British Muslims should uphold niqab ban
Before i copy/paste this article, i wanna say that i'm aware that this article has around 2 years but still i found it interesting and even actual, after copy/paste article i'll say what has called my attention on this article besides the niqab question.
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By Dr Taj Hargey
Last Updated: 2:03AM GMT 06 Feb 2007
The legal efforts by a Muslim father to force a Buckinghamshire school to permit his 12-year old daughter to wear the niqab should be resisted by sensible integrated British Muslims.
This misguided judicial action, if successful, will not only set a deplorable precedent for Muslim exceptionalism, but will also exacerbate frayed tensions between a (largely) self-segregating Muslim community and an antagonistic general public. This legal test case is so critical as to serve as a defining moment in the battle for the hearts and mind of Muslims in this country.
The disputed decision by a father to protect the 'human rights' of his daughter by insisting that she wears the full-face mask in school should not be seen in isolation. It is at the root of a frightening theological convulsion that is underway in the Islamic world.
Driven by a toxic combination of Wahhabi-Salafi-Ikhwani-Deobandi religious extremists, this militant movement seeks to resurrect the caliphate not only in the heartlands of Islam itself, but elsewhere as well. This restoration is constructed around a sexist and medieval interpretation of the Shari'ah (Muslim legal code). Neglecting the liberating and pristine teachings of the transcendent Qur'an, the bulk of the Muslim ecclesiastical hierarchy (ulama), including those in Britain, refer mainly to secondary and supplemental juristic sources. In the process, the original uplifting principles of the faith are subverted.
Although Muslims regard the Qur'an as the primary and inviolable foundation for Islamic legislation, radical preachers from a variety of denominations here and abroad persist in propagating an extreme millenarian vision of the faith that is not predicated upon the sacred scripture, but is founded on the reputed sayings (ahadith) of the Prophet Muhammad.
Compiled some 250 years after the prophet's death, these subordinate pronouncements and practices usurp the authority of the Qur'an. The intervening years provided sufficient opportunity for forgery and fabrication.
Most, if not all, contemporary 'Islamic' tendencies like female head and face coverings, the wearing of unkempt beards, strict sexual apartheid (including no opposite gender hand-shaking), female inferiority, philosophical conformity and interfaith intolerance are the inevitable products of a masculine clerical consensus, which have no authority in the immutable Qur'anic text.
In contrast to a blind acceptance of specific seventh century tribal Arabian dress and cultural norms, which have no eternal scriptural endorsement (as believers are required only to be modest), modern Muslims should revive the Islamic principle of ijtihad (independent reasoning) to interpret the faith for themselves, rather than relying exclusively on a misogynistic and retrogressive clergy. Muslims in this country should therefore implement a faith that is rooted in and relevant to 21st century Britain.
Islam here, as in other parts of the globe, has to become indigenised to the society and times that it finds itself in.
Indeed, this was the successful template that underpinned its rapid expansion around the globe.
It is incumbent on progressive and forward-looking Muslims not only to defeat this un-Qur'anic foreign-inspired theology that demands that a school girl should conceal her face, but they also need to be in the forefront of an intellectual struggle which will eventually witness the emergence of British Islam, an Islam that remains loyal to the universal precepts and pillars of the religion, while assuming the nuances of a distinctive indigenous contribution to the British religious mosaic.
It is this British Islam that will ultimately restore the faith's pristine character.
* Dr Taj Hargey is chairman of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford
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Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1541743/British-Muslims-should-up...
As i stated on beggining, i feal that this article shows how being a muslim doesn't stop us from reasoning and how important it is to stop the expansion of the radical Islam. It isn't my intention to offend in anyway, any of my muslim brothers but to discuss reasoning on Islam without offending anyone.
The guys is misquoting the Quran, perhaps he did not read Quran, in this kind of possible situation or otherwise of the other statements as well he is not any authority or a scholar and he is no way to represent the Islam or Islamic legislation.
And on your un expected comments I Quote
"Abu Saif: That's the main problem, when a Muslim scholar shows interest in updating Islam, the conservative say they are wrong persue them" Close Quote
Allah says in Quran
I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favor upon you and have chosen for your Islam as your religion. Surah/Chapter Al-Ma'idah/5, Ayat/verse No 3
(last part of the said ayat pasted to avoid shifting from the thread in discussion as it include other instructions related to slaughtering etc)
So something said in Quran and confirmed from Hadidth does NOT require any update/refresh..
