COVERING FACE (NIQAB) IS NEITHER BASIC HUMAN RIGHT NOR IT IS ISLAMIC BUT CULTURAL/TRIBAL.

This video is on fb, had attracted my comments because it high light very basic public concern, but in my opinion without proper debate and public awareness, using administrative measures to avoid specific thinking and trends among public at large always backfire and destructive. These video messages playing out in public, cultivate minds to provide foot solders and suicide bombers without spending millions on it. She claim that Niqab is her basic right. Is it true or false?  Public debate is important.  

My comments on fb with few alteration or addition are as follow on this subject:

The Niqab (face cover) is not a basic right, because it is in violation of minimum public safety. If we accept face covering through which members of public identify each other, at public places, to ensure their own safety, then we have to accept nude peoples' demand as their basic right, yet no threat to public safety, but may be an offensive appearance to public as required under minimum decency. Furthermore, Niqab (face cover) is not Islamic but anti Islam, because Surat Al-'Ahzab verse 59, says "so that they may be recognized and not abused". The 12^th century jurists, Ibn Tamiyyah by adding his own word "LA" to make it "so that they may not recognized" tried to justify face cover based on Qur’an text but in reality it is an act of altering Qur’an text. He is the first ever Islamic jurist in Islamic history who had introduced face cover by using verse 33:59 as minimum but all other jurists had never used this verse as minimum for hijab. The context of the verse 59 is sūrat l-nūr verse 33 "do not force your slave girls into prostitution if they want to live in chastity". The first principle of interpretation of Qur’an, during the formation period of Islam (200 to 400), was set as Qur'an interpret Qur'an itself. The verse, 24:33 is providing a descriptive situation of Medina at the time of Prophet, where, slave-girls were forced for prostitution to bring money for their masters. The Muslim women in Medina been targeted by confusing them with prostitutes. They had complained to Prophet and then the verse 33:59 came "so that they may be recognized and not abused". Therefore, the "recognition" became ultimate objective of the holly text, which means such measures by any Muslim man or woman, that distort human recognition, is against Qur'an, because recognition of a person then and today is the ultimate aim of the Qur’nic text. Therefore face of every living being is a basic identity through which members of the public recognized each other and responds accordingly.

The very important point, to my observation and research is, that every scholar religious or none, had ignored and avoided to comment on: a) Ka'ba and; b) Masjid e Nabvi. In both of these places, no separation between male and female and no face cover before or after the Prophet and still continue. These are the only places remained intact from Prophet time onward and rulers were unable to bring any changes of public participation and socialization, though once the Ka’ba was burnt down and horses been housed in Masjid-e-Nabvi by Banu Umayya but they been hated by local population.

The face cover and separation of male and female is non-Islamic, a later day innovation of tribalism, mainly had occupied space among Muslims through the influence of Byzantine and Persian culture. The change started when Muslim rulers had shifted from their base from Medina to Damascus and Baghdad. So image perception of Islam is not an original one, but an innovation and modern. More over the image displaying trend had been promoted by Whabby movement of 18th century. This movement at later stage become more powerful by inheriting of the wealth of petro-dollars as well as cold war demands which see it a fruitful tool. It is therefore, in the light of the Qur’nic text be it in the literal sense or metaphorical, Niqab is not religious but cultural and tribal. To project an ideology by using modern corporate tactics in the name of Islam is dishonesty, both with faith and community just for petty political gains.