Indian Islamic Scholar Says: 'The Burqa is Not a Part of Islam – It Is a Part of Culture'

MEMRI ^ | 9-7-09

[SJackson]

Following Ban on Burqa and Headscarf by Colleges in Southern India, Indian Islamic Scholar Says: 'The Burqa is Not a Part of Islam – It Is a Part of Culture'

In the southern Indian state of Karnataka, Sri Venkatarama Swamy (SVS) College in Bantwal and the Government College in Appanagri district have banned the wearing of the Islamic headscarf and the burqa on campus, according to an Urdu daily.

The Government College stopped 50 Muslim girls from attending classes for wearing burqas, while SVS College restricted a 19-year-old Bachelor of Commerce student from attending classes until she conforms to the college rules - that is, not displaying her religious identity, in this case, by wearing a headscarf.

Following objections from students, Aysha Asmin was told by the SVSCollege administration not to wear the headscarf, according to a report in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Rashtriya Sahara.

The following are reactions to the ban from two Indian Islamic scholars: [1]

Scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan: "The Burqa Is Not a Part of Islam - It Is a Part of Culture"

Eminent Indian Islamic scholar Maulana Wahiduddin Khan (above), who has written over 200 books on Islam, said: "The burqa is not a part of Islam. It is a part of culture, the culture that the people of the subcontinent have been following for ages. Nobody can enforce a dress code in the name of Islam. It is categorically un-Islamic."

He added, "If a college has a rule for girls to not wear a burqa or headscarf, then that should be followed and respected. If you don’t agree, you quit the college."

Scholar Fareeda Khan: "The Burqa Has Become the Symbol of Rigidity - And Has Nothing To Do With Islam"

Fareeda Khan, an Islamic scholar who teaches at the Jamia Millia Islamia university in New Delhi, echoed Maulana Wahiduddin Khan's view, stating: "The burqa has become the symbol of rigidity and has nothing to do with Islam."

She added: "You should accept that the burqa, a part of subcontinental culture, has been misused for suicide bombings. Why not avoid the burqa? The burqa is not part of any Islamic dress code.... I also suggest to my students not to wear a burqa at the university."

---

[1] www.theindian.com, India, August 20, 2009; Roznama Rashtriya Sahara, India, August 19, 2009.

[SJackson]

I suspect neither of these scholars would be particularly welcome in Saudi Arabia.

[Cheetahcat]

HUH?? better fire off letters to the Taliban and the Saudis and tell them that little tidbit of information..

[Sacajaweau]

Everyone knows that....

[Cheetahcat]

I will say this though when I travel in Arabia My wife wears a Abaya and a Jabba, Much different place and hundreds of years of their tradition is not going away very easy.

[ozark hilljilly]

He added, "If a college has a rule for girls to not wear a burqa or headscarf, then that should be followed and respected. If you don’t agree, you quit the college."

A refreshing tidbit of bold common sense that most certainly has sealed his fate!

[PGalt]

I suspect neither of these scholars would be particularly welcome in Saudi Arabia.

"The burqa is not a part of Islam. It is a part of culture, the culture that the people of the subcontinent have been following for ages. Nobody can enforce a dress code in the name of Islam. It is categorically un-Islamic."

Say that in a madrasah, Maulana.

The burqa is not part of any Islamic dress code.... I also suggest to my students not to wear a burqa at the university."

Say that in a madrasah, Fareeda.

Is the lesser jihad covering up for the greater jihad?

[PGR88]

Does it matter? Religion is the basis for all culture. In Islam, the two come as one package.

[jiminycricket000]

‘Religion’ or culture, the important lesson here is that we have another example of Islam being trouble wherever it manifests itself. That anyone believes a free people can coexist peacefully with these thuggish cultists is a fatal mistake. Either they will eventually drive sharia law into our society or they will attempt to destroy us in some other way. Turmoil and bloodshed is their legacy.

[cameraeye]

They will be the force of political change in this country in just thirty years. Their children born today will only know jihad for allah. American children born today will be the next Greatest Generation, for what they will have to do to keep usa free.

[HighlyOpinionated]

Back in the day, Dad's Employer was going to promote my Dad and send him and Mom over to Saudi Arabia along with some of Dad's co-workers. My Dad researched and learned about the left hand being the excrement wiping hand and unclean by Mozlems. He learned that Mom couldn't drive outside the American Compound and had to have a male relative with her at all times when she did. He learned that Mom would have to wear a scarf around Arabs. Dad learned other non-USofA cultural anomalies and decided that the pay, which was VERY GOOD wasn't worth the acculturation. So he was laterally transferred and never got offered a higher position. At the time, my Mom was an ambidextrous cigarette smoker. Not good in an Arab ruled Country.

The co-workers and their wives who did go to Saudi Arabia came home with all kinds of stories about their stay there . . . and not a one of them said it was worth it. If they'd known what they learned while there, they'd have forgone the income just to stay in the Freedom Loving USofA.

[ExpatGator]

“Much different place and hundreds of years of their tradition is not going away very easy.”

The very reason that I avoid the primitive craphole. I have been there in an military capacity, which is the only capacity in which I would voluntarily return. The Crusaders had it right.

As Churchill said: At your feet or at your throat.

[Leftism is Mentally Deranged]

Pigdroppings. The cult of death preaches that women are dirt and need to be covered. The particular cut of cloth, size, shape and color come from the local culture, but the mandate to use it comes from the cult of death.

[SJackson]

I’ve no particular problem viewing our problem with radical Muslims as a cultural issue. Still, it’s a problem within a subset, perhaps a large subset, of Islam. From honor killings to suicide bombings to the general intolerance of opposing religious views, non cooperating Muslims are the only ones who can draw the distinction. Through condemnation, as on this narrow issue these two scholars did.

[Cheetahcat]

“I’ve no particular problem viewing our problem with radical Muslims as a cultural issue. Still, it’s a problem within a subset, perhaps a large subset, of Islam. From honor killings to suicide bombings to the general intolerance of opposing religious views, non cooperating Muslims are the only ones who can draw the distinction. Through condemnation, as on this narrow issue these two scholars did.”

Therein is the Problem we are looking at these people with 21st century eyes when they still work in the 7th century there are NO moderates like RINO republicans you are or you are NOT!

[PGalt]

Still, it’s a problem within a subset, perhaps a large subset, of Islam.

From your keyboard to our eyes. Thanks for posting & commenting, nonetheless.

[TexasRepublic]

I see a bright side to the burqa — it is a useful graphic reminder to us how backward and repugnant Islam is.