IT’S not often that I empathise with Boris Johnson, however I must do so in this case. As a woman who escaped an Islamic upbringing, I will state categorically that my stomach turns whenever I see “moving black tents”, as the writer Monica Ali called them. If satirical references are disrespectful, so be it. Disrespect is merited.

Let me be candid. Women did not invent a belief system that makes them second-class citizens by any standards that well-meaning liberal apologists apply to other areas. It was a man who invented Islam just as it was men who invented Judaism and Christianity.

Islam permits and in some cases advocates polygamy, temporary marriages, concubinage, wife beating, child marriage, reduced inheritance rights for women, and states that a woman’s testimony in court is worth half of that of a man. In my view the term Islamophobic is a contradiction in terms. A phobia is an unreasonable fear. It is not unreasonable to fear a belief system that maintains gender apartheid in the 21st century, with detailed prescriptions for every aspect of life.

If you bring up a little girl to believe that her body is a source of evil temptation to men, and she must cover every part of it except her eyes (some Mullahs believe that only one eye should be uncovered), you will find that some grow up to feel unclean if they walk in public with any part of their humanity visible. This is the reality behind the so-called free decision of some women to wear the burqa. And many, many women are compelled to do this, particularly those brought to Britain as polygamist wives, unable to speak English and totally disempowered. Evidence has been presented to a Westminster Parliamentary committee that 80% of Muslim marriages in London are being carried out in religious services by Mullahs on such a polygamous basis.

The burqa should be banned in the UK on several grounds:

It prevents the absorption of vitamin D, enough of a problem for dark-skinned people like me even without a face covering.

It contravenes normal security rules (you can’t wear a balaclava in a bank or normally cover your face for a passport).

Permitting it validates gender apartheid.

There are two huge problems for apostates: one is the privilege awarded religious belief systems when it comes to equalities issues. A “get out of gaol free” card. The second, and most ironic, is that left-wing individuals who abhor chauvinism in the ‘”white” population will do anything but condemn it in “minority” cultures. Their fear of being racist makes them view Islam through rose-tinted spectacles. Unfortunately some of The National’s columnists fall into this category. I would ask them to read the apostate Ibn Warraq’s excellent book Why I Am Not a Muslim, which certainly counters the narrative of Islam (almost from its inception a faith of conquest) being a religion of peace.

In my family, the burqa was not used. However, whereas my brothers were allowed to run about in warm weather, cool and comfortable in minimal Western clothing, like my mother I had to wear long trousers and long-sleeved tunics. I was taught that my hair, unlike my brothers’ hair, was temptation for men and it was my responsibility to protect males from being tempted. My sister still believes this, so strong is the indoctrination. If this psychological conditioning prevails in “moderate” Muslim families like mine, you can imagine the impact in more extreme families.

Finally, I would remind readers that when slavery was abolished in the US, not all slaves wanted to be free. Some clung to the chains that bound them. Abolition was not rescinded on that basis.

Amina Abu-Araffeh
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