Zainab bint Younus was at work as usual on Vancouver Island the day after the Quebec government passed Bill 62, when a customer refused to speak to her. The customer, an older white woman, cited the bill and mentioned it should be implemented everywhere.<\/p>\n
This encounter is not out of the ordinary for women like Younus, 26, who has worn the niqab for nine years. With the niqab debate being part of public discourse over the past few years, the average person has read a lot about it, often without meeting or speaking to a Muslim woman, let alone one who actually wears the niqab. Is this not a problem in how we debate the niqab, or any issue, in this country?<\/p>\n \u201cPeople will be against it no matter what you say. I should not have to prove it or justify it,\u201d Younus says. \u201cI should not have to prove that I grew up in Canada and I speak English. Even if I was an immigrant, I should not have to justify that I am good enough. I should not have to justify my niqab just as I should not have to justify my rainbow socks or toque.\u201d<\/p>\n The Quebec government has been unclear on what this ban entails. The justice minister has said the government is not telling women what to wear \u2014 although it seems to be doing exactly that in a roundabout manner. And although the bill does not cite specific religious symbols such as the niqab, most Muslim women have come to the conclusion that it is aimed at them, which raises the question of potential discrimination or Charter rights violations<\/a>.<\/p>\n Women\u2019s rights and feminism areoften cited by those in favour of the niqab ban, but a ban on clothing is an attempt \u00a0to control what a woman can and cannot wear. This issue of control comes up in discussions by self-identifying feminists who cannot grasp that a woman may choose<\/em> to wear a niqab, as Younus does. \u201cThe right to equality is the right to choose. I chose to wear it \u2014 respect my rights. If you are fighting for a woman\u2019s agency, you have to accept my agency to choose,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n In discussions with non-Muslims, I am often asked to explain the differences between the hijab, niqab and burka. Many people have opinions on these garments without understanding what they entail, or that a woman has a choice, or the potential cultural influences that shape a woman\u2019s decision to cover. There are still misconceptions around identification in official settings \u2014 a non-issue, since women who wear the niqab or burka are willing to identify themselves when necessary. Women who choose not to cover their faces, like myself, or women who do not cover at all, are often questioned and scrutinized by both Muslims and non-Muslims about our choice.<\/p>\n Polarizing disagreements around Quebec or Canadian \u201cvalues\u201d or around \u201creligious accommodation\u201d also raise the spectre of citizens taking things into their own hands. Safety has been a concern for many women who wear the hijab, and even more so for women who wear the niqab, and they often mention that family or friends have discouraged them from covering for this very reason. Women who choose to cover (along with Sikh men) are the most publicly visible and most often harassed , because they are an easy target.<\/p>\n Younus is frustrated with the meek response from politicians of all levels who supposedly champion human rights. \u201cThis law justifies being nasty to Muslim women. It tells those who are bigoted and nasty that you don\u2019t have to respect women and that it is perfectly okay to deal with them in a manner that you wouldn\u2019t deal with anything [else] in the same manner.\u201d<\/p>\n She goes on to say, \u201cI do not expect anyone to agree or wear niqab themselves. Just the basic right that you accept people to wear what they want for whatever they believe.\u201d<\/p>\n Rezan Mosa, a friend of mine, has been wearing the niqab for three and a half years. The 24-year-old from London, Ontario can pinpoint when harassment toward her increased following such events as the Parti Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois proposed Charter of Values and commentary from Prime Minister Stephen Harper around women showing their faces at citizenship ceremonies.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople don\u2019t do their homework. So when they hear that niqab is a security threat, they internalize that and act accordingly. They don\u2019t do the research on their own or speak to a Muslim woman. They start viewing these women like they don\u2019t belong here and they need to do something about it,\u201d says Mosa.<\/p>\n This attitude is frustrating for many niqab-wearing women who feel, once again, that they are left out of the conversation when such bills or policies come to the table. \u201cPolicy-makers do not speak to Muslim women or women in niqab when making law. You keep talking about laws and passing laws about me but you don\u2019t give a crap about how I will feel,\u201d says Younus.