AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS THAT

THE NIQAB AND GENDER SEGREGATION HAVE

ON MUSLIM COMMUNITIES

Islam is a naturally beautiful religion which enhances the

lives of people. It encourages its followers to live in
harmony with their cultures so long as the followers do not
violate the cornerstones of the religion. Islam demands that
it is viewed according to its age and society hence it must
be viewed as water in a vessel. The water (Islam) always
remains the same but it assumes the shape of whichever
vessel (age and society) it fills. What Islam does not do is
condone bigoted obnoxious practices, nor the break-away
from healthy societal norms. There are Muslims within the
West, however, who become fanatic zealots and ignorantly
feel that behaving in ways which are cultish, socially
awkward and dork-like, is what makes them morally
superior than others in the sight of Almighty Allah. Due to
their practices, these zealots end up making Islam appear
silly and uncivil. The issues of the niqab and gender
segregation are distinct although they are not mutually
exclusive. Although they may not express it, niqab-wearers
and the supporters of the niqab have a mind-set which tells
them that in an ‘ideal Islamic world’, apart from one
exception, Almighty Allah wants every place on earth to at
the least have some form of enforced gender segregation.
The only exception niqab-wearers and the supporters of the
niqab may make is people’s homes but this would only be
when there are no visitors in the home or when the
occupants of the home are all blood relatives. This mind-set
of niqab-wearers and the supporters of the niqab is marked
by their invention and constant use of the term ‘free
mixing’ with a negative connotation. Similarly those who
support gender segregation have a mind-set which says that
Almighty Allah wants all women to be clad in the niqab.
This mentality is due to a complete misunderstanding on
why Almighty Allah has decreed hijab and why there are
some rules in place regarding gender interaction in Islam.
The point of these guidelines is not for Muslims to behave
disorderly, insular and antisocial but for Muslims to adhere
to modesty and to regulate their actions when in the
presence of the other gender so that they become self-aware
of what they are doing and do not go beyond what is
acceptable. The pushing of the extreme ideas by both male
and female Muslims – that the niqab and gender
segregation are beneficial – are common ways that
religious fanaticism is manifested. These practices will
bring about exceptionally tough consequences and these
zealots will only have themselves to blame. The insistence
of niqab-wearers or the supporters of the niqab to promote
the covering of the face is something that has commonly
been and continues to be something that is considered alien
and unnatural. A woman who dons the niqab is often stared
at as the overwhelming majority of people are truly not
accustomed to this phenomenon, hence the anxiety and/or
curiosity which comes forth. This in itself indicates that the
niqab contradicts the laws of hijab. Furthermore this
insistence of donning the niqab, overtime, produces self-
righteous male and female Muslim zealots who harshly
condemn men for simply seeing the faces of women even
due to necessity and harshly condemn women for doing
what is natural and leaving their faces uncovered. The
insistence on creating gender segregated environments,
likewise, is most definitely considered alien and unnatural.
Once again this insistence leads to self-righteous male and
female Muslim zealots who this time, harshly condemn any
kind of interaction between the genders because of the
zealots’ unfounded and unreasonable beliefs that any kind
of gender interaction is lewd and sexual. When Muslims
unnecessarily create unnatural circumstances, even if done
in good faith, there are extremely severe consequences.
This is due to the impossibility of maintaining unnatural
lifestyles which, it must be pointed out, have nothing to do
with Islam. Minds begin to become corrupted because of
the promotion of the niqab and gender segregation which
both cause perversion. Eventually the Muslims who
condone and/or are involved in these unnatural practices
snap and the doors of zina fling open for them which would
otherwise have remained firmly shut had there been the
maintenance of natural lifestyles which adhered to the laws
of hijab. How does this happen? The male supporters of the
niqab and gender segregation subconsciously obtain
predatory feelings when in the presence of women whilst
the niqab-wearers and female supporters of the niqab and
gender segregation subconsciously obtain feelings that they
are prey when in the presence of men. These feelings are
obviously totally unnecessary, but without a shadow of
doubt, stem from the objectification of women created by
the promotion of the niqab and the distancing of healthy
gender interaction. A result of this excessive yet
uninformed religious zeal is that the niqab does not divert
attention away from women rather it only serves as a way
to draw sexual attention to them. The very fact that the
niqab-wearers and the supporters of the niqab frequently
compare niqab-wearers to lollipops covered with wrappers
and non-niqab-wearers to lollipops which are wrapper less
and covered with ants, clearly demonstrates sexual
objectification of women brought on through the promotion
of the niqab. If this is not objectification then what is it?
Thus this zealous rhetoric only builds unprecedented levels
of sexual curiosity and sexual frustration for male
supporters of the niqab in the presence of females which
would have otherwise been non-existent. The observance of
the proper laws of hijab are sufficient for a healthy-minded
society but the extremism of zealots who wear and/or
support the niqab says that the laws of hijab are not enough
which only causes harm. When they have to get out of their
little bubbles and comfort zones, the supporters of gender
segregation, whether male or female, experience one of two
feelings: either they get super-shy in the presence of the
opposite gender or they get abnormally turned on in the
presence of the opposite gender as they start experiencing a
feeling of thrill. The reason for these unusual feelings
arising in the supporters of gender segregation is that they
are not used to normal and healthy gender interaction in
respectable contexts in which the laws of hijab are upheld.
If people are taught the laws of hijab and the do's and
don't's of gender interaction in Islam as opposed to the
complete banning of ordinary interaction between the
genders it is sufficient to create a society that progresses
but avoids fitnah. People do not need to be micromanaged
with pathetic intimidation tactics as this only causes harm.
In a nutshell, neither the niqab nor gender segregation are
from Islam but rather are the antithesis of true hijab. Both
the niqab and gender segregation make Islam appear silly
and uncivil. These practices are unnatural because they turn
normal situations into hyper-sexualised ones. The
promotion of the niqab and gender segregation by both
males and female religious zealots consequently creates
twisted mind-sets which open the doors of unparalleled
fitnah and zina for these very zealots which would never
have appeared if there was no ignorant zeal. May Almighty
Allah guide one and all to that which is correct, ameen.
(Disclaimers: 1) ‘Niqab-wearers’ in the article refers to
women who, through their own choice, insist on wearing
the niqab and does not at all refer to the poor souls who
have been coerced into wearing it. 2) Despite their bizarre
practices, many niqab-wearers and supporters of the niqab
are decent human beings and not all niqab-wearers and
supporters of the niqab are necessarily as intense in their
views as one may have concluded having read the article.
There are different levels of zeal expressed by the many
niqab-wearers and supporters of the niqab. The purpose of
the article is to highlight what can and often does happen
when people get to the highest level of zeal. 3) Although
the audio from the video is promoting the views of Mufti
Abu Layth, the views which are mentioned in textual
format throughout the comments section may not
necessarily be the views of Mufti Abu Layth.