{"id":574,"date":"2011-04-11T15:00:29","date_gmt":"2011-04-11T19:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beliefbeat\/?p=574"},"modified":"2011-04-11T15:09:23","modified_gmt":"2011-04-11T19:09:23","slug":"frances-burqa-ban-begins-with-full-coverage-as-it-were","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beliefbeat\/2011\/04\/frances-burqa-ban-begins-with-full-coverage-as-it-were.html","title":{"rendered":"France’s Burqa Ban Begins, With Full Coverage (As It Were)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today marked the beginning of France’s controversial ban on the burqa — not to be confused with the niqab,\u00a0hijab or chador, as I’ve previously noted here <\/a>(and CNN reminds us<\/a>), but rather the clothing that completely hides a Muslim woman’s face.<\/p>\n

However, I’ve now seen reports that the ban DOES also extend to the niqab, which is the clothing that leaves a slit for\u00a0 the woman’s eyes, rather than a mesh screen. I’m a bit confused about this, because it’s still being called a “burqa ban.” Maybe it’s just a catchier phrase, or it’s a lost-in-translation thing from the French, or\u00a0the burqa is considered an umbrella term of sorts, like how a square is a rhombus, but a rhombus isn’t a square? Hmmm.<\/p>\n

In any case, there are only a few thousand women in France (out of more than5 million Muslims) estimated to wear the burqa or niqab. I’m still confused about whether this will extend to Saudi tourists at\u00a0 the airports and hotels? (Those are the only places I’ve seen much of the burqa\/niqab in western Europe.) Also, at least one Muslim\u00a0 cleric <\/a>has stated that Muslim women may forgo the burqa or niqab, if wearing\u00a0them goes against\u00a0a country’s law. Women who wear the burqa or niqab in public anyway will be fined, about $216.<\/p>\n

Here are some links:<\/p>\n