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French language class in Montreal for wearing a niqab.
An Egyptian woman, Naema Ahmed, was recently expelled from a French language class in Montreal because she refused to take off her niqab during class.
The Quebec immigration minister, Yoland James said:
There is no ambiguity about this question. If you want to [attend] our classes, if you want to integrate into Quebec society, here are our values: we want to see your face.Quebec has been far stricter than other provinces when it comes to immigration. In fact, immigrants coming into Quebec are required to sign their commitment to the province's values.
Naema Ahmed was expelled from the French language class partly to uphold Quebec's decision that people receiving public services should present themselves with their faces uncovered. Teachers have also complained that the woman's coverings makes it hard for them to see if she is pronouncing correctly, and that it distracts the other students in the class.
"Moderate" Muslims are agreeing with this decision, but with their own twist. The weekly show "Behind the Story" hosted a panel tonight which included a soft-spoken, articulate, and for all practical purposes a "moderate" Muslim woman, Khadija Mustapha-Ali. According to Mustapha-Ali's Zoom Info profile, as well as working as an independent media producer, she is a "field producer" for CTS TV, the channel which programs "Behind the Story." There is nowhere in her Zoom Info profile which indicates Mustapha-Ali's faith. In fact, her productions company seems to do a variety of programs from home shows to restaurant guides.
Her name, though, does crop up in various Muslim-related activities, such as one called "MuslimFest: Celebrating the Best in Muslim Arts and Entertainment" where the Ali is part of a panel "Meet & Mingle with Muslim Journalists & Producers." She is also mentioned in a (small, 6-page, worth reading) pdf file of a brochure describing a program organized by Centre for Faith and the Media, and funded by the Canadian government, titled "The Muslim Project," whose intention is "to improve reporting on Muslim stories and communities within Canadian media." Mustapha-Ali is listed as the project coordinator.
I have gone to some lengths to show, as far as the internet sources allow, who and what Mustapha-Ali is. She appears to be one of those "moderate" Muslims, who lives a successful "Canadian" life fulfilling family, community and job commitments. And she certainly behaves "moderately" – unless one can catch her out.
In tonight's "Behind the Story" panel, while discussing Naema Ahmed's expulsion from the French classes, everyone on the panel agreed that it is difficult to teach (and interact with) someone whose face is covered up, and the Quebec officials were right to do what they did.
Mustapha-Ali spoke quietly and unobtrusively. She agreed that "in that particular situation" the teachers and officials were right. But, what about private classes, could Naema Ahmed be accommodated in a private class?
This of course would have to be a government-funded "private class for one," and Mustapha-Ali quickly realized the unfeasibility of this suggestion.
She amended this to: if there are several women with their faces covered, then could a different class just for them be organized to accommodate their needs (of covering their faces)?
I found this extraordinary for several reasons:
- Mustapha-Ali has no intentions of changing the niqab-wearing traditions of Muslim women.
- She is so confident that there will be an increasing number of niqab-wearing women in Canada who will wish to attend classes (and receive public service) with their niqabs on, that alternate classes can (should?) be arranged for them.
- And this goes on to the bigger picture that even the "moderate" Muslims like Mustapha-Ali, who appear to be wholly integrated into Canadian society, are simply waiting for loopholes - and numbers - in order to insert their own society, norms, culture and religion at the appropriate time, and as seamlessly and inconspicuously as Mustapha-Ali is doing.
Finally, this itself is pretty extraordinary: No one at "Behind the Story" picked up on Mustapha-Ali's frank, albeit carefully worded, revelation. And if they had, they would have probably agreed with Mustapha-Ali that yes, indeed, if there are enough niqab wearing women, then let's open another class just for them.
