Interview Transcript
Date and Time: 19/08/2013
Interviewer:
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this interview. I will start off with the first question which is:
- Do you wear the Niqab and if so, have you suffered anti-Muslim prejudice or Islamophobia?
Interviewee:
Yes, I do wear the niqab. I began wearing the khimar, headscarf and the jilbab for a number of years and then moved onto wearing the niqab, which wasn’t really initiated by anything apart from my own personal choice.
Suffering prejudice and Islamophobic issues, yes, I get that all the time and I think the more the media highlights the issue of the niqab and prior to that the European thing that has been going on for a number of years with the first official ban in Belgium in 2009. The discrimination against niqab wearing sisters has increased and I started to feel it instantly, travelling on the bus, walking on the streets of London, taking my children to school. So I’ve suffered from verbal comment’s which is daily or very frequent on the streets.
Interviewer:
- Have you suffered incident at a street level and can you describe some of them?
Interviewee:
I’m quite confident when I walk out wearing it and in the beginning I didn’t know how the environment or how tolerant people were when it came to seeing a woman wearing niqab on transport, on buses, as I used to drive but my experiences began when I started using public transport a lot. That was when my encounters of various types of abuse really began. Mainly a majority of the hate is verbal.
Interviewer:
- On public transport?
Interviewee:
Yes, public transport, walking through shopping malls and from various groups of people. They could be high school kids with school uniforms on to elderly pensioners, to the smart guy sitting across at Costa Coffee, for example.
Interviewer:
- So from different backgrounds?
Interviewee:
Yes, from a woman with a tattoo to a mother with a buggy next to mine sitting on a bus. It’s just incredible as it could be from anybody and everybody. Abusive comments like, I pass a group of boys and they make martial arts comments with demonstrations of the moves in front of me! Then I’ve had people come up to me and say ‘how dare you wear this thing take it off right now!’
Interviewer
- What was the worst incident you suffered and what was said?
Interviewee:
I’ve had physical attempts where my niqab… they tried to remove it. The physical incidents are definitely more risky, more harmful for me and sometimes you do question yourself as to how serious will this get, especially, if my encounter is with a male. With a woman I am quite confident but with a male you don’t know how far and serious it would be. I tend to have my hand bag ready… just in case you know you need to go to that length. But most of the time it’s insult’s thrown at me.
Interviewer:
- Ok thank you. You mentioned you have children. Did any of the experiences of your incidents expose your children to hearing things that were potentially damaging to them?
Interviewee:
Yes, it does happen in front of my children. There is confrontation when my children are with me, when that happens they look at me to see how I will react. When I comment they listen and my eldest daughter will ask questions to try and understand ‘mum why did you say this?’ or ‘say that?’ they in a way have become immune to it because it’s frequent. They become accepting… not accepting but familiar with it. That it stems from the ignorance and animosity of Islam, Islamophobia.
Interviewer:
- Who do you think is responsible for vilifying Niqab wearing Muslim women?
Interviewee:
It comes from the hierarchy, the government, law of the land you see. They are the ones who should take the responsibility and the burdens and the consequences of the animosity, the hatred, non-accepting of the niqab in the society. If the authority preaches hate then you will see manifestations of it within its people. I can see that from my own experiences, as the government is speaking more against the niqab and the Islamic dress code, society is becoming increasingly less accepting of it.
Interviewer:
- I was wondering if you have you suffered anti-Muslim prejudice on-line?
Interviewee:
Online, you do get a lot of it. I try to go on a number of social networking sites for my personal project.
Interviewer:
- Social networking sites?
Interviewee:
Yes, mainly Facebook and Twitter. There is all this ugliness that is spewed. Racial hatred, the derogatory terms used to describe Islam and more specifically the Muslim woman’s dress.
Interviewer:
- What does your husband feel and think when you state that you have suffered anti-Muslim prejudice? Has your husband suggested that you stay at home more when you suffer such incidents?
Interviewee:
I mean one of my break through’s is that…. I’m quite a strong, determined, self-determined person Alhamdulillah. Allah has given me strength. But having said that, support is something essential for a Muslim woman in situations like this. So when you get a husband’s support, father’s support or family support all of that invites the Muslim woman to continue to face the challenges and be able to get through heightened situations like the hysterical chatter over the last week on the niqab ban. Obviously, at the moment it’s still in it’ early stages but they are trying to pass by laws, such as banning it in certain areas, similarly as they did in France and Belgium before outlawing it completely. I am weary of the consequences of these little mini bans taking place here and there. But going back, having that support from my children’s father, reassures me that what I am doing is correct. It gives me something to fall back on. When I do go out with my children’s father, I don’t really suffer as much.
Interviewer:
- So he is supportive and protective of you and your decision to wear the niqab?
Interviewee:
Absolutely. We think this issue is a side effect of the actual issue which is the growing presence of Islam in Britain and the niqab is potentially a symbol of it. I am a hundred per cent convinced that this is a reactionary aspect to Islam and Muslims in the UK which is very sad since we add so much positively to this country.
Interviewer:
- What do you think will happen in the future regarding the Niqab? Will it be banned and how will you feel?
Interviewee:
I think it will happen very soon, in the next decade or so, the UK will also have this ban. I believe it will be a joint effort from the European leaders to eliminate traces of Islam.
Interviewer:
- Ok, if I could pose a scenario to you? If you were a university student and your institution banned the Niqab on campus would you look for another institution and would this be exclusionary to your involvement.
Interviewee:
No, I would not take it as an exclusionary incident, in a way since I feel that there are numerous areas where a niqab ban is being openly and subtly being proposed, so there are no particular areas but the undercurrent is very unhelpful. At the moment, I have choice, but how long will this last? It is very worrying. Ironically enough, there are now a few of the NHS hospitals declaring they will not treat patients wearing the niqab, declaring that they would not be sick patients if they wear the niqab. I mean silly things like that. I mean for medical care you would need to unveil. I’ve had 5 kids myself Masha’Allah. When I went through high risk pregnancies, such as caesarean section and because of the risk I carry when I give birth. I comply with the team operating on me by unveiling or having senior male surgeons and I’m happy to co-operate with that, it’s never been a problem. They need to realise that whatever co -operation is required yes of course… but vilification of it is not necessary. The thing is, we will take off our niqab… or I will take off my niqab when it is necessary. But if I am forced to, I will react and make sure that I keep it on. I feel that pressurising me is a violation of my human and personal rights to dignity.
Interviewer:
- Thank you so much for dedicating the time to share your experiences and opinions.
Interviewee:
My pleasure. I hope it’s helpful.
END OF INTERVIEW