It is a short book that articulates what about the veil, from the hijab to the burqa, can be so damaging to women, their identities and everyday lives.Ĭentral to Lazreg’s argument against the veil is the assertion that veiling is not solely a religious act. Her manifesto flies in the face of the elites and scholars who have reclaimed the veil as a symbol of women’s liberation and agency. They are a series of powerful anecdotes, beginning with one about Lazreg’s own mother, who could not leave the house without her veil to protect her daughter from bullies. The letters that make up Questioning the Veil are a personal appeal for women to shed the veil. A sociology professor at Hunter College, City University of New York, she grew up in a Muslim family in Algeria. To Marnia Lazreg, the issue is of utmost importance – she is a soldier in the trenches. The way Muslim women dress has raised much anxiety in the world, enough for France to ban headscarves in public schools and Saudi Arabia to require that women cover themselves head to toe. If Muslim women’s bodies represent the war of ideas about Islam, the veil is the greatest battleground. Questioning the Veil: Open Letters to Muslim Women
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