Muslim women who veil and Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights

334 Pages·2016·2.21 MB·English

Muslim women who veil and Article 9 of the European
Convention on Human Rights: A socio-legal critique

by

Tassadaq Hussain

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the requirements for
the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Central
Lancashire

March 2016
STUDENT DECLARATION FORM

Concurrent registration for two or more academic awards

I declare that while registered as a candidate for the research degree, I have not
been a registered candidate or enrolled student for another award of the University or
other academic or professional institution

Material submitted for another award

I declare that no material contained in the thesis has been used in any other
submission for an academic award and is solely my own work

Signature of Candidate

Type of Award Doctor of Philosophy

School Lancashire Law School

1
Abstract
Islamic veiling has been the subject of many theological, social and legal debates, which are
fluid and their intensity has been further influenced by its contextualised meanings such as
religiosity, modesty, identity, resistance, protest, choice and subjugation. Literature on Muslim
veiling has either examined its treatment by legal or socio-feminist perspectives, whereas this
thesis critiques the religious, socio-feministic and the legal discourses. The contemporary
discourse is dominated by competing binaries that label it as a tool of oppression or one of
empowerment. Many of the assertions are based not on the veil’s multiple meanings or the
wearer’s true motivations but on misplaced assumptions of moral authority by those who
oppose or defend the practice, as well as native informants professing to represent veiled
Muslim women, leaving Muslim veiled women’s voices muted. Having examined the religious
imperative that has a patriarchal basis, the thesis constructs a critique of the two dominant
discourses central to the contemporary debates on veiling. One discourse defends the practice
as empowering whilst the other calls for prohibitions on the practice using liberation from
oppression as a justification, particularly with issues surrounding the wearing of the full face
veil. This is followed by a critique of the key cases generated under Article 9 ECHR, which
attempts to balance the religious rights of those who veil with the rights of others. The case
law highlights that the ECtHR not only falls short in disclosing satisfactorily how it has struck a
balance between these competing rights, but also fails to adopt a neutral stance to religious
expression through symbols, its reasoning being based on contradictory stereotypes of Muslim
women as passive and victims of gender oppression in need of liberation. The influence of such
stereotypes and an inadequate application of the margin of appreciation doctrine have led the
ECtHR in validating state prohibitions on the hijab and the full face veil, thereby failing to
acknowledge the voices of the veiled women at the centre of a human rights claim, delivering
a further blow to them. Post the case of S.A.S. v. France the ECtHR has exasperated this even
further by allowing an abstract principle of ‘living together’ as a justification for the full face
veil’s prohibition in public spaces, resulting in Article 9 rights of Muslim women who veil being
endangered even further by the introduction of such an open-ended ground.

