Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Quebec’s proposed ban on headcoverings

"Critics call Quebec’s proposed ban on religious headwear ‘Putinesque’ " - The Globe and Mail

What is the correlation with French-speaking and the distaste for head coverings?

The problems with head coverings for men and women in Quebec are ongoing. This is the latest.

Quebec is heading into another fierce debate over the future of religious freedom in the province with the Parti Québécois government set to release a Charter of Quebec Values that could ban religious headwear everywhere from daycares to hospitals.
Read the linked article for more, including to links to video and more articles on this, including the reversal of Quebec's ban on turbans for soccer players.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Philippines: Teacher Restrictions Are Only on Face Veils, Not on Hijabs - Southeast Asia Real Time - WSJ

Click to read: "Philippines: Teacher Restrictions Are Only on Face Veils, Not on Hijabs - Southeast Asia Real Time - WSJ"
(Wall Street Journal: Southeast Asia)
photo from the article, and Associated Press

Article begins:
MANILA — The Philippines’ Department of Education clarified Wednesday that it is not banning its Muslim teachers from wearing head coverings.
Last week, the department unveiled a new order requesting that Muslim teachers remove their niqab, or face-covering veils, when they teach. In the July 16 order, the department asked Muslim teachers teaching Arabic Language and Islamic Values Education classes to remove any face-covering veils in the classroom. The order sparked concern that the department was ignoring the teachers’ religious rights.
Muslims’ right to cover their faces has been a controversial issue in some countries. France, which banned the public use of full-face veils in 2011, has been struggling with riots in the last week over the enforcement of the law.
I personally wish this were not at the level of misunderstanding that it is. Head covering is mandated in the Quran; face covering is not. "There is no clear-cut authentic hadith to the effect of making the face veil obligatory." 

To ask a woman to remove her face covering does not infringe on her right to cover her head modestly. It is a matter of safety, of communication, of personality, even of individual worth. In short, I personally do not consider face covering to fall under the same category as head covering.

Comments are always welcome.

-----------------------

Apologies for not keeping up with ThoseHeadcoverings this summer. Keep in touch, send stories, comment or ask questions.