beneath the veil

just been listening to a bbc radio4 documentary, unveiled, on the issue of the muslim veil in british society. this is a debate that has heated up over the past week, especially since the foreign sec, jack straw mp, wrote an article in his local paper and was subsequently interviewed on radio4's 'today' programme.
its a 30 min doco, and i was particularly interested in the last 7 mins, where the interviewer, Fareena Alam, editor of the Muslim magazine Q News, spoke with Navid Akhtar, an independent television producer whose work projects a positive image of Islam. he speaks about the existence of an already on-going debate within parts of the muslim community regarding this issue, and that that debate from within is what will cause a culture shift for the islamic community in britain, rather than any law passed by the govt proscribing islamic dress. he also speaks about the responsibility of the muslim community to take notice of where it is in its context - ie, a liberal western democracy, and that its ridiculous for the muslim community to pretend that it doesn't matter where it is, the 'where it is' will just have to put up with them. that individualistic idea is actually a liberal western idea that some modern muslims have taken for themselves, and is actually, un-islamic.
he goes on to talk about the responsibility the muslim community has to be proactive, good neighbours in the wider community. he says that muslims should primarily be practicers of kindness and neighbourliness - doers of good religion, not just lovers of the icons of religion (ie, veil, beard, etc).
this was a good documentary that asked pertinent questions. the interviewer was humble enough to begin with a mind open to be changed, and gave a good contribution to the national debate about 'what it means to be british'.

Tags: muslim, veil, q news, british