To the teacher
As the BBC reports:
“Countries across Europe have wrestled with the issue of the Muslim veil - in various forms such as the body-covering burka and the niqab, which covers the face apart from the eyes. The debate takes in religious freedom, female equality, secular traditions, and even fears of terrorism.
The veil issue is part of a wider debate about multiculturalism in Europe, as many politicians argue that there needs to be a greater effort to assimilate ethnic and religious minorities."
In the U.S., we have our own debates about Muslim “assimilation,” which encompasses similar ideas around religious freedom, female equality, secular traditions and fears of terrorism.
In this lesson, students learn about efforts by European nations to ban Muslim face coverings, discuss the impact of these laws, then hear and reflect on the voices of Muslim women speaking about this issue.
Opening
Invite students to look at the cartoon below.
Have students reflect on and discuss the cartoon, using some or all of the following questions:
- What do you see in this cartoon? Ask students first to only describe what they see. (No interpretation just yet.)
- How are these women dressed differently?
- How are the two women’s thoughts different? How are they the same? What might be the reason for this?
- What point is the cartoon trying to make?
- What are your thoughts and feelings about this? What stories in the news is the cartoon connected to, in the US, in Europe, elsewhere in the world?
European Legislation to Ban the Muslim Veil
According to Modern Diplomacy:
“In these troubled times, when countries have been mandatorily imposing face masks to contain the Covid -19 pandemic, even in airports where security is of primary concern, it is rather intriguing to see … [mostly European] nations … come up with proposals for a nationwide face cover ban.
Recently, Switzerland joined its European counterparts in a decision to impose a countrywide ban on face coverings in public, after 51.2% of its citizens voted in favor of the ban through a referendum. Previously France, Austria, Denmark, Belgium, Italy, among others, have initiated and implemented nationwide or local bans on full face or body covering and, in some cases, both. ….
The debates surrounding the veil ban are often doused in controversy. What begins as a concern towards national security, has undertones of anxiety over migrant integration, [a] country’s perception of secularism, and women’s equality and freedom. ….
Most Muslim women who have voiced their opinions on this matter, have raised concerns over how taking away Muslim woman’s choice to wear a face veil can be about equality. What lawmakers often forget is that even if the veil is forced upon these women, imposing a penalty of any kind will only alienate these women and keep them further away from society.
The European refugee crisis also is at the helm of this discourse. The refugees are said to bring along with them traditionalism and fundamentalism that threaten the secular fabric of these nations. The officials have started adopting stringent migrant policies and are undertaking measures to integrate the migrant population into their predominantly culturally homogenous population.”
Ask students to discuss some or all of the following:
- What are your thoughts and feelings about the fact that on the one hand people in Europe are expected to wear face masks and on the other hand Muslim women in Europe are being banned from wearing face covers?
- What are the reasons cited for imposing face masks these days? What about the reasons for banning Muslim face coverings?
- What is similar about the coverings? What is different?
- What have Muslim women themselves said about the issue?
French Law Banning Muslim Women to Cover Their Hair in Public
According to the NY Times:
“Malek Layouni was not thinking about her Muslim faith, or her head scarf, as she took her excited 9-year-old son to an amusement site near Paris. But, as it turned out, it was all that mattered.
Local officials blocked her path to the inflatable toys on a temporary beach, pointing at regulations that prohibit dogs, drunks and symbols of religion. And that meant barring women who wear head scarves.
Mrs. Layouni still blushes with humiliation at being turned away in front of friends and neighbors, and at having no answer for her son, who kept asking her, “What did we do wrong?”
More than 10 years after France passed its first anti-veil law restricting young girls from wearing veils in public schools, the head coverings of observant Muslim women, from colorful silk scarves to black chadors have become one of the most potent flash points in the nation’s tense relations with its vibrant and growing Muslim population.
Mainstream politicians continue to push for new measures to deny veiled women access to jobs, educational institutions, and community life. They often say they are doing so for the benefit of public order or in the name of laïcité, the French term for the separation of church and state.”
