The Qur’an does not require women to cover their faces (chapter 24, verse 31 and chapter 33, verse 59). The burka is not an Islamic religious garment.[1] It is not a harmless cultural symbol. It is a Bedouin hangover[2] that is being used by hardline Islamists to subjugate women – to hide women from public gaze,[3] to erase their public identity and make them faceless in our community. It has nothing to do with freedom of religion.[4] The burka should be banned.

Note on Penalties

An appropriate penalty is a fine. There is no need to force someone to disrobe.

Sources

[1] “Left proves they’re big bunch of burqas” by Piers Akerman, The Sunday Telegraph, 20 August 2017, https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/piers-akerman-left-proves-theyre-big-bunch-of-burqas/news-story/02ba9e361b71cf0eb2408b8e246a2b74

[2] “ABC and the Inconvenient Muslim” by Andrew Bolt, Herald Sun, 21 August 2017, https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/blogs/andrew-bolt/abc-and-the-inconvenient-muslim/news-story/3fbcc82191c24dc9ae5c6419471360f9

[3] John Roskam, email to members of the Institute of Public Affairs, 18 August 2017

[4] “It’s time we grew up and banned the burqa” by Peta Credlin, The Sunday Telegraph, 27 August 2017, https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/rendezview/the-burqa-is-about-control-and-subjugation-of-women-not-religion/news-story/84747fc6356568b277c65942ace9f45d

Copyright 2020 All Shallows Are Clear
Policy Statement – The Burka is provided under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.