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I am not terribly happy to have to say it, but Harper is on the wrong side of the niqab issue.
I like his idea of revoking citizenship for terrorism. That seems to me not so much a matter of introducing two classes of citizenship, as of terra-forming the playing field. We already have two classes of citizen: those who hold two passports, and those whose commitment is solely to Canada. People have chosen this status themselves. Let them live with its logical consequences.
But on the niqab, I cannot follow him.
I understand why Canadians, and especially Quebecers, feel strongly. To wear such foreign dress at a citizenship ceremony looks like a deliberate declaration of no intent to assimilate. This concern is stronger in Quebec, because Quebec has a stronger sense of self than English Canada. There is a mainstream Canadian culture, we ought to be proud of it, and we ought to preserve and promote it.
But the niqab really is a matter of conscience for some Muslim women. Granted, Al-Azhar University, the closest thing to a Vatican in Sunni Islam, has actually banned it. Granted, the tradition of wearing the niqab predates Islam. Granted, there is no clear mention of it in the Qu’ran. But according to Wikipedia’s summary, of four established schools of Sunni Muslim jurisprudence, two officially consider the practice obligatory.
So it is entirely reasonable for a Muslim woman to consider the practice a matter of conscience. Unless there is some overriding public interest, the basic human right to freedom of religion rules.
Granted, we might choose to prohibit Muslims from immigrating in the first place. There is no basic human right to be Canadian. But is that a step we want to take? And what difference would it make? We would still have to grant similar concessions to Canadian Muslims.
If, as some argue, it is an issue of women’s rights, then the feminist demand ought to be that women have the widest possible latitude in how she chooses to dress at a citizenship ceremony. The idea that Muslim women are “forced” to wear the niqab, in Canada, is obviously untrue, and obviously patronizing.
But on the niqab, I cannot follow him.
I understand why Canadians, and especially Quebecers, feel strongly. To wear such foreign dress at a citizenship ceremony looks like a deliberate declaration of no intent to assimilate. This concern is stronger in Quebec, because Quebec has a stronger sense of self than English Canada. There is a mainstream Canadian culture, we ought to be proud of it, and we ought to preserve and promote it.
But the niqab really is a matter of conscience for some Muslim women. Granted, Al-Azhar University, the closest thing to a Vatican in Sunni Islam, has actually banned it. Granted, the tradition of wearing the niqab predates Islam. Granted, there is no clear mention of it in the Qu’ran. But according to Wikipedia’s summary, of four established schools of Sunni Muslim jurisprudence, two officially consider the practice obligatory.
So it is entirely reasonable for a Muslim woman to consider the practice a matter of conscience. Unless there is some overriding public interest, the basic human right to freedom of religion rules.
Granted, we might choose to prohibit Muslims from immigrating in the first place. There is no basic human right to be Canadian. But is that a step we want to take? And what difference would it make? We would still have to grant similar concessions to Canadian Muslims.
If, as some argue, it is an issue of women’s rights, then the feminist demand ought to be that women have the widest possible latitude in how she chooses to dress at a citizenship ceremony. The idea that Muslim women are “forced” to wear the niqab, in Canada, is obviously untrue, and obviously patronizing.
Bottom line: xenophobia. Let her cover her face.
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