Note: A chador is a large piece of cloth that is wrapped around the head and upper body leaving only the face exposed, worn especially by Muslim women
Ask students to discuss some or all of the following:
- How did Malek Layouni feel being turned away from the inflatable toys in the amusement park?
- How do you think her son might have felt?
- What are your thoughts and feelings about the sign officials pointed to, as they barred Malek from the amusement park?
- What do politicians claim is the reason for banning of headscarves from public life?
French Secularism and Muslim Discrimination
As the New York Times continues:
“Critics say these efforts, rather than promoting a sense of secular inclusion, have encouraged rampant discrimination against Muslims in general and veiled women in particular. The result has been to fuel a sense among many Muslims that France — which celebrates Christian holidays in public schools — is engaging in a form of state racism.
The ban, some critics argue, also plays into the hands of Islamists*, who are eager to drive a deeper wedge between Muslims and non-Muslims in the West.
So far, France has passed two laws, one in 2004 banning veils in public elementary and secondary schools, and another, enacted in 2011, banning full face veils, which are worn by only a tiny portion of the population. [Since then burkini swimwear designed for Muslim women have been banned in several seaside towns, and most recently the French Senate has voted to ban the hijab for anyone under 18-years old in public space.]
But observant Muslim women in France, whose head coverings can vary from head scarves tied loosely under the chin to tightly fitted caps and wimple-like scarves that hide every strand of hair, say the constant talk of new laws has made them targets of abuse, from being spat at to having their veils pulled or being pushed when they walk on the streets.
In some towns, mothers wearing head scarves have been prevented from picking up their children from school or from chaperoning class outings. One major discount store has been accused of routinely searching veiled customers.
Some women have even been violently attacked. In Toulouse recently, a pregnant mother wearing a head scarf had to be hospitalized after being beaten on the street by a young man who called her a “dirty Muslim.”
Statistics collected by the National Observatory Against Islamophobia, a watchdog group, show that in the last two years 80 percent of the anti-Muslim acts involving violence and assault were directed at women, most of them veiled.”
Note: Islamism is less about religion than a political ideology that strives to derive legitimacy from Islam. For the purposes of this article, Islamists are referred to as advocates and supporters of Islamic militancy or fundamentalism.
Ask students to discuss some or all of the following:
- The French laws banning head coverings supposedly promotes a sense of secular inclusion. What is the actual result of the laws banning head coverings in France?
- How do you think that supports Muslim women in feeling like they belong in France?
- How do you think the ban plays into the hands of Islamists who may be eager to drive a deeper wedge between Muslims and non-Muslims in the West?
- What are your thoughts and feelings about the bans?
French Culture Wars
Critics say that laws restricting Muslim coverings are not about promoting “secularism.” They note that in France, Catholic nuns are still free to wear their body-covering habits, even as Muslim women are harassed for wearing their religious garb.
Instead, these critics argue, the bans reflect Europe’s long history of colonialism and racism. In an opinion in the Washington Post entitled France’s ban on the veil looks far more sinister in historical context: Framing restrictions as liberating long justified colonial violence, Catherine Phipps writes:
France has one of the largest Muslim populations in Europe, estimated at 6 million. The latest extension of these rules on what French Muslim women can wear is part of a new bill challenging what the French government calls “Islamist separatism.” This is part of the culture war raging in France around “Islamo-leftism,” a French version of arguments about “wokeness” and “cancel culture” in the United States and Britain.
These efforts to “liberate” Muslim women reiterate attitudes about women’s bodies and religious symbols that are rooted in the history of French imperialism. They echo French justifications for imperialism abroad, which was framed as a “civilizing mission” that masked widespread colonial violence. Such attitudes are rooted in centuries of beliefs of racial superiority and a need to “protect” Muslim women. By recognizing this historical tie, we can see how the overt violence inherent in imperialism is still influencing the daily lives of many Muslim women in France today….
