Well that was about time: The Turkish Parliament has finally decided to promote some real equality by amending their constitution, allowing veiled girls to attend University normally.
Many reasons why I support this move and dislike all this ruckus about Islamic veils. In all randomness:
- There is nothing as paradox as an agenda that supposedly is so “secular” and “democratic” that comes hand-in-hand with forcing girls to either take off their veils, or miss out on higher education.
- The veil is a personal choice, and yet it faces the most resistance from the self-proclaimed “personal-choice-supporter” crowds. Makes just as much (little) sense.
- In fact, a woman doesn’t lose any of her worth or dignity by choosing to wear a cloth over her head.
- Nuns and Orthodox Jewish women cover their hair too. Where’s the outrage about that?
- How come you can’t attend University with a headscarf in Turkey and you can in Germany, which counts as one of Turkey’s role models in secularism?
- Forcing all women to NOT wear a veil belongs in the same basket as forcing all women to do so. Make of that what you want, and no amount of comparisons to Swastikas is going to change that.
I remember that one incident we faced while in Istanbul (Check out the third comment on that post for a broader perspective. Whoever you are, thank you). And here I repeat my statement again: Being irritated by a piece of cloth over the head or a cross around the neck is a sign of intolerance. And God forbid anybody on this planet being called intolerant, right?
The Sphinx
Officially declared by wingnuts. Click 
“Forcing all women to NOT wear a veil belongs in the same basket as forcing all women to do so.”
Well said. Institutionalized prohibition of religious symbols is often mistaken for secuarlism. The most secularist societies are societies that are tolerant of individuals’ relgious and lifestyle preferences, as long as those preferences do not violate the basic rights of others. I don’t see how wearing a head scarf violates anyone’s rights.
For as much talk as there is about how the US has become increasingly Islamophobic, Muslims in the US enjoy more civil rights protections to freely practice Islam than perhaps any country in the world. The US seems backwards to many intellectuals because many in the US are religious, but it is shameful that many European countries that have been so important to establishing democracy and liberalism are actually becoming less tolerant under the guise of promoting secularism. The Netherlands and France, for example, are struggling to assimilate their Muslim minorities by trying to forcefully “Europeanize” them, whereas in the US Muslims integrate well into US public life without giving up their religious symbols. These differences can be readily observed if you talk to and travel amongst Muslim minorities in the US and Europe.
The extensive free speech and freedom of expression protections that people living in the US enjoy are well documented. My point isn’t to argue that the US is perfect, but that the US isn’t as Islamophobic as is often assumed. Prejudice against religious Muslims is often institutionalized in “enlightened” and “progressive” European countries. Forcing people to embrace any religious or anti-religious ideal is neither Islamic, Christian, democratic or secular.
When we start to better realize how the US can be held up as a model for secularism, great advances will be made in easing the so-called crisis between “Islam and the West.” In the US, we will see, that the crisis is often overstated: Millions of religious Muslims thrive and contribute to the American systems of democracy and secularism.
Congratulations to the young Turkish democracy for taking a step forward to institutionalize tolerance. Turks should be proud!
“Forcing all women to NOT wear a veil belongs in the same basket as forcing all women to do so.” yeah, that about says it all… so, let’s make a deal: when Saudi-Arabia (which is – after all – the core of Islam) allows a woman NOT to wear it, let all muslimas claim their right to wear it anywhere else. Sorry, comparing apples and oranges, just doesn’t do.
“How come you can’t attend University with a headscarf in Turkey and you can in Germany? ”
Turkey has it’s very own historical reason to be hysterically secular: the Ottoman Empire was a religiously founded ….. well, empire. It collapsed because it was unable to adapt to modern days. Kemal Ataturk et al. decided not to make that mistake again, and now history has moved past that point again.
Yabanci ” don’t see how wearing a head scarf violates anyone’s rights”
Well, for starters, it violates MY God-given right to appreciate female beauty. If only the ugly girls wore the hijab, I’d be alright, but some of them ME girls are sooo pretty. Covering up is close to blasphemy
“Being irritated by a piece of cloth over the head or a cross around the neck is a sign of intolerance.”
OK, so I’m intolerant then, well, I’m only human
“And God forbid anybody on this planet being called intolerant, right?” right. I’m truly sorry, the hijabi girl I meet on my Danish street offends me as a male, as a spiritual human being, as an egalitarian, as a humanist, as a European. (Leaving US aside) Europe has suffered for centuries from overdose of religion, is it any wonder we’d rather not have it ?
Intolerant ? well…Lord knows I try
Banning religious symbols isn’t being “secular”, it’s being totalitarian.
I do have some issues with a full burka, however.
Yabanci, thanks a lot for your thoughts. I don’t have much to add.