<\/p>\n I reached out to Fatima Ahmad, a student at McGill University in Montreal. She has been wearing a niqab for just over a year, and this bill will affect her the most directly. When she saw the news, it brought her to tears of disbelief and shock.<\/p>\n Ahmad, who is 21, described racism as part of her everyday life in Quebec. Although she has experienced verbal harassment, she still felt she could function in society. With this bill, however, things will change if she cannot use public transportation such as the metro or the bus. \u201cI feel shunned from society,\u201d she said. \u201cIt will not be possible for me to do anything unless this is overturned.\u201d<\/p>\n Luckily the staff and faculty at McGill have been as supportive as possible \u2014 although the confusion of how the bill will be implemented has the general public confused and divided. There have been protests and demonstrations by both those who support the ban and those who are against it. This confusion has led to further concerns for Ahmad and other women over their safety.<\/p>\n In the one year since Ahmad has donned the niqab, she has faced at least 30 incidents of discrimination. Go back to your country. This is Canada. Is there a bomb behind that? It\u2019s not Halloween<\/em>. Many harassers do not even form coherent sentences \u2014 they just scream curses at her as they drive or walk by. One person physically assaulted her by pulling on her niqab. I asked Ahmad if she ever thought about going to the police. She paused before answering. \u201cI never went to them before. I don\u2019t want to make an issue about this.\u201d<\/p>\n Many women fear that at some point someone will get hurt. But they do not want to \u201cmake a big deal\u201d or draw further attention to themselves, hoping to be able to continue to go quietly about their daily business without their dress being politicized. Not to mention that many women do not believe the police will take their concerns seriously.<\/p>\n The media\u2019s coverage of niqabis or of Muslim women in general also influences how the public views them. Maryam Desai has been wearing niqab for seven years. The 21-year-old Toronto resident was also dismayed by the bill and the coverage of niqabis in the media. \u201cI\u2019m afraid because what if this person reads the news on niqab and is judging me now. It causes more questions to arise.\u201d She goes on to say, \u201cIt is hurtful because it\u2019s Canada. The main reason our parents and grandparents came to Canada was to be free . . . Living in Canada, you\u2019re free to wear whatever you want \u2014 but then you\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n Desai too raises the point about Canadians living in silos and not interacting with one another \u2014 something many young Canadian Muslims have to address in their everyday relationships. \u201cI\u2019ve met a lot of people who will say, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re actually such a nice person. In the media we learn about people who dress the way you do and aren\u2019t nice people.\u2019 Well, yeah, you spoke to an actual Muslim. You need to befriend others. The privilege of living in Canada is being able to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n Photo: Toronto resident Maryam Desai. Courtesy of Maryam Desai.<\/span><\/p>\n Do you have something to say about the article you just read? Be part of the\u00a0<\/em>Policy Options\u00a0discussion, and send in your own submission.\u00a0Here is a\u00a0<\/em>link<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on how to do it. <\/em>|\u00a0Souhaitez-vous r\u00e9agir \u00e0 cet article ? <\/em>Joignez-vous aux d\u00e9bats d\u2019<\/em>Options politiques\u00a0et soumettez-nous votre texte en suivant ces\u00a0<\/em>directives<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It seems that every few months an issue surrounding Muslims \u2014 and more often than not, Muslim women \u2014 comes up in the media. Religious texts are debated in mainstream discussions (often by those who have no training in religious studies, let alone Islamic texts or jurisprudence), laws are drummed up, and those who are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":239156,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"apple_news_api_created_at":"2025-10-08T01:52:19Z","apple_news_api_id":"3d43ecd1-6aae-4917-be63-fa939135697c","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2025-10-08T01:52:19Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/APUPs0WquSRe-Y_qTkTVpfA","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false},"categories":[9358,9357,9372],"tags":[9207],"article-status":[],"irpp-category":[4220,4295,4251],"section":[],"irpp-tag":[],"class_list":["post-265702","issues","type-issues","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politique","category-politiques-sociales","category-recent-stories-fr","tag-minorites-visibles","irpp-category-discrimination","irpp-category-politique","irpp-category-politique-sociale"],"acf":[],"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/policyoptions.irpp.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/mushtag-photo-1.jpg\")
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