France has only recently begun to recognize its colonial history of systematic torture and violence against civilians, and there is another kind of violence in how it treats Muslim women. Macron may have stated that he hopes to “look this history in the face,” but addressing how France’s colonial history has shaped its attitudes toward Muslim women is a fundamental part of reckoning with its enduring colonial legacy. Until that happens, the symbols and attitudes of the colonial period will continue to shape the lives of Muslim women in France.
Ask students to discuss some or all of the following:
- What do critics of laws restricting Muslim coverings say about double standards in France?
- What does Catherine Phipps say in her opinion piece about the motivation behind the bans in France?
- How does she look at the idea of “liberating” Muslim women, in a historical context?
- What does she say about Macron’s hopes to “look history in the face” and what the fall out will be for Muslim women in France, until that happens.
Muslim Women’s Voices in France
Create 9 small groups, or 18 pairs, depending on the size of your class.
Have each group, or pair, pick the words of one of the nine French Muslim women below: Imane, Leyla, Hawa, Hanane, Wafa, Yasmina, Farah, Jameelah, or Bushra.
Each of these women raises concerns about banning of Muslim coverings.
Next, ask students to discuss in their groups, or pairs, what the women say about the Muslim coverings. Their quotes are at the bottom of this lesson and in this pdf.
Invite students to use some or all of the questions below each segment to guide their discussion.
After these small group or paired discussions, bring students back to the large group. Discuss with the whole group:
- What is happening in France? Why?
- How is it impacting some of the Muslim women you read about?
- How is it making them feel? What is the result?
- What are your thoughts and feelings about this?
- What if any connections can we make to what is happening in the U.S.?
Sources of Quotes:
- Vice: French Muslim Women Speak Out on the Horrifying Upcoming Presidential Elections
- Open Society Foundation publication Unveiling the Truth: Why 32 Muslim Women Wear the Full-face Veil in France
- The Other Side of the Veil: North African Women in France Respond to the Headscarf Affair
Closing
In the context of today’s lesson, invite students to reflect on the following quote.
“Inclusion is not bringing people into what already exists; it is making a new space, a better space for everyone.”
- George Dei
Then ask each student to share: What is one thing you take away from today’s lesson?
Muslim Women’s Voices in France
Imane, 25, Paris:
“Seeing naked women in adverts, dancing suggestively in music videos or being considered as sexual objects is another form of submission. The hijab is a way to liberate myself from all this. I want people to be interested in my ideas first rather than my physique. As a Muslim feminist, I fight for the right of all women. If a woman wants to go out topless and wearing a miniskirt, it's not my problem; she can do what she wants to. There are some women who want to wear the hijab here, and there are other countries where women fight not to wear it. Each country has a different history. I unfortunately know some girls who feel forced to wear the hijab, but it remains a minority—two or three people out of dozens of women who don't feel pressured. Islam is a part of France today. French Muslims have to stop being presented as some foreign thing. If we are less discriminated and marginalized, things will get better.”
Note: The hijab is a headscarf covering the hair that is worn by some Muslim women.
Discuss some or all of the following questions and prompts:
- What are your thoughts and feelings about what Imane is saying?
- What does she say about what the hijab (Muslim head scarf) means to her?
- As a Muslim woman, how else does she identify?
- What does she say about how French Muslims are being presented?
- How does she say they are treated?
Leyla, 27, Bordeaux:
“The previous generation didn't wear the hijab as much as our generation does. Our mothers and grandmothers just wanted to integrate into French society. The fact that the hijab has been under so much scrutiny—called wrong and oppressive for women—made us wonder what was the problem. So many of us started to look into the meaning of the hijab as a result of this ongoing controversy. We came back to our religion and culture, to our religious texts and started to wear it. We Muslim feminists find solace in reaffirming our religious identity. …. The French assimilationist model doesn't acknowledge the plurality of our identities.”
Note: The hijab is a headscarf covering the hair that is worn by some Muslim women.
Discuss some or all of the following questions and prompts:
- What are your thoughts and feelings about what Leyla is saying?
- What does she say about the previous generations in relation to the hijab?
- According to Leyla, what was the reason for younger Muslim women in France to “start looking into the meaning of the hijab?”
