Burqa - another Trojan Horse into secularising Islam

President Sarkosy’s call for a ban on the burqa shows secular extremists have run out of patience with civic society advocates in their battle to secularise Islam. The Trojan Horse is the so-called ‘burqa’ - the way into secularlising Islam, its guidance, laws and edicts.

Secular extremists like Sarkozy argue that the burqa or, ‘the cage’ as described by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, is a stark symbol of subjugation and its growth in society is unstoppable unless it is banished. The many new civic society advocates cropping up across Muslim communities also abhor the burqa and what it apparently symbolises. However, they assert that the way to rid society of the burqa is to ‘empower’ Muslim women through so-called debate and discussion. Patronisingly implying the Muslim women will eventually see the ‘light’.

Despite the blatant contradiction, secular extremists have no qualms in advocating proscription to enforce individual freedom – much like spreading democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan by deploying tanks, missiles and helicopter gunships. While appearing more conciliatory towards Muslim attitudes and Islamic values, using the tactic of winning hearts and minds, the new civic society advocates suggest Muslim women will willing abandon the burqa in their journey to integration and then full assimilation due to the so-called superiority of secular liberal values.

The politics of the Trojan Horse tactics is that faced with the inflammatory voices from extremist ‘wolves’, Muslims will sheepishly fall into the laps of the apparently more agreeable civic society advocates. In reality both are deferent means to the same ends.

The reality is Muslim women are confidently adopting Islamic values whether through the hijab, jilbab or niqab in spite of door-to-door coverage of secular liberal values in western societies.

Many young Muslim women are wearing the Islamic dress even though their own beloved mothers did not always fully adorn it.

Muslim women wearing the Islamic dress fully participate in society as doctors; teachers; scientists; care workers; students etc despite being falsely portrayed as uneducated and indoctrinated child rearing machines.

Freeing Muslim women from subjection is the new mantra in western discourse against Islam. Muslim women do not need condescending lectures about how they are oppressed and they don’t know it. Muslim women are fully capable of deciding whether it is Islam or western values that cause women to be seen and exploited as mere sexual commodities for the pleasure of men.

Islam, its laws and guidance came to liberate ‘man’ from the oppression of ‘man’. Secular liberal values ensure man’s oppression on man whether the rich over the poor; the white over the black; or men over women. Islam liberates man (and woman) from the oppression of man to submission to the Creator – Who is neither man or women, or black or white.