2006年VOA标准英语-Debate Grows Over Muslim Women Wearing Veils

By Deborah Block
Washington, DC
14 November 2006
 
watch Muslim Veil Controversy¹

The controversy over Muslim women wearing veils or headscarves is increasing in some parts of the world.   Recently, Jack² Straw, a prominent member of Britain's parliament, ignited a debate in his country when he said that Muslim women who visit his office should remove their veils.  He said it would improve communication, and called the veil a visible statement of separation. The issue of veils, and sometimes the Muslim headscarf, is also heating up in other places, including the United States. 

 
This Muslim teaching assistant ignited a debate on the rights of individuals and organizations

In England, a Muslim teaching assistant was suspended in October after she refused to remove her veil, called a niqab, during school lessons.  She filed a lawsuit³ against the school.  The court dismissed her claims of religious discrimination and harassment⁴ but she won a victimization suit against her school.  Her case became part of a debate over the religious identity of British Muslims. 

Reacting to the case, British Prime Minister Tony Blair called the veil a mark of separation that prevents Muslim women from fully⁵ integrating into society.  More than one-and-one-half-million Muslims live in Britain.

France has the largest Muslim population in Europe.  Four-and-one-half-million Muslims live there.  In France, veils are banned in schools along with other religious clothing and articles.

In Tunisia, a Muslim country, women are prohibited from wearing the Muslim headscarf, or hijab, in public.  Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ali says the hijab came to his country as an uninvited sectarian form of dress.

That ban on the hijab sparked a recent Muslim protest at Tunisia's embassy in Washington.  A group of American Muslims called the prohibition⁶ a violation⁷ of Islamic women's rights.

 
Women demonstrating at the Tunesian embassy in Washington
"Regardless of what soil we stand on, we feel the injustice⁸ of the Tunisian women," said one protestor.

Asma Hanif is head of the Coordinating⁹ Council of Muslim Organizations in the Washington, DC area.

"By Tunisia being a Muslim country, that it seems illogical and irrational¹⁰, first of all, for something like that to even occur, as well as even to know why they would do it,” she said.  “The other thing is, that just in general, no country has the right to take away someone's civil rights or their religious rights."

In the United States, the veil issue has also been addressed in courtrooms.  One case took place in October in the midwestern city of Detroit, Michigan, which has one of the country's largest Muslim populations. 

 
Ginnah Muhammad
Muslim businesswoman Ginnnah Muhammad went before a judge to contest a bill from a car rental¹¹ company.  The judge dismissed her case when she would not remove her veil.

"When the judge asked me to take my veil off in court, I felt inhuman," she said. But Judge Paul Parah said he needed to see her face to judge her truthfulness¹². "I have to balance that.  These are very delicate issues."

In the southern state of Florida, several women were told they could not wear a veil for their driver's license¹³ photo. 

Khadija Athman, from Kenya, works on Muslim civil rights issues for The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, a Muslim civil rights group. "I think in terms of drivers licenses¹⁴ and passport photographs it's reasonable to ask a person to have their face shown because it's a form of identification,” she said. “There is no other way you can identify this person as this is the person who is in this picture in the first place." 

Ibrahim Hooper, Communications Director for CAIR, says the Muslim holy book, the Quran, indicates women should dress modestly.  He says many Islamic scholars say women should cover their heads.  He also says they have the right to wear a veil.

"The vast majority of Muslim scholars, both past and present, have determined¹⁵ that the requirements for a Muslim's women's attire¹⁶ is to cover everything except the face and the hands.  We're against any restrictions¹⁷ on religious attire, or any time that the state would try to impose a particular form of dress."

But some Muslim women, like author Asra Nomani, say the veil is a sign of oppression, making women faceless and powerless.  She has written about her experiences being a Muslim woman in the U.S. and says she has been harassed¹⁸ by people at the mosque¹⁹ she attends for not wearing a headscarf.

"To me, the veil is a very, very frightening expression of control of women."

But Ginnnah Muhammad says, for her, wearing the veil is liberating²⁰. "This is my choice.  I'm free.  I'm happy."

Ibrahim Hooper says what a Muslim woman wears should be her choice. "No one should be forced into any particular attire.  But if somebody chooses not to wear what is commonly regarded as Islamic attire, that's their choice, and they shouldn't be attacked or abused because of that."

The controversy over Muslim women's dress is not likely to end any time soon as the Muslim population continues to grow in the U.S., Britain and France and several other western countries.

1 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

4 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

7 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

8 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

9 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

10 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。

11 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

12 truthfulness   

n. 符合实际

参考例句：

• Among her many virtues are loyalty, courage, and truthfulness. 她有许多的美德，如忠诚、勇敢和诚实。
• I fired a hundred questions concerning the truthfulness of his statement. 我对他发言的真实性提出一连串质问。

13 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

14 licenses   

n.执照( license的名词复数 )v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Drivers have ten days' grace to renew their licenses. 驾驶员更换执照有10天的宽限期。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Jewish firms couldn't get import or export licenses or raw materials. 犹太人的企业得不到进出口许可证或原料。 来自辞典例句

15 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

16 attire   

v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装

参考例句：

• He had no intention of changing his mode of attire.他无意改变着装方式。
• Her attention was attracted by his peculiar attire.他那奇特的服装引起了她的注意。

17 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

18 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

19 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

20 liberating   

解放，释放( liberate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Revolution means liberating the productive forces. 革命就是为了解放生产力。
• They had already taken on their shoulders the burden of reforming society and liberating mankind. 甚至在这些集会聚谈中，他们就已经夸大地把改革社会、解放人群的责任放在自己的肩头了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）