I am a Muslim woman from India and find the perspectives Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s piece (Opinion, 21 March) very relevant to my identity, highlighting pertinent issues related to the veil. She rightly points to the lack of clarity as to what exactly the veil is in terms of a face-covering or a chador, and its not being an injunction in the Qur’an. Her article should be an eye opener to Muslim girls/women around the world as to the impressions and implications of the veil and how it alienates Muslim women from the mainstream in a globalised, progressive world. More and more Muslim women need to voice their concern about the increasing misuse of Islam for violence and repression, and for curbing a woman’s right to identity, healthcare and education.
Professor Sami Rafiq
Aligarh Muslim University, India
• Yasmin Alibhai-Brown does not mention men. Women’s choices to wear or not wear the veil have no meaning except in the context of male power and men’s use of women. That little girls are being turned into sexual beings is an unwelcome, but not surprising element. More to the point is the hatred and contempt for women as adult sexual beings driving these developments. Alibhai-Brown hints at the misogyny, but seems unwilling to name it.
Professor Norma Clarke
London
• Yasmin Alibhai-Brown shows the differences of opinion among Muslims on the wearing of veils. As an unbeliever I find it incredible that followers of religious faiths adopt rules and regulations regarding what they wear, eat and where and how they pray etc. Why on earth do they think that an all-powerful, omniscient creator would be even vaguely interested in such mundane human-inspired ideas?
Mabel Taylor
Knutsford, Cheshire