- What was the result?
- As a Muslim woman, how else does she identify?
- What does she say about the French assimilationist model? How do you think Leyla feels about that?
Hawa, 25, Seine-et-Marne:
“I chose to wear the hijab when I was 20, it was a spiritual quest. The aim of the hijab* is to symbolize the relationship between God and I, and to go further in this relationship, I started to wear the hijab. Whether people accept it or not, I will continue to wear it. People tell us that the hijab is a tool of patriarchal oppression. This argument is so tiring. Women should be able to use their bodies in the way they want to, to dress the way they like, without being judged or stigmatized. I recently changed my mind about voting, I hesitated a lot as many [political] candidates don't represent us and make us feel like second-class citizens, but I will vote … as I don't want the situation for the most vulnerable people in France to get worse.”
Note: The hijab is a headscarf covering the hair that is worn by some Muslim women.
Discuss some or all of the following questions and prompts:
- What are your thoughts and feelings about what Hawa is saying?
- What does she say about what the hijab (Muslim head scarf) means to her?
- What does she say about the hijab being considered a tool of oppression?
- What is her take on women’s bodies and what women wear and should be allowed to wear?
- What does she say about the political candidates in France?
- Who might Hawa be referring to when she mentions “the most vulnerable people in France?”
Hanane, 37, Strasbourg:
“Last January I was at the Senate in Paris. I found myself in front of heinous feminist groups. I was booed when I said that women who wear the hijab are women. I stayed dignified, and held until [I got back to] Strasbourg to burst into tears. I felt very lonely, and hated to be a feminist that day. What gives me hope is witnessing the dynamism of young Muslim women who feel strong enough to build local solidarities with other minority groups, [like] gay groups. This would have been unthinkable ten to 15 years ago. The current rise of Islamophobia is very dangerous. …. Terrorism is disrupting our willingness to rethink society as something inclusive. I am not saying that there aren't groups that menace democracy, but conflating everyday Muslims who have an individual and apolitical religious practice with terrorists is sort of a Muslim hunt. Politicians have no desire to understand us. At what point will they be able to think France as non-white, as a diverse country? In France it's bad to speak about race, but it is a social reality. In this country Islam has become synonymous with race, or Arab identity.
Note: The hijab is a headscarf covering the hair that is worn by some Muslim women.
Discuss some or all of the following questions and prompts:
- What are your thoughts and feelings about what Hanane is saying?
- What was her experience in the Senate in France talking to feminist groups? How did that make her feel?
- What gives Hanane hope?
- What does she say about the current rise in Islamophobia? How has Hanane been impacted by it?
- What, according to Hanane is happening in France, as a result of terrorism?
- What does she say about conflating everyday Muslims with terrorists?
- How does she describe France? How do the politicians think about France?
- What does she say about race and racism in France?
Wafa, 23, Paris:
“I work with tolerant colleagues who value my work. They don’t stop at the cloth I’m wearing; on the contrary it has disappeared. They have learnt to discover me. It’s not a hindrance communicating with people. Even when the controversy really started [around banning of the various Muslim head and face coverings in France], their reaction surprised me. They were saying it was nonsense! In fact, they had a concrete example [before their eyes] and beyond the cloth they learnt to see the person, to see that there was no difference. I had abilities like them. I could express myself well. I was not somebody who was reclusive, submissive, who could not laugh or think for herself.”
Discuss some or all of the following questions and prompts:
- What are your thoughts and feelings about what Wafa is saying?
- How does she describe her colleagues?
- What does she say about the “cloth she is wearing?”
- How did her colleagues deal with the controversy?
- Why do you think Wafa describes herself as “not being reclusive, submissive,” someone “who could not laugh or think for herself?”
