Originally Posted by Qurban Ali Qureshi

Q. Discuss the concept of veil and freedom of woman from Islamic point of view while analyzing the law against veil in France.

Outline:
-concept of the veil of women in Islam
-concept of the freedom of women in the Islam
-analysis of the French law against the veil.
-conclusion

-concept of the veil of women in Islam:
Veil in Arabic is called "Hijab" which means "to cover". So veil is a piece of garment which covers the whole body from head to toe( the definition of veil to me seems strange.... from where did u get the definition.do you think it has to be from head to toe, and not over head,shoulders and often face?. )In other words veil is the cloak which conceals the body including head. Allah says about the hijab in the Quran that:"O prophet! Tell your wives, daughters, and the wives of the believers to draw the cloak around them(when go abroad)". This verse of the Holy Quran expressed that Veils is obligatory on Muslim woman. Allah Almighty furthermore emphasis on the significance of the veils for woman and says that :"And Tell the believing women to lower the gaze, and be moderate,( is it not to be modest? you sure its moderate, kindly correct me if i am wrong) and to display of their adornments which are apparent, a to draw their veils over the bosoms " .This verse of the Holy Quran explicitly provides the definition of the veil. Here from above verse "be moderate" means not to expose the parts of the body and walk without will in the market. As the Arab history revealed that women were used to expose their parts of the body and walked in the market without veil in order that they could make money. From the above verse "to display their adornments which are apparent" means that woman can expose only those parts of the body which are common between both male and female like the hands,face or feet, but other sex parts must not be exposed. Many Islamic scholars conflict while interpreting this above verse Some are of the opinions that hands,face or feet expose the beauty of a women so must not be exposed. Some are of the opinions that this above verse only restrict a women to expose those parts which are apparent like hand ,face or feet can be exposed.
-concept of the freedom of women in the Islam:
freedom of the women means the liberation of women in the sphere of the life. In Islam the freedom of women means provision of the basic rights to women. Islam is the religions that has given the rights to women before the fourteen centuries. Islam has given the social ,political, and economic rights to the women. These rights are as follows.
social rights:
.right to get educate.
.right to accept or reject the marriage proposal.
.right to get divorce or khulla.
.right to entertain and dine out
.right to cloth.
.right to get equal treatment in case of polygamy

political right:
.right to be witness before the court
.right to vote.
.right to advise and to be consulted in the legal matters.

economical right:
.right to inheritance
.right to maintain (in case of iddah)
.right to ownership .
.right to seek employment and business.


-analysis of the French law against the veil.
"France ban on covering act" was passed by the Senate on 14th September 2010 . The arguments supported this act were that face covering prevents the identification of a person ,which can cause hindrances for both security and the society which relies on the facial recognition and the expression in communication. This law imposed the fine of 150 euro for the woman who covers her face. Almost ten millions Muslim live in the France in which 2000 women draw veil around their body. on one hand France which the center of fashion and other Western countries which claim that they authenticate and guarantee the religion and expression freedom. on the other hand France imposed the law against the veil. This is condemnable. As the veil's order has given by the Allah Almighty in the Quran, therefore it is the religious right of the Muslim woman. France claims that veil causes the the security hindrances lets analyze this statement by an example of the two women who are going on the way to market .One woman is in the veil and other has worn the shorts which is insecure and has the chances to get raped? obviously the women that has worn the shorts. So the Veils provides the security to a woman. Different people have different opinions regarding that some one are in the favor of imposition of law against the veil and someones are in against of it.

-conclusion
Veil is the basic right of the women of which Allah has ordain in the Quran. It prevent the women from social evils and make secure. Veil is the religious obligation of the Muslim women.

Please correct me and provide me suggestions and opinions regarding the best approach of solving of this questions.