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For most non-Muslims, the advent of the Taliban in Afghanistan was their first introduction to the concept of face-veiling for women, which draws much attention despite being the accessory of choice for a minority of Muslim women, mainly in Saudi Arabia. There are many names for it \u2013 burqa<\/a>, niqab<\/a>, purdah<\/a>, abaya<\/a> \u2013 but the gist of it is that the modesty called for in the Qur\u2019an is best enforced by not being seen. Driven in modern times mainly by the Wahabbi\/Salafi strain of Islam, the woman shoulders the burden<\/a> of modesty through face-veiling, rather than having the man do their part by \u201clowering their gaze\u201d as the Qur\u2019an commands. Rare in the West, the practice has gained some exposure through the court case of Sultaana Freeman<\/a>, a Florida niqabi<\/i> who is suing for her right<\/a> to a photo-less drivers licence (and really, who wouldn\u2019t want their photo left off their license?) Even Muslims who otherwise tolerated the practice are complaining that Freeman\u2019s insistence is making the Muslim community look bad, and belittling the real civil rights abuses Muslims face. \u201cThis is a very frivolous case<\/a>,\u201d said local Muslim leader Omar Dajani. \u201cIf the law says you have to have your picture on your driver\u2019s license, you show your face. I\u2019m not even sure what version of Islamic law she\u2019s using \u2013 certainly not the version that the Muslim world uses.\u201d The prosecution isn\u2019t helping the Muslim image, as it brings up the handy terrorist card to force Freeman\u2019s hand. \u201cThe sad fact is our country,\u201d said the aptly-named Assistant Attorney General Jason Vail<\/a>, \u201cis under assault by puritanical religious zealots.\u201d Even Islamic scholars such as UCLA Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl<\/a> got involved, stating that even the strictest applications of niqab<\/i> allow for revealing the face for identification purposes. While Florida courts possibly find themselves in the position of religious interpretation<\/a>, the debate over niqab<\/i> is cracking open even in Saudi Arabia, where Saudi filmmaker Haifaa al-Mansour has just put out a film<\/a> criticizing face-veiling as a security risk, showing an opportunistic murderer using it to commit his crimes.<\/p>\n

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Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.\n<\/p>\n

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