Yasmina, 31, Paris:
“At first my parents didn’t react badly because they thought that this [wearing a covering] would perhaps be short-lived. I think that’s what they were hoping for. They were telling themselves that I was in the midst of self-discovery, following fashions, and that it would not last. But the years have passed. It’s not that my mother doesn’t accept it, [but] she hates going out with me in the streets. It’s not me who disturbs her but it’s people’s glares, because my mother is someone who can’t keep it to herself. In other words, if she sees a person who is verbally abusing me or who makes a comment, she is going to respond. Nowadays she is even more worried. She tells herself that, ‘I’m alone with my daughter’ [and] that I should take it off, that I’m going to be assaulted and that it’s dangerous.”
Discuss some or all of the following questions and prompts:
- What are your thoughts and feelings about what Yasmina is saying?
- How did Yasmina’s parents respond when she first started covering herself?
- How does her mother feel about it now? Why?
- How do people treat Yasmina when she’s out in the street?
- How does Yasmina’s mother respond to people in the street?
- How does she respond to Yasmina herself? Why?
Farah, 19, Paris:
“[I was] summoned [by the school authorities who] asked if I had been forced to wear it [a long dress], given that previously I was supposedly the trendiest girl in the school. Each time, there were several teachers who came to ask me why I was wearing this, that it was strange. I could see that they were giving me dirty looks and pointing their fingers at me. I was respecting [the law] but the problem was that they were never happy, and each time they were going further and further. They were telling me I was dressing like an Arab. One could clearly see that there was hate in them, that they were really unhappy. After a while I left. I gave up. I could no longer stay. It’s impossible to bear constant criticism.”
Discuss some or all of the following questions and prompts:
- What are your thoughts and feelings about what Farah is saying?
- How did the school authorities respond to Farah covering herself more fully?
- How did the teachers respond?
- How did that impact Farah? How did she respond?
Jameelah, 21, Paris:
“For a start, al hamdullilah [praise be to God], my family is practicing [Islam]. But at the beginning I was just like any other youth; I didn’t pray—it was all about music. I used to enjoy having fun. One day, I sat down and I started reflecting. When I looked at all the things around me, many deaths, many youngsters who had died, and many things like that, it made me think. I told myself I wasn’t happy. I was happy [in the sense that] I had food to eat. I had everything I needed, but that wasn’t enough. Then, I started questioning myself. And one morning I awoke, I put on my headscarf and I went out. I was with a friend at secondary school. We had started talking more and more about religion. [Initially] we didn’t wear the headscarf, we didn’t pray, but we were reading a lot, we were researching a lot, and actually we [both started wearing it] at almost the same time in fact.”
Discuss some or all of the following questions and prompts:
- What are your thoughts and feelings about what Jameelah is saying?
- What does Jameelah say about her family?
- How does she describe herself when she was younger?
- What caused her to “start reflecting” and “questioning herself?”
- How do you think that resulted in her putting on the headscarf?
- What do you think the impact was of talking with her friend about religion?
- What do you think the impact was of her friend also wearing the headscarf?
Bushra, 24, Paris:
“It was the niqab controversy that put a flea in my ear. Once again, they tried to make it appear negative, through their own mouths, the mouths of disbelievers. I asked myself why? It’s already unfair in relation to my community and my religion. And then I tried to understand what it represented, where it was really coming from. Then I read the Quran and I bought books. And afterwards I told myself, I’m a Muslim, and if I’m a Muslim and one attacks a part of my religion, then as a Muslim I must be part of the struggle. I’m not killing anyone. The minimum that I can do as a Muslim woman is to wear the niqab, given that they are attacking this little bit of my religion. I looked at myself and said: “What? You claim you are a Muslim. I wear jeans. I wear my hair loose. In fact, I’m like them!” No, I have no right. If I want to be a Muslim I must fight for my sisters, for my brothers, for my ummah [community]. That’s how I saw it.”
Note: A Niqab is a covering that covers the body, head and face worn by some Muslim women.
Discuss some or all of the following questions and prompts:
- What are your thoughts and feelings about what Bushra is saying?
- What does Bushra say got her interested in the niqab?
- What does she say about disbelievers?
- How did Bushra come to wear the niqab?
- What does she say about it being part of the struggle?
- Who is she struggling for? Why?