Argumentative Piece: Should we ban the Burqa?

Should we ban the Burqa in Britain?

I and many other believe that the Burqa should be banned in England for multiple reasons. Even though London is a multicultural society, England is still a Christian country and the problems that the Burqa brings from these Islamic countries is too great for us to ignore.

“The Burqa is a loose, usually black or light blue robe that is worn by Muslim women, especially in Afghanistan. It covers the body from head to toe”. This is a definition from Wikipedia. It is part of the Islamic religion. The Quran has no rules saying that women should cover their faces with a veil, or the rest of the body with the full-body Burqa. Lots of  Muslims believe that the practice of the life of the prophet Muhammad, require both men and women to dress and behave respectably in public areas. However, this requirement has been interpreted in many different ways(which happens in lots of religions)  by Islamic scholars and Muslim communities. Many interpretations say that a veil is not even compulsory, and that it is not compulsory in front of blind men, asexual men, or homosexual men.

Personally I believe that the Burqa is one of the main reasons that woman are still not properly seen as equal to men. I believe this because the woman hide their faces and bodies so that men will not be attracted to them or tempted in any way. This shows that they do not trust their woman to be faithful to their partners (if they have one). Also why should the woman have to wear this piece of clothing and see the world out of a letterbox slit so the men are not tempted? It is down to the man, not the woman. In this day and age woman are supposed to be equal to men and everyone has ‘human rights’ . One of these rights is to wear what you want not to be forced to wear the Burqa. So why is it still happening even in a developed country such as the UK?

Furthermore, we must ban the Burqa for security reasons. If, for example, you saw a man or woman walking down the street wearing a balaclava, you would be worried as to the reasons why they must cover their face, and why they want to conceal their identity. Previously, a criminal has escaped the crime scene by wearing a Burqa and not been noticed by the police.This is proof that the Burqa brings problems for England. As well as this when you see someone wearing a Burqa you have suspicions as to what they could be hiding underneath it. This may be far fetched but it has happened in the past, especially in other countries such as Afghanistan where the woman have been know to hide guns and bombs in their clothing. We must learn from these other countries’ mistakes and ban the Burqa before it happens here!

Some Muslims say that it is their human right and part of their religion to wear the Burqa. However, with all the risks and dangers that come just from this simple piece of clothing, which isn’t even compulsory to their religion, I do not see the reason for allowing it to be worn. An alternative to this could be to allow them to wear the hijab but not the Burqa as that’s where the majority of the risks and uncertainties come from. However if our country does allow full body Burqa’s to be worn, then the woman wearing them must be willing, if necessary, to show their face for security reasons, such as at the airport or crime scenes. In these modern times with organisations such as ISIS at large, and MI5 supposedly preventing over twenty terrorist attacks in the past few years, then the Burqa could be used to their benefit as it is the perfect disguise.

This is not a xenophobic rant about Muslims, I have nothing against them but the Burqa is a problem. It may sound exaggerated but we must be over cautious to prevent these attacks. Imagine if a man wore a Burqa and had a bomb underneath it, he could walk through London without anyone suspecting him. However if we do suspect something we must not be afraid of being labelled. In order to do this we all must give up things, not just the Burqa. Things like privacy to internet searches so that the government can monitor people who have searched how to make a bomb etc. If we are to live in a safe society then lots of things have to be given up including the Burqa. My opinion is a strong and extreme one and in turn may offend people, but it is for the greater good and safety for the people in this city and country. This is why the Burqa must be banned, for security and freedom.