RLST311: Islamic Groups and the Canadian Government on the Veil Ban

The government of Canada is now enforcing a new ban on wearing face coverings while swearing citizenship oaths. These would ban the burka and niqab that are worn by Islamic women. This has angered Islamic groups, in particular S. Siddiqui, a lady that is the president and executive director of the Islamic Social Services Association Inc. in Winnipeg. She argues that the ruling affects religious rights and does not stand up to Canada’s proclaimed tolerance and diversity. Federal Immigration Minister J. Kenney disagrees, saying that the face covering “reflects a certain view about women that we don’t accept in Canada”. In this way he wants women to be equal members of society. The government sees this as a cultural issue, not as much as a religious one. This necessity of covering the face is very cultural, but seems to come from Islamic scriptures which say that women need to cover up skin in the presence of non-family members. There has been an attempt of resolve in this issue—it seems that even the women who choose not to remove their face-covering can gain permanent residency, but not citizenship. This would mean that they cannot vote or run for office. This issue has impacted Islamic groups in Canada, not only in a religious sense, but also their cultural beliefs. Read about it here:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2011/12/12/mb-kenny-veil-citizenship-reax.html