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October 18, 2006

Italy: Romano Prodi Enters Muslim Veil Debate

Yesterday, the center-left prime minister of Italy was drawn into the debate on the wearing of the Muslim face veil or niqab/nikab. The debate had started in Britain on October 5, when former foreign secretary Jack Straw had written an article in a newspaper in his constituency of Blackburn. Here he said that he asked women wearing face-veils to remove them when they came for consultation. The debate spread, with several British politicians, including the chancellor and the prime minister, expressing views that the veil prevented integration. Tony Blair said he saw the veil as a "mark of segregation".

Romano Prodi was giving an interview to Reuters TV, when he was asked about Jack Straw's observations about the veil. Prodi responded: "You can't cover your face. If you have a veil, fine, but you must be seen. This is common sense I think, it is important for our society. It is not how you dress but if you are hidden or not."

He continued: "The problem is to have clear rules, so that if they behave, if they respect the law, if they are good citizens, they can become Italian citizens."

Prodi said of immigration that it was "a problem not just for right-wing voters, it is a problem for everybody...because for the first time a country that was a country of emigration is a country receiving a wave of immigrants."

He has angered the right by trying to halve the time it takes for immigrants who have settled in Italy to become citizens. Currently he is asking the EU for help to stem the tide of immigrants trying to enter Italy via North Africa.

He said; "The right-wing policy was to close their eyes and let immigrants come in, (but) be very restrictive in theory. My policy is let us guide immigration, guarantee immigrants their rights and try to be realistic about this flow of people."

His comments about immigration have been virtually ignored, but his comments about the veil have been picked up by varying news sources, and Muslims have already voiced strong reactions. The news is carried by Arab News, Toronto Star, Zaman News, while Muslim reactions to the statement have been reported by AKI. The reactions are interesting.

One reaction to Prodi's comments has come from an Islamist website, states AKI. The pro-al Qaeda site, named Islammemo accuses Prodi of having "joined a Western campaign against the niqab. This makes Western-Muslim relations more difficult."

A leading cleric in Lebanon, states AKI, has confirmed that the Koran does not advocate such an item of clothing, but said Muslim women should be allowed to wear it if it does not contravene a country's regulations. Shaykh Hasan Abdallah is a Shi'ite cleric, and president of the Shi'ite Ulema. He said: "Islam does not force women to cover their bodies completely, but only some parts...I agree with Prodi when he speaks of the need to integrate, but this musn't be confused with a complete surrender of one's personal and religious convictions. If a Muslim woman who has emigrated to Italy wants to wear the niqab and thus cover her face in conflict with the local law, then she is free to do so but has to leave that host country for one where she can wear the niqab."

Overall, states AKI Muslim leaders in Italy have not reacted with indignation and agreed with the premier. Mohammed Nur Dachan, head of the Union of Islamic Communities in Italy (UCOII) said he agreed with Prodi's comments. He said: "The niqab is against Italian law. We perfectly agree with the premier."

Yahya Pallavicini, deputy leader of the Islamic Religious Community (COREIS) said: "Prodi did well in clearly stating his views. The niqab has nothing to do with our socio-cultural context and does not correspond with the doctrine of Islam.'

In Italy, the face cannot be completely covered in public, on grounds of security. The ruling includes balaclavas and motorcycle helmets.

Abd al-Hamid Shaari is president of the Institute of Islamic culture in Milan, which has been subject to investigations into fundamentalism. He said that "a woman should be allowed to wear whatever she wants if it poses no obstacle to her identification."

AKI spoke to religious leaders in Indonesia. Lanny Octavia of the Liberal Islam Network said the issue of the nikab is constantly a subject of debate in Islam, but said: "To wear the veil is not one of the five pillars of Islam, it is not compulsory. f in Europe wearing the veil causes problems to the woman, if it makes life difficult for her, creates suspicion or social division, then it is better not to wear it."

Lily Zakiyah Munir, a Muslim scholar and human rights activist (who wears a hijab, or Muslim headscarf) said: "It seems to me that there is an attempt by political power to legislate on religious issues. On this matter [wearing the veil] there should be total freedom. After all, it is a woman's rights and it is part of the universal human rights. The veil is fine but I believe it is a bit extreme to cover the whole face but the eyes. This should be avoided in non-Muslims countries."

When asked about Aishah Azmi the teaching assistant from Dewsbury, who was suspended for not removing her veil, Munir said: "She could even scare the children."

According to AGI, the leader of one communist party in Italy said Prodi's comments did not acknowledge the complexity of integration. Gennaro Migliore, president of the deputies of the Rifondazione Comunista party said: "I am against the veil if it is an obligation, but I am against a laic (secular) State banning the use of it. A laic State, in fact, must protect individual freedom."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at October 18, 2006 8:12 PM

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