Much ado about nothing
On Saturday, 20 May 2000, the BBC arts television show, Arena, explored the practice of face veiling (niqaab).  Some Muslims found the portrayal offensive.  Michael Young was not impressed by the program, but was nevertheless unsympathetic to the complaints.

The Arena Program itself 
I saw the program on BBC2 in full and I just don't share the upset expressed by certain Muslims about it. I really don't think that it is worth making a fuss over this or getting annoyed. I did find the find the program deeply disappointing. I was hoping for an exploration of the Islamic background. Sadly this didn't happen. The show was very superficial and unfocussed and offered few meaningful insights.  Perhaps, given that this was an "arts" program as opposed to an educational or historical documentary, I shouldn't have expected too much in the first place.

Nevertheless, frankly the program makers made themselves look ridiculous with their bizarre juxtaposition of ancient movie clips containing hackneyed stereotypes, fetish club footage, out of focus photography, snippets of news reports and tasteless shots of a fashion show featuring veiled models naked from the neck or the breasts down. Overall, the program was so offbeat and lightweight that to my mind it was the program makers who came out of this looking bad, not Islam.

There was little in the way of meaningful discussion. Instead of well-informed, highbrow academic and religious commentators, they featured comments from uneducated white working class people (for whom I felt sorry) and an Asian minicab driver who couldn't even speak proper English. But the Muslim lady who owns the shop selling Muslim clothing was a star turn in comparison. And Rana Kabani who appeared in and out of hijab (head scarf) showed great dignity. She could be taken seriously and was, in terms of intellectual capacity, clearly head and shoulders above the poor, working class English lambs to the slaughter who were set up to look ignorant.

Wider Issues
Niqab did not come out of the program particularly well. The non-Muslims interviewed clearly found it very off-putting. And I too, as a sincere, practicing convert to Islam, have some sympathy with this view both in terms of the teaching of Islam itself and the harmful effect I believe niqab has on da'wah activity.  My overwhelming personal experience is that although many non-Muslims now understand the virtue of Hijab, they find niqab completely alien and disturbing. It makes them think of Islam as weird and leaves them unable to entertain the remotest thought of embracing our religion.  If I were a Muslim woman, I would not wish to be responsible for repelling non-believers from the Smooth Path. Niqab is not obligatory according to all but a tiny minority of Muslims. Indeed the huge majority of Muslim women the world over don't wear it. So why insist when the result has such a negative impact on our ability to perform our much more important duty to spread Islam?

I actually live in east London where the program was set and frankly I have probably seen more women in niqab here than ever I did when I was in Saudi Arabia. Having said that, veiled women here are in a tiny though highly visible minority of those identifiable as Muslim.

Of course, Muslim women should be modestly dressed in clothes which do not reveal their figure and they should also wear a headscarf (hijab) covering the hair.

"And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what must ordinarily appear thereof; that they should draw their headscarves over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their sons, their husband's sons, their brothers or their brother's sons, or their sister's sons, or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye Believers! Turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss." (Holy Qur'an 24: 31)

The key phrase here is "except what must ordinarily appear thereof", i.e. face and hands. These should be visible as it made clear in the following hadith:

The Messenger of Allah said:

"When a woman attains maturity no part of her body should remain uncovered except her face and her hand up to the wrist." (Abú Dawúd)

The purpose of Islamic modest attire is so that women should not be propositioned and pestered. They should, however, be identifiable/recognizable.

"Tell thy wives and daughters, and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons [when abroad]: that is best so that they should be recognized and not molested."
(Holy Qur'an 33:59)

If most or all of their face is covered by an impenetrable veil, then clearly they cannot be recognized.

Conclusion
By choosing to wear hijab, a woman identifies herself as a clean-living Muslim worthy of great respect. But I feel that niqab, particularly in its extreme "Darth Vader" forms goes too far. Not only does it appear to be contrary to the Quran and Sunnah in light of the above quotations, but in the non-Muslim environment in which I and the women featured in this television program both live, it invites suspicion, reinforces prejudices, lends credence to the untruth that Islam endorses the subjugation of women and is very poor PR for bringing non-believers to Islam.

I don't think that it is worth complaining about the contents of this particular, ridiculous television program. Those who do wish to complain are, of course, free to do so in an individual, private capacity. But please do not presume to speak on behalf of all Muslims. You do not have the support of this Muslim for one.

MichaelYoung101@yahoo.com

Read other articles on Islam by Michael young here.