OptikSurfer Speaks

OK all, this blog has been up for 5 years and I’ve only posted on and off… but why not, there is a lot to talk about these days, so after a 3 year absence, OptikSurfer speaks, is now back online.

This started as a facebook post related to this link:

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/should-this-mural-be-painted-over/
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Skeeve Stevens
btw… I am all about religious freedom, and I am not all that interested in the womens rights aspect of Burqa’s… I am more interested in the security aspect.

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Matt Wilson
I’m more interested in the women’s rights than security. A symbol and item of repression.

Having said that, the security issue should be a given that they aren’t allowed. It’s the law here, don’t come here and expect us to change it.

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Abd-Allah Shalabi
oh i thought those were burqas that bank robbers used lol

i guess i could understand how the burqa could be a security issue even though till now i have not personally heard of any incidents where it actually was in australia at least. i al…so think a country should have the right to collectively ban something no matter what the reason is in the end in order to suit the general morale of the population. the real issue in the article is about criticising the muslim minority in australia without being called an islamophobe. what is it the muslims do other than the few that decide to wear the burqa that australians find a hard time criticising?

just an outsider perspective.

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David Matthews
Skeeve, I don’t you will go down in the Women’s Lib Hall of Fame lol For what its worth, in a free society I don’t think anyone should be told what to wear, so go burqa is a valid option. I did agree with the recent decision about it being worn whilst giving evidence in court, which was not allowed (but neither would a bikini I would suggest)
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Skeeve Stevens
When I say I am not all that interested, I mean that the womens rights aspects is not something I am commenting on – and not the reason for my issues with the Burqa and Niqab. There may be a womens rights issue for this, but I am certainly… not qualified to comment about it with any authority as a) I am not a woman and b) I do believe in a soft patriarchal family structure and that he should be able to exercise his rights on how he manages his family in whatever geocultural area they might be.

My point was that I have no issues regarding any religious clothing that doesn’t cause problems…. but the Burqa/Niqab does. I have no issues at all with Hijab, Al-Amira, Shayla, Khimar or Chardor veil options… just the ones that actually are incompatible with generally accepted security and culturally accepted conventions.

For example, Banks, Post Office and other locations which target robberies; clubs/pubs which make you remove even caps and face coverings. Airplanes and airport security is another serious issue and one we’ve already had significant situations in the past.

The problem is that men (as well as women) can abuse the covering of Burqa/Niqab in many problematic situations where security/law enforcement may have great difficulty in handling a situation – both out of fear of political correctness and general xenophobia.

From the religious perspective, the texts in the Qur’an which refer to this aspect (Surah/Chapter Al-Ahzab Ayah/Verse 59 and Sura Nur Chapter: The Light. Verse 31) are like many aspects in the Christian bible which are heavily and differently interpreted by different groups of scholars. It essentially states that a womans beauty should be concealed so that they may not be harassed (except to those who don’t see it (family, children/etc)). The key aspect is what is defined by ‘beauty’… the female form, the body, legs, face, etc etc… and different Islamic cultures place different importance on different aspects of the body and beauty.

This is no real different to the importance the Catholics, Protestants and others place on the importance of different parts of the bible and the literalness of some of those things. Indeed the bible itself contains passages and commentary relating to head coverings of women (1 Corinthians 11:2-16) which essentially said women should have their head covered – which many interpret as Paul is suggesting to those in Corinth that they follow local and secular custom.

Did you need to hear about all that? hahahahahaha… anyway, the point is… I have no problems with the religious decisions of what people wear… and the feminist aspects, well, that is really up to the woman herself – although I realise in many cultures woman may not have a choice – but equally there are many woman who do consciously make the choice on what they wear.

But we’re here… in Australia, in the west, in this time of distrust where anti-Muslim sentiment is high and trust is low. But I do have a deep belief that you should conform to your local customs. If you go to Saudi – respect the way they do things…. if devote Muslims come to Bondi Beach – don’t be offended, and respect the way we do things here.

Many ‘modern’ Australians feel uncomfortable when faced with a Burqa/Niqab… and all we need is a few incidents of those coverings being used in a negative context and this country will blow up in a way that will be hard to come back from.See More

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Michela Secci
Hello there…i also need to make a comment about this and I agree with the above.
Firstly, it becomes a woman’s right issue only if people want to see it that way.
Secondly, as regards the security aspect, it could be as easy as when enteri…ng into a bank, post office, etc. they would just request to confirm identity by requesting lifting the veil for a second before entering the place.Just as we need to provide ID to buy cigarettes or to enter into a pub.
The need to understand and respect other people’s belief comes from tolerance and knowledge.
Too many people act upon what they have heard and what they do not understand before even looking into the matter and have a full knowledge of it. That is why I give you 10+ points Skeeve for your awareness and research.