Halalhippie:
First off, I can’t stress enough how Saudi Arabia isn’t exactly the role model for the perfect Islamic society. Furthermore, this was exactly what I was implying, if you think it’s not ok for Saudi Arabia to force its women to veil up, then it’s not ok either to force them to remove it
One country doing it wrong doesn’t justify the other following suit. Imagine what that would’ve been like 65 years ago: “Hey, don’t complain about us killing our own people, look at what Germany’s doing!”
ChenZhen:
Understandable. Let me also state that even though the headscarf is an immense object of dispute in Islamic societies, the verses talking about it being linguistically hard to interpret, there is undoubtedly no ruling saying that a woman should cover her face. In fact, one of the Hadiths that are part of this whole debate say that Prophet Mohamed told his daughter that when she matures, she should only show “this and this”, pointing to her face and hands.
halalhippie,
1) Saudi Arabia is not the core of Islam. Islam is not organized hierarchially with Mecca elites at the top. There is no Islamic Vatican. I would love to see you try to support your argument that Muslim communities make up one monolithic community that has any core. Since Saudi Arabian politics does not represent Muslim communities in Turkey, your proposed deal-making is not realistic or applicable.
2) Ataturk didn’t institutionalize the headscarf ban, that ban was placed long after Ataturk was dead. While arguments can be made that it served a reasonable purpose in the past, present-day Turkey is a respectable democracy that is not well served by curbing freedoms of expression. PM Erdogan wants to pursue an American model of tolerance and for good reason.
3) I know of no definitions of human or civil rights that lists as a priority your “God-given right to appreciate female beauty.” Sorry buddy, a woman’s choice to wear a headscarf isn’t about you or what you want to look at. If you’re charming and tolerant enough, you might one day earn the pleasure of appealling to a beautiful covered woman. But you’re owed nothing, so if you’re really curious you might want to start rethinking your strategy.
3) Your intolerance is not threatening or offensive to me; rather, intolerance is prohibitive to the advancement of your community. A society and economy divided by prejudice and misunderstanding cannot possibly compete with other societies that enjoy productivity despite the preferences and differences of its people. The problem of alienation is not going to just go away, and I’m sorry but intolerance is a failed and failing strategy. Maybe you can reconsider your position on this. Read the writings of Martin Luther King Jr and how he helped change America if you need some convincing evidence or inspiration.
4) Europe has suffered A LOT of problems, some of them stemming from religion, but many many stemming from intolerance. The religious conflicts of the past should not determine the interactions of religions in the future. There are alternative solutions, and tolerance and institutionalized protection of even the most foreign forms of expression is at the core of the solution.
I’m glad to see 2 Muslims agreeing that KSA doesn’t represent Islam as a whole: to an ignorant Westerner like me, it might look líke that at 1st glance.
And note: I am not dissing Islam or Muslims as such, merely sharing my wievs along with some even uglier ones that aren’t really mine.
So: KSA imposes burka/hijab and stuff by law and Turkey bans it. Both are equally wrong. But there are laws that are not in the constitution.
In Egypt, girls dress up modestly/religiuosly because “everyone” agrees to it. In Northern Europe, people don’t show their religion in public, because “everyone” agrees that it’s a private matter. The hijabi I meet on the street is breaking that unwritten law. Fortunately, unwritten laws change over time.
Yabanci: “Islam is not organized hierarchially with Mecca elites at the top” I’m happy to hear you say that, although I would guess a Saudi or two might disagree.
“ban was placed long after Ataturk was dead” take your word for it, and agree that the times have changed.
“my“God-given right to appreciate female beauty” … did you see the
.. or should I put another ? 
re my “intolerance”: cut me some slack here: I have lived thru times of zero Muslims in “my” country up to 2-3% of the population. It takes time getting used to.
“problems, some of them stemming from religion, but many many stemming from intolerance” And when intolerance is justified by religion even more so. It’s hard to tell which is which, and (as the Sphinx will know) I have struggled with my my own religious background.
I appreciate this opportunity to vent my intolerance
great post. Veil is a personal choice of woman. Wearing it or not, doesn’t make her less or more pious as true iman is hidden in heart of believer to which only God has access
I just would like to stress, that there is no THE ONE ISLAM. Over history our most devout theologians discussed many aspects of muslims life that arent stated clearly in the scripture. And it is this that made the charm and brilliance of Islam, that it was for a very long time able to adapt to time and accept different ways of thinking. It was also the tolerance towards people who thought differently, whether from our same religion or from a different one,that led to the advancement of islamic society. It wasn’t till we forgot the core principles of our religion that we came to this miserable state and KSA is the perfect example – in my opinion – for how far we left the essense of Islam!