Western Europe VS. Islam

First the Jews and now the Muslims in Western Europe are under religiously scrutiny. Europe which is a heavily Christian continent is the center of much controversy because of the ban on the burka in France. In 2004 France banned the hijab (a scarf worn on the head to cover the hair and neck) from schools and public offices. Saying that the traditional head scarf is a is a symbol of religion, and France which claims to be a secular country. Having freedom of religion is a constitutional right. So where are the freedoms of the Muslims living in France? Having their religious freedoms taken away from them every day. What about the rights of the people who practice Islam? what about the rights of the teenage girl who as a sign of devotion to her faith

is not allowed to wear her hijab to school?

French leaders say that the wearing hijab in school is against the law. (afraid of school girls???)

That if the girl wishes to be devout to her religion and faith and wear the hijab, that she should do so when not at school.

It is written in the Qur'an in Surah 24: An-Nur: 30 and 31 that modesty is enjoined both to male and female Muslims.

[ say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty : that will make for Greater purity for them: and God(Allah swt) is well-acquainted with all that they do. And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty : and they should not display their beauty or ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they must draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's father's, their son's , their husband's sons, or their women, or their slaves whom their right hand possesses, or male servants free of physical needs, or small children who have no sense of shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their ornaments.]

One of the verses in the Qur'an protects a woman's fundamental rights.

Aya 59 from Sura al-Ahzab reads:

[ O Prophet! Tell Thy wives and daughters, and the Believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over persons (when outside): that they should be known (as such) and not molested.]

Throughout France and other European countries these rights are being removed, and labeled as oppressive. How can the government and parliments of these countries decide what is oppressive to women when they are not in fact asking women? How is the hijab different from a man wearing a baseball cap? Doesn't it cover his head? The answer is that it isn't a matter of what is showing or not showing... it is a matter of the Islamic religion present in a dominantly Christian society.

How would anyone even know what religion someone was if they didn't practice traditions of their religion.

One reason why Muslim women wear an outer garment when going out of their homes, is because they want to be known and recognized as "believing" women and differentiated from normal "street" women for whom sexual advances and harassment are everyday matters. With claims that these traditions are barbaric and unjust to woman. However the Qur'an is insistent on the full participation of women in society and in the religious practises prescribed for men as well. These women choose to conceal themselves. They would not and do not feel comfortable with men's eyes on them if they were to walk outside not covered. Many women in general feel very uncomfortable when noticing men's prying eyes on them. It is the nature of women, and whynot let them protect their modesty. Muslim women are not the first to accept the idea of hijab, or veil. In fact the Virgin Mary in all traditional depictions is shown veiled. And don't the Roman Catholic Nuns wear a wimple, is that not a form of hijab? They are not required to remove theirs in public or if they are instructing in a school? Isn't that a major symbol of Roman Catholicism religion?

Is this an example of systematic oppression? To tell an individual or a group of people that they can not practice a basic fundamental act of their faith, by placing an actual ban on the act. Without breaking the law? When will it ever be enough? Perhaps that the truth lies in the thought of France becoming a prominently Muslim country in the future, with France home to some four to five million Muslims, and the number growing every year? It all sounds too familiar to religious persecution.