up that made me happy, so what makes you deserving of my lips when they smile or share frienship in a look of understanding when you have offered me neither? What right have you, as my oppressor, to see the sorrow of my oppression (BY YOU) on the taut lines of my face? At least, let me keep that. Or have you no mercy, that you take away my education and means to earn a living already? You are the same as the Taliban with their "burka".

Yes, Mr. Sarkozy, "the full-body religious gown is a sign of the 'debasement' of women" and that is why your wife, and representative of the country of France, no longer poses naked on magazine covers. Because she is more worthy than that, held to higher standards. If I were to use your line of thinking, that would be oppressive. In your style of thought she should have "no standards". But I do. I believe EVERY single woman out there deserves the same standard, and that standard is, that every woman is representative of power, the power of mankind. BEYOND THAT OF A COUNTRY. She has a responsiblity to women, and that means at the core, to herself, to be valued for more than her face and figure. To contribute to society, with more than that.

Yes, Mr. Sarkozy, "the full-body religious gown is a sign of the 'debasement' of women" , that is your wife wears more clothes now than she used to. You don't really care about women. You don't want to ban "facial covering". You want to ban Islam. I will pray for you. InshaAllah you will be guided.