A leading UK Muslim has stepped into the row over a Birmingham college’s decision to ban the wearing of the niqab – warning of prejudice against the faith.
Talat Ahmed, who chairs the Muslim Council of Britain’s social and family affairs committee, remains concerned despiteBirmingham Metropolitan College reversing its initial banning of the Islamic full-face veil.
Mrs Ahmed was worried by a separate landmark ruling by Judge Peter Murphy this week stopping a 22-year-old female defendant from taking to the witness stand unless she removed her niqab.
She said: “The recent events will once again generate controversy when, in fact, what we really need is sensible, non-hysterical conversation.
“The Minister Jeremy Browne calls for a national debate on the niqab, yet we have been debating this for over ten years now – if not more. And every time we discuss the niqab, it usually comes with a diet of bigoted commentary about our faith and the place of Islam in Britain.
“There are few people who wear the niqab, and they should be allowed to wear this veil if they freely decide to do so. All Islamic junctions make provision for necessity and exceptional circumstances.
“Nevertheless, this is a personal choice. In Britain, we cherish our right to freedom of religion. I would like to remind those who call for a ban to heed the warning of Minister Damian Green who said that introducing such a ban would be ‘un-British’.
“To do so would involve embarking on a slope where the freedom to wear religious attire of all faiths would be at risk.”
On the question of whether the niqab is an Islamic requirement, Mrs Ahmed said: “We recognise that there are different theological approaches to the niqab. Some consider this to be an essential part of their faith, while others do not.
“Even amongst those who do consider the niqab to be an ultimate expression of their faith, there are some who emphasise the need to be practical when there is an essential need to show one’s face – for example, for reasons of security.”