So please, we have to be very careful of what we say.
Allah May forgive us all for our intentional or unintentional mistakes and guide us to the right path.
Allah Knows the best...
"wearing of unkempt beards, strict sexual apartheid (including no opposite gender hand-shaking), female inferiority, philosophical conformity and interfaith intolerance are the inevitable products of a masculine clerical consensus, which have no authority in the immutable Qur'anic text"
This is so biased, and completely inaacurate.
As for niqab, if she wants to wear it fine, why not? If she had a hideous deformaty I think no one would protest but as it is religious it is sensationalized. If the father is forcing her to wear it, shame on him, he will get his.
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"Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock - Will Rogers"
duglus: why insisting, aren't there islamic schools there? It's the same towards all other religions.
Ayman
Only God Can Judge Me
الله فقط يمكنه محاكمتي
I am you and you are me, if you love i love, if you suffer i suffer
أنا أنت, و أنت أنا, إذا أحببت نفسك أحببت نفسي, إذا عانيتَ عانيتُ
Having taught Muslim children in the UK in the days when the Hijab was causing problems, I found that most girls actually wanted to wear it. I am aware that this is a bit different but the principle remains the same. I supported my Muslim students then and I would do the same now. If she wants to wear it, then she should be allowed to wear it. her father doesn't seem to be forcing her, he is trying to force the school to allow her to wear it. I would do the same
I agree plato...her father should factor society norms in his life because he lives there..
CBD: The question is that when she uses it may seam like some sort of descrimination, other children would make fun of her because they have no idea why she was using it. If she was on an islamic school, than it wouldn't affect her much, but still she shouldn't be forced to use it.
Abu saif: That's the main problem, when a muslim scholar shows interest in updating Islam, the conservative say they are wrong persue them
Ayman
Only God Can Judge Me
الله فقط يمكنه محاكمتي
I am you and you are me, if you love i love, if you suffer i suffer
أنا أنت, و أنت أنا, إذا أحببت نفسك أحببت نفسي, إذا عانيتَ عانيتُ
I would fully support that and it sounds like he is ugly anyway.
With due respects to you, if I may suggest, when discussing something important and sensitive, it is equally important to be sure of the sources of information/discussion.
This guy seems to be not at all credible to discuss and advise the interpretation of words of Allah, further this is baseless statement that the Hadidth popped out 250 years after the prophet Muhammad (p&buh). If he did not read or understood the terminology Usool Al Hadidth then he unfortunately should refrain from dropping anything which is or might be taken as teaching/advise/guidance.
http://ummahpulse.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=39&Itemid=45
The idea of my response is not to discredit your approach but to bring a little broader understanding that regardless of the teachings and understandings from the real facts....the source (Taj Hargey) of the topic is not at all creditable…
May Allah protect us all from this kind of evil and guide us to the right path...Aameen
Allah knows the best
I don't think it's OK to wear the niqab in the UK/Europe. The majority doesn't wear it over there, it's not traditional in Europe. It's like wearing short sexy clothes in Qatar - not acceptable. Also, kids can be very cruel. Imagine what they'd say or do if they had a classmate this much different from them. Religion is not about your clothes or a church/mosque, it's what's inside you, what you believe in. Why is it such a crime to dress according to the rest of the society you live in? You have to be aware of the traditions of the country you move to and respect it. If you don't like it, simply don't go there.
Plato..
Personally, I think it is young age to wear full niqab at, but what is the problem if her father wants her to do the full niqab.
I agree that British muslims should not segregate, I also agree that bigotery and extremism is not good at all. We should be flexible.
However, if this school girl wears the full niqab, in what way could this harm the community?? (you may say this is too much for a little girl but this is a different issue and is a personal matter)
If for example, this father told his daughter not to talk to other non muslim girls or not to study with them, then i disagree with him.
Conclusion, we should be flexible and we should satisfy the equation of reacting with the society and practice our faith and religious commitment and i believe both can be met without any harm.
Great. For the very reason we are invited to live in the multi racial society, we should respect the country constitutions. Like it or not, we can start asking why we are here in the first place