Ignorance and miscommunication is really the issue from which this matter arises. People do not know or remember that up to 30 years ago in some parts of Europe women wore the veil on their heads, my grand mother did all the time, as much as she wore a skirt no shorter than to her ankle. That was the custom at the time, as the years went on things changed, and yet in some rural places in Europe, women do not wear short skirts, do not have sexual intercourses before marriage and some men only marry virgins and hang the proof sheet (with blood stains) of their consumed virginity on the first night of honeymoon. India and South America or Africa or Russia, China and throughout Asia are no exceptions to these sorts of customs.It really seems to become an issue when it comes to native english speaking countries. I am sorry to say this, but the lack of information given by the media and the stereotypical images given by TV are not helping. I guess it is a well spread culture and smaller countries can analyse their own issue through their own medias.
Debates are left just to people who want to look into these matters, information is spread everywhere nowadays, but obviously is up to us to research and to know, to go beyond that veil and really see where human rights are stepped on and where morals apply.
Obviously we are no one to judge what is right or wrong and other’s people’s decisions. This world contains a variety of unique beings, which slowly is becoming a stream of sheep following what is fed to them, by fashions, by food chains, by education systems, etc.etc.etc.etc…
Criticism on Muslim societies is grown out of proportion, the stereotypical misleading way of categorising and criticising their belief system and their customs driven by media and by superficial comments i becoming alarming.

Some people call it conservatism, I call it, mind your own business. It is only when unfairness comes and human rights are stepped on that people should really gather together and help the victims.
So going back to the issue, muslim women’s choice is up to them and yes, if it comes to a security threat then compromise, find a unanimous solution to the problem, not by dictating but by the so called “democracy” we are in, from both parties, but before doing that make sure the message is fairly spread, I guess the problem is not the few of us (around the world) trying to analyse this “so called problem” but it is the fair spreading of communication and opinions that makes it an issue on behalf of governments, parties and most of all media.See More

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David Matthews
Wow, Skeeve is ‘all fired up’ Pat Benetar style- you go boy! lol.

However, the security issue is basically a ruse, if security was the issue they would ban back packs and cars – which are mush more likely to be used in any attack by any group.

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Skeeve Stevens
A ruse? This is my opinion – not something I’ve read somewhere… I actually haven’t heard it being used as a justification yet.. maybe Fred has…. Security is my view of why the Burqa/Niqab should be banned in certain locations.

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Abd-Allah Shalabi
I enjoyed reading all the responses and more or less agree with everything that was said. When it comes to banning the burqa in certain places I would go even further by saying why not just ban it in all public places and I am not being sar…castic here. I think if it truly scares or even just offends the majority as you mentioned skeeve then it should not be allowed point blank. The burqa in the end is really nothing more than how some parts of the arab world understood when God commanded in the Quran a conservative dress code for both men and women. God did not even mention head covering for women if I would take literally what was written in the quran. Though muslims also understand how to live a quranic way of life through the manners of the prophet and his companions so I don’t want to get into the logistics of it all and the different points of view but ill tell you this the interpretation and the manifestation of that verse is as diverse as the muslim culture is and that’s a fact. Therefore I think the Islamic dress code in Australia could and should resemble the Australian culture.

Do you remember Nada? Her sister wrote a really nice book called ‘does my head look too big in this’ talking about the hijab phenomenon in Australia. Great book if you are interested in the subject.

I remember when I first came to Australia 4 years ago I heard of the muslim colleges the government is investing in all over the country and was just astonished. That is truly the right way to make your muslim minority integrate in a healthy way. As you already know islam does not have a hierarchical religious establishment. No one individual speaks for islam. Muslims like to think of it a science that anyone no matter what his/her background can pursue and excel in and have influence directly to all other muslims. Even if you go back in history after the time of the prophet the scholars that stood out and were influential were mostly non arabs. Books like Bukhari and Muslim which all muslims, at least the sunnis, consider the most important books after the quran were written by non arabs. What I am trying to say is instead of importing religious fatwas from the Middle East they should have qualified scholars that are born and bred in Australia that do the job.

The Australian government since the 70’s has been trying to pursue an integration system instead of an assimilation one. In order to do that it has to expand the definition of what being an Australian is which I think it’s trying to do. On the other hand muslims in Australia should have their number one loyalty to the country they live in. muslim scholars even say that in time of war minority muslims in non-muslim countries have an obligation to defend that country that gives them the right to practice their religion! A democracy in the end is a power sharing system which one of its main goals originally was to protect the rights of minorities and make people work for the common good. The Australian version of the democracy has proven to work well. Now its time for it expand its scope a little.

Ok ..ill stop talking now lol

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