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December 5, 2005
US: Hair, Hysterics and Muslim Headscarves
The woman in this picture is Sultaana Freeman. All that is recognisably human under her hijab (headscarf) and nikab (veil) are her two eyes.
38-year old Mrs Freeman was in court on September 07 this year, over the issue of her driving license.She had been issued a license in 2001 by Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FDHSMV). Her photograph pictured her in hijab and nikab, and only her eyes visible.
The FDHSMV later revoked the license, and since that time Mrs Freeman, who refuses to be photographed with her face visible, has not been legally allowed to drive, as she pursues court cases to insist on her "right" to have no identity visible in an identity photograph.
Following the most recent ruling, made against her at the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona, Freeman has insisted that she will appeal again. If Ms Freeman was living in Saudi Arabia, the issue of her nikab would not be a problem - she would not be permitted, as a woman, to drive legally anywhere in the country on a public road.
Today, New Jersey Star Ledger reports that further north, there are similar demands now being made in the state of New Jersey.
New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission (NJMVC) is not having to deal with anyone as strident or obstinate as Mrs Freeman, as none of their problem photo-suppliers are attempting to wear face covering veils in their driving license ID.
What is causing the problem here is hair, and having any of it visible. It caused one woman, Sarah Elfayoumi, to end up in tears. Each time she tried to be photographed, still wearing her hijab, she was told to pull it back a bit further. Eventually a manager was called, Sarah was told to expose a bit more of her hairline, and she fled to the bathroom to have a crying fit. She returned puffy-eyed and did allow a photo of herself with much of her hair visible.
"Not only was this an offense to my religion, but I was also stripped of my dignity," she said.
Sharon Harrington of the NJMVC said that the problem was rarely encountered, but it happened more frequently in northern New Jersey, where there was a larger Muslim population.
"We do require your face be obvious, but for religious or medical reasons, we will allow a person to wear a head covering," she said.
The issue of hijab wearing is always controversial, and often its re-emergence in the West seems to be a mark of politicising of attitude, that it is a "right" to wear the headscarf.
The protestations of a young woman, weeping because she had a small amount of hair showing, strike me as self-indulgent faux modesty more befitting from a heroine from a Victorian novel by Mrs Gaskell.
Keywords: Nikab, burqa, burka, hidjab, hijab
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at December 5, 2005 8:36 AM
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