COLUMN: Not threatened by the niqab, just disappointed

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Minna Ella chooses to wear the niqab, chooses to cover her entire body, hands included, except for her eyes. The Koran does not say she must do this, it says she must dress modestly by wearing a headscarf. According to a newspaper article, she says “I made my decision on my own … because that’s how I feel comfortable, and it makes me feel closer to my creator.” Fine, but then she makes assumptions about Canadians.

Minna thinks Canadians are threatened by her niqab. I can’t speak for the rest of Canada but I’m not threatened, just disappointed. I don’t think she’s a terrorist, and I don’t think she’s oppressed. I do think she’s a woman who chooses the niqab for personal reasons. And I think she’s wrong to choose it.

But hey, in everyday-down-to-Superstore-to-buy-the-groceries life it doesn’t matter. If she wants to wear a gorilla suit she can wear it. It does matter during a citizenship hearing. Women who choose to immigrate to Canada and choose to become Canadian must now show their faces during the ceremony. Is that so bad? Will they lose their deep commitment to Islam by unveiling for a short time? Surely their faith and devotion is stronger than that. The head of the Muslim Canadian congress says the niqab is a cultural custom not a religious tenet.

But Minna wears the niqab every day and everywhere. She is “sad” when people do not interact with her, and hurt when she assumes they think her “less human.” She should dress as a Goth or a punk or a homeless person and see what comments and what dirty looks she gets. Or dress as a 60-year-old woman and become invisible. She makes a statement by her garment; people are likely to respond.

Minna has the opportunity to be part of a very liberal society compared to much of the world, yet she makes it harder to do so by choosing to follow the dictates of “some scholars who have made interpretations of the Koran.” And OKAY, she has the right to choose that. Then don’t be naive about the consequences of her choice.

And the government has the right to make laws that serve its purposes. Ottawa has accommodated many religious beliefs and practices. They are willing to include Sikhs in turbans in the RCMP, headscarves on soccer teams, kirpans in graduation ceremonies. Christians wear crosses and Jewish believers wear yarmulkas. We provide private spaces for Muslim women to lift their veils for a drivers licence or passport. The government is willing to go the extra mile for its diverse population. I wonder if the women in niqabs are willing to take a few steps in that direction. For me, that’s the disappointment factor—the unwillingness.

When I lived in Algiers I was the minority, a blond westerner in a society of mostly veiled women. I interacted with very few in public places; they ignored me or didn’t want to be seen talking to a foreigner, an infidel. Instead, some whispered curses, or nudged me off the sidewalk, or flicked my shoulder if I wore a sleeveless sundress. So I wore sleeves. In the market it was all men, the women were indoors. In the hammam we were naked together in the steam and baths, and the women were curious, friendly, and relaxed. The Muslim friends I made wore headscarves and western clothes. We became friends because I could see their faces and read their responses to my halting Arabic and high school French.

I wonder if Minna Ella, born and raised in Canada, talks to women she doesn’t know in public places. Does she initiate conversation on public transit or in the library? Does she know some people can’t tell what she’s saying through the veil? Maybe the barrier she has created is more of a shield than she wants to admit.

Anne Hopkinson is a Burnaby resident still working on the three Rs: reading, writing, and rambling.