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Table of Contents
STUDENT DECLARATION FORM .................................................................................................... 1
Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... 2
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................ 3
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................. 7
INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................... 8
Aims of the thesis .............................................................................................................................. 10
Definitional issues ............................................................................................................................. 11
Choice of subject area ....................................................................................................................... 13
Thesis structure ................................................................................................................................. 16
PART ONE .................................................................................................................................... 17
CHAPTER ONE –VEILING AS A RELIGIOUS IMPERATIVE .............................................................. 17
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 17
The veil as a cultural edict ................................................................................................................. 17
The veil as a Qur’anic commandment ............................................................................................... 20
The hierarchy of Islamic rules ....................................................................................................... 21
The specific verses in the Qur’an relating to veiling ..................................................................... 23
The hermeneutic deficit in the hijab verses ...................................................................................... 32
The veil as a deflector of the male gaze ............................................................................................ 37
Failure of the veil at averting the male gaze ................................................................................. 40
The modesty doctrine ....................................................................................................................... 41
Objectification and veiling ............................................................................................................. 45
Why is modesty so important in Islam? ........................................................................................ 49
Clothing and modesty ................................................................................................................... 50
Problems with the modesty doctrine ............................................................................................ 51
Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 53
CHAPTER TWO – SOCIO FEMINIST DEBATES ON VEILING ........................................................... 56
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 56
Why is the veil controversial? ........................................................................................................... 56
The veil as a tool of patriarchy .......................................................................................................... 59
Patriarchy in the name of Islam .................................................................................................... 60
Patriarchy beyond Muslim culture ................................................................................................ 63
Muslim households and patriarchal practices .............................................................................. 66
Gender equality and veiling .............................................................................................................. 68
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Muslim cultures and gendering..................................................................................................... 70
Is the veil oppressive? ....................................................................................................................... 80
Freedom and choice .......................................................................................................................... 84
Positive and negative freedom ..................................................................................................... 85
Veiling and choice ............................................................................................................................. 87
Choice and false consciousness .................................................................................................... 90
Authenticity of choices .................................................................................................................. 94
Deformed desires and veiling ........................................................................................................ 94
Veiling as collective and self-contribution to oppression ................................................................. 98
Agentic empowerment through piety and resistance .................................................................... 100
The oppressive or emancipatory dichotomy .................................................................................. 103
Orientalism .................................................................................................................................. 104
False projection of repressed patriarchal desires ....................................................................... 108
The veil as a symbol of resistance ............................................................................................... 111
Stereotyping ................................................................................................................................ 115
Stereotyping the veil by non-Muslims ........................................................................................ 119
Using native informants to affirm the oppressive veil ................................................................ 122
Ayaan Hirsi Ali.............................................................................................................................. 123
Fadela Amara .............................................................................................................................. 129
The voices of the veiled and unveiled women ............................................................................ 134
Veiling as a means to opposing power ........................................................................................ 140
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 143
PART TWO ................................................................................................................................. 145
Introduction to part two ........................................................................................................... 145
CHAPTER 3 – LEGAL PROTECTION OF VEILING .......................................................................... 148
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 148
The European Convention on Human Rights .................................................................................. 148
Interpreting the Convention ........................................................................................................... 149
The ECHR and the margin of appreciation doctrine ................................................................... 151
Factors determining the width of the margin of appreciation ................................................... 154
Consensus amongst signatory states .......................................................................................... 155
The proportionality of state interference ....................................................................................... 156
Protection of religious freedom ...................................................................................................... 159
The operation of Article 9 ECHR ...................................................................................................... 161
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What amounts to a manifestation of religion or belief?............................................................. 166
The specific situation rule ........................................................................................................... 168
Article 9(2) the limiting clause ........................................................................................................ 173
Prescribed by law ........................................................................................................................ 174
Legitimate aims ........................................................................................................................... 175
Necessary in a democratic society .............................................................................................. 175
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 178
CHAPTER 4 - THE HIJAB AND ARTICLE 9 JURISPRUDENCE ........................................................ 180
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 180
Dahlab v. Switzerland ...................................................................................................................... 181
Leyla Sahin v. Turkey ....................................................................................................................... 184
ECtHR Chamber Judgement Sahin v. Turkey ............................................................................... 185
Issues arising under Article 9 ECHR ............................................................................................. 185
The Grand Chamber Judgement Sahin v. Turkey ........................................................................ 189
Analysis of Dahlab and Sahin .......................................................................................................... 191
The hijab as a powerful external symbol .................................................................................... 191
Difficulty of reconciling the hijab with gender equality .............................................................. 197
The court’s use of the term ‘appears to be imposed’ ................................................................. 198
The hijab as a ‘precept’ of Qur’an ............................................................................................... 199
The hijab being ‘difficult to reconcile’ with gender equality ...................................................... 200
The hijab as a symbol of intolerance ........................................................................................... 205
Incompatibility of the hijab as religious right with secularism ................................................... 209
Secularism versus political and religious expression before the ECtHR ..................................... 213
The margin of appreciation and proportionality analysis ............................................................... 215
Adoption of negative stereotypes by the ECtHR............................................................................. 223
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 227
CHAPTER 5 - THE ECTHR AND THE FACE VEIL ........................................................................... 229
Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 229
S.A.S. v. France ................................................................................................................................ 229
The French government’s submissions ....................................................................................... 231
The applicant’s arguments .......................................................................................................... 232
The Grand Chamber’s assessment of the arguments ..................................................................... 233
The Grand Chamber’s application of Article 9 ................................................................................ 234
Analysis of the Grand Chamber’s reasoning ................................................................................... 236
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The margin of appreciation and proportionality in S.A.S. v. France ............................................... 241
The concept of ‘living together’ as a legitimate aim under Article 9 .............................................. 245
Justifications for the notion of ‘living together’ .......................................................................... 248
Empowering the majority French identity .................................................................................. 251
Controlling the identity and personalities of women who veil ................................................... 254
Concerns surrounding the ‘living together’ aim ......................................................................... 257
Does prohibiting veiling in public spaces promote Integration? ................................................ 260
Does veiling impede communication? ........................................................................................ 264
Veiling and Article 10 ECHR ............................................................................................................. 273
Veiling and Article 8 ECHR ............................................................................................................... 275
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 278
CONCLUDING CHAPTER............................................................................................................. 281
Modesty and its discontents ........................................................................................................... 282
The oppression versus emancipation dichotomy ........................................................................... 285
The problem of dual essentialisms.................................................................................................. 288
Weaknesses of the false consciousness argument ......................................................................... 290
The pervasiveness of negative stereotypes associated with veiling ............................................... 291
S.A.S. and the emergence of a new label for women who veil ....................................................... 292
Inconsistent margin of appreciation and proportionality in veiling cases ...................................... 297
The failure of the ECtHR to listen to veiled women’s voices .......................................................... 299
BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................... 305

