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August 4, 2007
Be Careful, 'You' Just Might Be A 'Colonialist'
Topics: Understanding Islam
"Oy Bay," blogging from the San Francisco Bay Area (hat tip - Alan), is sounding the alarm to be careful, you just might be a colonialist!
Next time you ask where the moderate Muslims are, be careful, you may be a Colonialist ™. In case you had the niggling feeling that "Those women who voluntarily choose the veil are different. They seek to provoke, to intimidate," put it on pause. Be doubly careful if the following sounds like having a ring of truth:Continue reading, "Three Cheers for Colonialism!"" Muslim women who veil in Western societies violate all these norms. They are being immodest and invasive. They will succeed only in creating hostility. To every woman who decides to walk out the door looking like Batman and then complains of being ridiculed, I say, you are inviting it. Bear it or shed it."Believe it? You're an Islamophobe.... Not only according to Her highness of Qatar, but also according to her royal entourage of Western listeners; from James Baker, to Madeleine Albright and Colin Powel, who delighted in her presentation as Board Members of the Institute (as in the Baker Institute in Houston Texas - emphasis mine). Their presence reinforcing, whose side our leaders are on. Not mine. What about yours?
IMHO, I personally find the wearing of the veil, and most especially the burqa, both offensive and laughable, but for reasons of my own. For me, it has much to do with societal norms and the modern history behind the veil and burqa, and now especially in the West where it is indeed encouraged by fundamentalists to provide "in your face" presence of Islamism. We shouldn't fail to notice that moderate Muslims wear neither the veil nor the burqa. Watching a burqa-clad woman driving a car is damned scary, and in today's world, we never know what could be hiding under one, and terrorists indeed have a history of hiding under a burqa - even in Muslim countries.
However, I'm always willing to listen to someone else's opinion, and to take a look at a "different view." Perhaps it's with this thought in mind (and surely, no other), I would find that women wearing a veil or burqa like the one below, particularly pleasing to look at, and neither offensive nor laughable. In fact, I actually find it down right pleasing to look at:
As for a moderate Muslims perspective on the burqa, here's an excerpt from Irshad Manji's film, "Faith Without Fear: Veiled "Conformity" looking at the use of the burqa in Yemen. In my mind, a male Muslim man's insistence that his wife wear a burqa is essentially erasing her identity, and Irshad Manji indeed says such in the second video below.
Here's more of Irshad Manji on the burqa:
Hopefully, we in the West aren't headed toward sharia law - or are we?
In a related note, here Journalist/Author Irshad Manji, called "Osama Bin Laden's worst nightmare" by the New York Times, discusses her thoughts on religions' role in the War on Terrorism and the religion of Islam as a whole:
And here, Irshad Manji is calling for reform within her religion:
In the way of offering a bit of balance here, one commenter at the YouTube link noted that Irshad Manji is a marginal muslim. She calls for homosexuality to be acceptable in Islam, and there are surely Muslims that believe that they need to define themselves, rather than leaving it to Muslims like Irshad Manji. Hopefully, the commenter has in mind Muslims like Dr. Zuhdi Jasser, a devout Muslim who is taking a stand against Islamists and their radical allies in organizations like CAIR.
Posted by Abdul at August 4, 2007 9:40 AM
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