Donovan- I think we're on the same page here.
Reader comment on item: An Unveiling: Separate, but Acceptable?
in response to reader comment: truth is...

Submitted by zzazzeefrazzee (United States), Nov 24, 2006 at 22:12

Donovan, and you're point is? Please re-read my comments that you repsonded to, in addition to my earlier ones made here. I posted links to Muslim women who take much the same position.

http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/66276

More to the point, take a look at the web sites I posted.
Basically my criticism is that Daniel only mentioned the veil - meaning the niqab- which is a full facial covering, and fails to address the hijab- which is a covering worn over the air, and in some intepretations, over the neck. The latter is of course what is more commonly worn by women in most Muslim societies, not the niqab, burqa, or chadoor. The hijab is really not that different than the habit that is worn by nuns. Many of my fellow Americans fail to distinguish between them. Hence I often find my self educating my fellow Americans about these little nuances, and that if they are hot to ban headscarves, then by the same measure, we should ban nuns from wearing habits too. (thanks to Daniel for kindly repsonding, but I still think you could do more to thoroughly educate your readers!)

Of course, this ties into the fact that Daniel could do much more to feature those Muslims who support the west, take a more moderate view, and criticize Islamist Terrorists (known as "Irhabiyeen" In Arabic) and so on. Yet I guess that would mean he would run the risk of appearing "politically correct" which most conservatives are loathe to do.

Then again, I think Daniel does a FAR better job of regularly featuring such moderate Muslims in a positive light than his friend Robert Spencer does. Robert has a tendency to berate if not excoriate moderates for failing to adhere to the letter of a sacred text that he doesn't like, all the while ignoring some remarkably similar elements in the Bible. Of course, how modern Jews and Christians came to shed themselves of these ancient stautes is a valid question, and one that Spencer routinely ingnores. Apparently, if he thinks that moderate Muslims don't adhere to the letter of the Qur'an, while he himself doesn't adhere to the letter of the Bible, it's not OK.

For example, he took issue with Dr. Musdah Mulia, MA, for failing to interpret the Qur'an correctly, in his view.

An article by Dr. Mulia':
http://islamlib.com/en/page.php?page=article&id=554

Spencer's diatribes against her and those like her:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17696

and a cogent criticism of Spencer's article by Khaleel Mohammad
http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=17727

but my favorite link of late is this:

http://www.apaam.org/

and in particular, this essay:

http://www.apaam.org/September11thEvent_Sept06.htm

Check out the female Muslim marine discussing her job with Muslim women in full hijab. She is fighting in our military (without headscarf).

Care to express your thanks and gratitude?

I do!!!!

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