Moslem Face Veil for Women (Niqab)

I, as a a man, recently spent 17 years in Moslem countries. In Malaysia, women did not cover their faces, and perhaps more surprising, even in Saudi Arabia women did not have to cover their faces. When I asked why, I was told that the Koran did not say that faces of women had to be covered. Most Saudi Arabian women did cover their faces, but this seemed more to do with local tribal practice, culture and the dominance of men than any religious precept. Bedouin women out in the deep desert did not cover their faces and drove camels (not cars).

I am not sure it worries me one way or another how women dress. However I would like to know what rules really apply! From my years in Saudi Arabia and Malaysia, I thought I had a clear statement of the rules. But recent arguments in England suggest many Moslem women in England are applying rules of dress that are not accepted by many Moslem countries. It looks as if whether to wear a veil or not is purely a personal decision obeying a personal rule - not clearly set out in the Koran (rather like choosing the colour of a lipstick). It therefore looks as if religious rules are being formulated that cannot be justified by reference to Koran - or if so justified by personal interpretation not supported by scholarly study. All this might also demonstrate the excessive English regard for enforcing rules in society; when in many societies rules are very flexible and not always enforced. Why should a global discussion on wearing the 'niqab' take place in England when the proper place ought to be in the Moslem world?

I also note one or two recent incidents where Moslem men have disappeared abroad by air, wearing women's clothes and the veil in order to evade arrest while under criminal investigation. This also suggests rules change according to circumstance. Are Moslem men really allowed to wear women's clothes if they want to and why does no one protest if they do so?

I was brought up 60 years ago under a rather British 'gentlemanly' code of conduct where women were to be treated with considerable respect. I need to be informed today as to what Moslem women are being protected against in a Moslem society which at first sight seems to have strict rules for relationships between men and women. Why does a veil help in all this?

In order for those of us in the West to understand better what rules are being applied across the whole Moslem world, I think we need much clearer guidance and explanation. What is happening at the moment appears to an outsider to be a matter of purely personal choice, ungoverned by religious rules that we can can understand. (or am I betraying an English cultural attitude that puts too much emphasis on strict interpretaton of rules which really don't matter much elsewhere!).