Not a symbol of freedom Thursday, 13 May 2010 06:52

Despite years of engagement, the West is yet to learn how to deal with Muslims and the East in general. They must realise change cannot be brought about by use of military power or by imposing regulations on other countries, communities, cultures and religions. It can come only through mutual respect and partnership, spread of science and dissemination of knowledge.

The veil, in the past few months, has emerged as the most controversial issue in Europe. Heated coverage of the issue has surpassed even that of the Iceland volcano and the Greek debt crisis. Raising minor issues and blowing them up is a common tactic used by political parties during election campaigns to cover up their failure to grapple with significant issues.Here, I would like direct a question at parliaments of Belgium, France, Germany, and Holland: What is the number of veiled women in your countries? Their number doesn’t exceed 1,000 in France, and hardly 100 in Germany, according to Germany’s Interior Ministry.

The dilemma here is that such moves deepen the gap and differences between civilisations rather than bridge it. All Muslims do not support the veil, or not the kind of veil advocated by some groups. Even in the Muslim world there are people who do not support the veil based on the opinion of scholar Yousef Al Qaradawi on the issue of veil and Hijab.

Banning the veil by law in Europe has nothing to do with security concerns or to defending women’s rights. Such moves certainly reflect the West’s fear that its culture is vulnerable and would be affected by an alien culture. To preserve their cultural identity, they are disregarding the principles of human rights.

Europe will be the biggest loser by attempting to ban the veil by force of law as this will further add to the mutual suspicion between the West and Muslims. The conflict between civilisations and religions will aggravate, creating a lot of religious hardliners. Clerics in mosques and scholars at religious forums in the East will harden their views about the West. The worst of all is the fear that demand for reciprocity will be raised.

We have to look for a more sensible way of settling the problem like opening a dialogue on the issue or referring the issue to active Islamic organisations in Europe and involving moderate Muslim scholars. Many scholars back Hijab against the veil. Involvement of such scholars and organisations will sure come up with a solution satisfactory to both sides.

A dictated solution to a problem will never sustain, what will help is involving people concerned in finding a solution. Solving this particular controversy in this manner will ensure that everyone lives peacefully and the veil is not used as a symbol of freedom or sympathy.