The Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC) has asked women to reject the niqab as it is not an Islamic requirement and its use will only result in the further economic disempowerment of women.In a statement on the issue that has triggered a controversy in Europe and across some Muslim countries, the Canadian group which is headed by Farzana Hasan, a Pakistani-Canadian, said the debate on the wearing of the face veil and the status of women in Muslim society is being waged primarily within Muslim society and is part of the battle for the heart and soul of Muslim communities worldwide. It quoted sociologist Mohammad A Qadeer as saying, “Concealment of the face is neither religiously necessary nor socially desirable.” He asked Muslim communities to “reappraise this custom, before a scare about terrorists or a bank hold-up raises a public uproar against the niqab.” Also quoted was Dr Yousuf al-Qaradawi of Qatar who said, “It is not obligatory for Muslim women to wear the niqab. The majority of Muslim scholars and I do not support the niqab in which women cover their faces.”
While acknowledging that women have the right to dress as they please, the MCC pointed out that the rights of the individual have to be balanced with the rights of society. It argued that wearing veils, whether as an expression of religious identity, or as a means of political defiance, is not in the best interest of Canada’s Muslim communities. Nor is it a requirement of the Islamic faith. The statement said, “Tying religiosity and piety to face coverings is a twentieth-century phenomenon created by the Wahabbis in Saudi Arabia. Today, due to Saudi Arabia’s oil wealth, and their funding of Islamic schools around the world - including Canada - they’re managing to impose their irrational cult on Muslims in the western world. The Wahabbis are operating in defiance of what Muslims have known, taught and believed for hundreds of years. They’re ignoring our Muslim heritage. They’re targeting young Muslim women. The Wahabbis want everyone to believe that women should accept a second-class status. And they want women to believe that this segregationist ideology is something they’ve chosen for themselves.”