Re.: From liberals and feminists, unsettling silence on rending the Muslim veil

Just as the Taliban coerced women to wear the veil, France and this author promote forcing women to not wear. Neither way is right and both are extreme views. 

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By Richard Reno | July 17, 2010 | Cross-Opinion

Reference: "From liberals and feminists, unsettling silence on rending the Muslim veil"

Richard Reno, President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community of Portland, OR writes in response to an article published by the Washington Post on July 17, 2010, entitled "From liberals and feminists, unsettling silence on rending the Muslim veil" by by Mona Eltahawy:

I would take exception to the following statement: "The strains of Islam that promote face veils do not believe in the concept of a woman's right to choose and describe women as needing to be hidden to prove their "worth." Salafism and Wahhabism preach that women will burn in hell if they are not covered from head to toe -- whether they live in Saudi Arabia or France. There is no choice in such conditioning."

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community believes wearing the the face veil is optional and entirely up to the woman and entirely rejects the ridiculous theological aspect of the statement.
Some Ahmadi Muslim women choose to wear it entirely of their own accord for Allah's pleasure. They should not be prevented from practicing their faith as they see fit just because some other sect has some extreme views. The author is promoting an unacceptable stereotype of Muslim women who wear the full veil.

We all want to see extremism decline, but forcing people to practice their faith the way you want them to is not the right way to do it. Just as the Taliban coerced women to wear the veil, France and this author promote forcing women to not wear. Neither way is right and both are extreme views. 

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