The Position of the Niqab (the Face Veil) in Australia under Australian and Islamic Laws

The Sayed Case in the District Court of Western Australia required the court to decide on the issue of a witness in niqab. The defendant, in this case a Muslim man, said that a prosecution witness wearing niqab created a disadvantage for the defense and wanted her to provide her testimony without a...

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Autor principal:	Asmi John Wood
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	International Institute of Islamic Thought 2012
Materias:	Islam BP1-253
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4cc36f34c3c54063a2bb4f13d321e2df
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4cc36f34c3c54063a2bb4f13d321e2df2021-12-02T19:23:13ZThe Position of the Niqab (the Face Veil) in Australia under Australian and Islamic Laws10.35632/ajis.v29i3.3212690-37332690-3741https://doaj.org/article/4cc36f34c3c54063a2bb4f13d321e2df2012-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/view/321https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3733https://doaj.org/toc/2690-3741 The Sayed Case in the District Court of Western Australia required the court to decide on the issue of a witness in niqab. The defendant, in this case a Muslim man, said that a prosecution witness wearing niqab created a disadvantage for the defense and wanted her to provide her testimony without a face veil. While this is a narrow characterization of the issue for the court, the case sparked much controversy including calls for the government to regulate forms of Muslim women’s dress as was the case in France and Belgium. At present, while many Muslim women in Australia do not cover either their hair or face, the common law and statute do not prescribe or proscribe any form of dress for Australians. The call by some Muslims, such as in the Sayed Case, for the imposition of limits on Muslim dress, employs the scholarship of foreign Muslims who they support. This paper calls for the rejection of such prescriptive formulations of both Australian law and the local expressions of Islamic law. Others such as Katherine Bullock, an Australia Muslim academic, support women’s choice in the broadest terms ‒ and this paper supports the primary sources of Islam, the traditional Islamic scholarship, and is deeply acculurated in the Australian ethic of personality autonomy and choice for all, including Muslims women. While they are both independent works, both Bullock’s work and the common law as articulated by the judge in the Sayed Case are strongly supportive of allowing women the choice of covering themselves. This paper contends that Australian common law, as confirmed in the Sayed Case, is reflective of a broader Muslim consensus and should be retained as the status quo. Asmi John WoodInternational Institute of Islamic ThoughtarticleIslamBP1-253ENAmerican Journal of Islam and Society, Vol 29, Iss 3 (2012)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Islam BP1-253
spellingShingle	Islam BP1-253 Asmi John Wood The Position of the Niqab (the Face Veil) in Australia under Australian and Islamic Laws
description	The Sayed Case in the District Court of Western Australia required the court to decide on the issue of a witness in niqab. The defendant, in this case a Muslim man, said that a prosecution witness wearing niqab created a disadvantage for the defense and wanted her to provide her testimony without a face veil. While this is a narrow characterization of the issue for the court, the case sparked much controversy including calls for the government to regulate forms of Muslim women’s dress as was the case in France and Belgium. At present, while many Muslim women in Australia do not cover either their hair or face, the common law and statute do not prescribe or proscribe any form of dress for Australians. The call by some Muslims, such as in the Sayed Case, for the imposition of limits on Muslim dress, employs the scholarship of foreign Muslims who they support. This paper calls for the rejection of such prescriptive formulations of both Australian law and the local expressions of Islamic law. Others such as Katherine Bullock, an Australia Muslim academic, support women’s choice in the broadest terms ‒ and this paper supports the primary sources of Islam, the traditional Islamic scholarship, and is deeply acculurated in the Australian ethic of personality autonomy and choice for all, including Muslims women. While they are both independent works, both Bullock’s work and the common law as articulated by the judge in the Sayed Case are strongly supportive of allowing women the choice of covering themselves. This paper contends that Australian common law, as confirmed in the Sayed Case, is reflective of a broader Muslim consensus and should be retained as the status quo.
format	article
author	Asmi John Wood
author_facet	Asmi John Wood
author_sort	Asmi John Wood
title	The Position of the Niqab (the Face Veil) in Australia under Australian and Islamic Laws
title_short	The Position of the Niqab (the Face Veil) in Australia under Australian and Islamic Laws
title_full	The Position of the Niqab (the Face Veil) in Australia under Australian and Islamic Laws
title_fullStr	The Position of the Niqab (the Face Veil) in Australia under Australian and Islamic Laws
title_full_unstemmed	The Position of the Niqab (the Face Veil) in Australia under Australian and Islamic Laws
title_sort	position of the niqab (the face veil) in australia under australian and islamic laws
publisher	International Institute of Islamic Thought
publishDate	2012
url	https://doaj.org/article/4cc36f34c3c54063a2bb4f13d321e2df
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The Position of the Niqab (the Face Veil) in Australia under Australian and Islamic Laws

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