DISCUSSION TOPIC: BANNING THE BURQA

The Mission

This discussion uses controversies involving the wearing of the burqa, the niqab and the veil as a way to explore such larger issues as the role of women within Islam; the relations between Muslims and non-Muslims and between church/mosque and state in the West; and the meanings of citizenship, tolerance and religious freedom.

The exercise is divided into three parts.

Part I: To gain some focus, start by reading intensively about the recent French government decision to prohibit the wearing of the full veil.  Come prepared to defend one side or the other of the debating resolution.  We will spend the first half of class in debate.  Many news articles and other items can be accessed from the France And The Burqa and General Resources  sections immediately below.

The Resolution:  It was appropriate for the French government to prohibit the wearing of the full veil in public.

Part II:  The second part of the assignment involves a comparative examination of controversies involving the burqa and niqab in other countries.  Browse through several of these articles.  You can, of course, complement my resources with your own independent research.

Part III:  The third part of the assignment introduces many news articles about the hijab, or basic face veil.  Read several of these stories, identifying nations or stories of particular interest.  Compare the hijab debate to those involving the burqa and niqab.

Part I On-Line Resources: France And The Burqa

Part II: Burqa In Comparative Comparative Context

Part III:  Islamic Head-Scarf

Some Questions

• How would you begin to make sense of the burqa and the niqab as religious symbols?  What is the nature of their relationship with Islam?

• How would you compare the debate within France with the issue in other countries?

• Why do women wear the burqa or the niqab?

• Is a full-length niqab or burka gown appropriate in public settings such as a school?  Should the state have any authority to regulate religious dress codes at all?

• Why is the headscarf such a contentious cloth?

• What arguments are offered in support of the headscarf?

• Are women who wear the headscarf oppressed?  Unenlightened?  What does the headscarf seem to mean to those who choose to wear it?

• How do you respond to the argument that the wearing of headscarves in the public sphere tends not to be merely a sign of private religious faith but as an aggressive political statement associated with the demand that the wall separating church and state be obliterated?

• How has the controversy about the hijab played out in different countries?

• How would you compare and contrast French and Turkish state policy in regards to religion and the public sphere?  Who was Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and what does he have to do with the headscarf controversy in Turkey?

• Compare and contrast the way in which the headscarf controversy has played out in France with the examples of Britain and other European nations?

• How, if at all, does inclusion of headscarf stories from the Middle East change the terms of the debate?  How would you compare and contrast the role of Islam in Saudi Arabia with its role in Turkey?