Yasmin Alibhai-Brown asks (Opinion, 12 August), “who in a liberal society would dare challenge [the internal oppression of Muslim women]?” Some of the required challenge must be philosophical. As a Christian, I read “liberal” differently from mainstream politics, where it generally refers to globalisation etc. But the psalmist said that “God … bringeth out those which are bound with chains”, and St Paul affirmed “there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female”. Christians and Muslims have common cause since the Qur’an also acknowledges creation, and prominent in the text is the affirmation of equality: “So God created man[kind] in his own image … male and female created He them”. How dare men of any religion oppress women, pretending God’s approval? Don’t the Muslim scholars also agree?
Chris Jeynes
Guildford, Surrey
• Three cheers for Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. At last, someone in the Guardian has acknowledged that, as she says, “anti-discrimination measures need to go hand in hand with a reform of cultural, parental and religious practices and beliefs”. Unless and until the major Muslim organisations become much more active in encouraging their co-religionists to integrate (and be seen to integrate) as fully as possible into the general life of the community, there is little hope that things will improve for the average Muslim person in this country. Oh, and did you notice that, to judge by her photo, Yasmin doesn’t wear a hijab, in common with the likes of Baroness Warsi and Naz Shah MP. Whether we like it or not, a large part of the non-Muslim population in the UK does not see the hijab as a symbol of piety but rather as a sign of rejection of the cultural norms of the UK or, worse still, of subjection to male authoritarianism or the espousal of extremist opinions.
Roger Fisken
Bedale, North Yorkshire
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