Jumping On The Niqab Ban(dwagon)

Not to be outdone by Egypt’s Shaykh Tantawi, the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) released a statement two weeks ago that calls for the Canadian government “to introduce legislation to ban the wearing of masks, niqabs and the burka in public.” Their rationale for this statement seems twofold: one one hand, the MCC is concerned that “the wearing of a face-mask [is] a security hazard and has led to a number of bank heists in Canada and overseas,” and on the other, they argue that the “burka or niqab are political symbols of Saudi inspired Islamic extremism.” They also maintain that the burqa and niqab are not required in Islam, which, they argue, means that ideas of “religious freedom” are not applicable to this context.

For anyone unfamiliar with the MCC, we’ve discussed the organization (and its founder, Tarek Fatah) briefly in a few previous MMW articles, as well as a couple pieces on Muslim Lookout. The short version of the story is that this organization, and its members, tends to have a certain political strategy that consists of painting the majority of Muslims as dangerous fundamentalists. Although named the Muslim Canadian Congress, they represent only a tiny minority of Canadian Muslims; of all of the range of Muslims that I know in Canada, no one I know supports the MCC in any way. I realize that that fact has no statistical significance, but, at risk of being labeled an “Islamist” for disagreeing with the MCC, I think it’s important to be clear that they have very little credibility among Canada’s Muslims, regardless of religiosity or political leaning.

In most of the media articles about the recent statement, this lack of credibility and of community support does not come through at all; headlines range from “Canadian Muslim group calls for burka ban” to the stronger “Canadian Muslims seek ban on public wearing of burka,” implying that the sentiment is far more widespread among “Canadian Muslims” than it probably is. (It may also suggest that any Muslims who disagree with a government ban are the real scary fundamentalists.) Incidentally, there was no media coverage of the subsequent statement released by a wide coalition of Muslim organizations, including the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Canadian chapter of the Islamic Society of North America, opposing the calls to ban the burqa and niqab.

Although I personally disagree with the proposed niqab/burqa ban (and, for the record, I also personally disagree with the perspective that they are religious obligations), that’s not the point of this post. What I think is more interesting, from a media analysis point of view, are the ways that Muslim women’s bodies are used to make political statements. Since that issue is not exactly a new one for MMW posts, I specifically want to look at the MCC call for a ban in terms of the ways that discourses of public security are being manipulated to paint certain Muslim women as a threat to the nation.

Let’s go back to the quote from the statement that argues that wearing a face covering is a “security hazard and has led to a number of bank heists in Canada and overseas.” MCC founder Tarek Fatah elaborates in an opinion piece published by the National Post, explaining that:

a person wearing a burka and masquerading as a Muslim woman robbed a ScotiaBank branch in Mississauga and is still being hunted by police. Interestingly, none of the national newspapers covered the burka-bandit bank holdup, scared it seems that reporting the incident would attract accusations of racism and Islamophobia.

So, clearly, it’s not just an issue of religious interpretations. The security of the public is at risk! And it’s up to us to make sure we respond to that risk, even if it means seeming racist or anti-Islam. Right?

Uh, maybe not. The niqab=public safety threat argument has a few too many holes for me to buy into it. First of all, it seems to be a side issue, almost an afterthought to give added weight to other arguments advocating a niqab ban because of reasons related to religion and/or gender oppression. It’s not even articulated as the main priority by those making the argument. The very small number of crimes that have involved people using the niqab as a disguise also points to the relatively low importance of this concern. Second, as this article points out, the timing is suspicious. Is it really a coincidence that this sudden concern for public safety comes on the heels of Shaykh Tantawi’s statement only days before?

In addition, although this should be obvious, it’s worth noting that there are countless examples of crimes that remain unsolved even though the perpetrator’s face was clearly visible, and that there are a whole lot of ways to disguise your identity without wearing niqab, burqa, or even a face mask. On a practical level, exactly how should this legislation be enforced? Do we need to have laws specifying the precise amount of a person’s face that should be visible at all times? Are the days of wearing a scarf up to our noses, and a tuque down to our eyebrows, now coming to an end because the covering of faces presents such a terrifying security threat? (If you think this last practice should be stopped, you clearly haven’t spent many winters in Canada.)

Ultimately, I can understand that there are some arguments to be made against the niqab and burqa on religious lines or along lines of gender equality, although I would continue to argue that women should be allowed to dress in what they decide to wear, and that it is certainly not up to the state to legislate against this clothing. The public safety argument, however, strikes me as particularly disingenuous and opportunistic, and a way of increasing fear and suspicion of a certain segment of Canada’s female Muslim population.

With thanks to former MMW writer Sobia for helping me think through these issues.

Jumping on the Niqab Ban(dwagon)