Re: Turkey poised to lift hijab ban
Seriously; pay a visit to Karachi University/ NED (Engineering) / Dawood (Medical).... go and see how many sisters do observe the niqaab, Alhumdulillah. You may be pleasantly surprised :)
Behn jee, I am well acquainted with professional schools in Pakistan. Now lets do some rough stats. I can take out all the women in professional schools in Pakistan and count how many of them wear a niqaab (minority, by the way, NOT a majority, not counting hijabs - which I don't think are backwards necessarily).
Now take all the women in Pakistan who wear niqaab and count how many of THEM are in professional school?
The problem isn't the garb. The problem is when a cleric comes out and says "look this is a woman in a niqaab. She doesn't work, sits at home, tends to her husband and children, and stays quiet in the affairs of politics and the public. She is a good believer and will go to heaven."
Do I disagree she's going to heaven? Not my position, I don't play God like some of you.
Do I think that this sort of preaching is safe? Absolutely not. Because the cleric, very intelligently, has now tied the niqaab with that of a image of a quieted woman. Which is exactly the OPPOSITE the world needs right now. The world needs active women!
So, that's why I don't think lifting this ban on hijaabs is bad at all. But if it leads to that sort of preaching, as you see quite often in places like Pakistan (and don't even start with me, I've seen it myself), then yes, it becomes VERY DESTRUCTIVE. The fear of which led to the ban in the first place.