Islam and clothing

Adherents of Islam are concerned with clothing in two contexts: clothing for everyday
wear, inside and outside the house; and clothing required in specifically religious
contexts.

Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: that
will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do.
And say that the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their
modesty that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must
ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not
display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers, their husband's fathers, their
sons, their husbands' sons, their brothers or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons,
or their women, or the slaves whom their right hands possess, or male servants free of
physical needs, or small children who have no sense of the shame of sex; and that they
should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O
ye Believers! Turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain Bliss.

Islamic dress in Europe

Islamic dress in Europe, notably the variety of headdresses worn by Muslim women,
has become a prominent symbol of the presence of Islam in Western Europe. In several
countries the adherence to hijab (an Arabic noun meaning "to cover") has led to
political controversies and proposals for a legal ban. The Netherlands government has
decided to introduce a ban on face-covering clothing, popularly described as the "burqa
ban", although it does not only apply to the Afghan-model burqa. Other countries, such
as France are debating similar legislation, or have more limited prohibitions. Some of
them apply only to face-covering clothing such as the burqa, chador, boushiya, or
niqab; some apply to any clothing with an Islamic religious symbolism such as the
khimar, a type of headscarf (some countries already have laws banning the wearing of
masks in public, which can be applied to veils that conceal the face). The issue has
different names in different countries, and "the veil" or "hijab" may be used as general
terms for the debate, representing more than just the veil itself, or the concept of
modesty embodied in hijab.

Although the Balkans and Eastern Europe have indigenous Muslim populations, most
Muslims in Western Europe are members of immigrant communities. The issue of
Islamic dress is linked with issues of immigration and the position of Islam in western
society. European Commissioner Franco Frattini said in November 2006, that he did not
favour a ban on the burqa. This is apparently the first official statement on the issue of
prohibition of Islamic dress from the European Commission, the executive of the
European Union. The reasons given for prohibition vary. Legal bans on face-covering
clothing are often justified on security grounds, as an anti-terrorism measure.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali sees Islam as incompatible with Western values, at least in its present
form. She advocates the values of 'Enlightenment liberalism', including secularism and
equality of women. For her, the burqa or chador are both a symbol of religious
obscurantism and the oppression of women. Western Enlightenment values, in her view,
require prohibition, regardless of whether a woman has freely chosen Islamic dress.
Islamic dress is also seen as a symbol of the existence of parallel societies, and the
failure of integration: in 2006 British Prime Minister Tony Blair described it as a "mark
of separation". Visible symbols of a non-Christian culture conflict with the national
identity in European states, which assumes a shared (non-religious) culture. Proposals
for a ban may be linked to other related cultural prohibitions: the Dutch politician Geert
Wilders proposed a ban on hijabs, in Islamic schools, in new mosques, and in non-
western immigration.

In France and Turkey, the emphasis is on the secular nature of the state, and the
symbolic nature of the Islamic dress, and bans apply at state institutions (courts, civil
service) and in state-funded education. These bans also cover Islamic headscarves,
which in some other countries are seen as less controversial, although law court staff in
the Netherlands are also forbidden to wear Islamic headscarves on grounds of 'state
neutrality'. An apparently less politicised argument is that in specific professions
(teaching), a ban on "veils" (niqab) is justified, since face-to-face communication and
eye contact is required. This argument has featured prominently in judgements in
Britain and the Netherlands, after students or teachers were banned from wearing face-
covering clothing. Public and political response to such prohibition proposals is
complex, since by definition they mean that the government decides on individual
clothing. Some non-Muslims, who would not be affected by a ban, see it as an issue of
civil liberties, as a slippery slope leading to further restrictions on private life. A public
opinion poll in London showed that 75 percent of Londoners support "the right of all
persons to dress in accordance with their religious beliefs". In another poll in the United
Kingdom by Ipsos MORI, 61 percent agreed that "Muslim women are segregating
themselves" by wearing a veil, yet 77 percent thought they should have the right to wear
it.