6
Acknowledgements

I am indebted to my family’s support and encouragement, which kept me going and without
that it would not have been possible for me to reach this stage. They had to make many
sacrifices including the loss of long awaited summer holidays and putting up with my ‘PhD
moments’ whilst retaining their patience, smiles and support. Naznin, Azhar and Amreen, this
is for you and I promise to make up the lost times.

I would also like to thank my supervisors Bogusia Puchalska and Helen Codd for all their
support and feedback on my work, particularly Bogusia who took over supervisory duties after
the deeply saddening demise of my first supervisor Barbara Hudson who helped the
conception of my thesis. Bogusia never lost faith in me even though I doubted myself at times
and she always kept my morale up and understood the plight of my work/study restraints.

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INTRODUCTION
No other form of head dress has stirred up as much controversy as the Islamic veil. To a non-
Muslim it may appear to be just another piece of cloth but to a Muslim woman that piece of
cloth is loaded with multiple meanings such as religiosity, modesty, piety, honour, seclusion,
resistance, political protest, expression of choice and a means of negotiating entry into public
space. Lazreg refers to the power of the veil over the minds of men and women as ‘so blinding
as to be deadly’ and narrates an example of a report by the Saudi media in March 2002 where
fifteen school girls died in a fire in a school in Mecca because the vice police1 stopped fire
fighters from approaching the girls as they were not wearing the prescribed religious dress,
hence it was deemed to be sinful for the firemen to see the girls without their veils.2

Lazreg observes the force of the veil as ‘such is the power of the veil that it captures the
imagination, frustrates, coerces, inspires, and disempowers’.3 Her reference to the power of
the veil does not refer to the piece of cloth, but the force of religious prescription that some
are willing to follow so blindly, even if it means a lack of choice or death. Some may find that it
brings them closer to God, whilst for others it is a state enforced duty, even if that means that
it brings death to the woman. No other religious symbol has raised such reactions to non-
compliance. Borneman describes the veil as signifying ‘unbreachable differences between the
West and Islam, achieving the status of an icon similar to the Christian Cross or the national
flag’. He further opines that it is ‘most closely identified with the issue of women’s status in a
politicized Islam’.4 In Shiraz’s opinion ‘to delimit the meanings of the veil is indeed a
challenging if not an impossible task’.5 Hence Taylor’s desire to have the hijab thought of as
‘just a scrap of cloth’ is a suggestion that could be considered a deprivation of the different
meanings of the veil and possibly being considered an affront to those who veil.6 It is not the
piece of cloth but the symbolism associated with it that is at stake for those who wear it, with
the piece of cloth being the transmitter of the desired meaning. Such is the power of the veil
on those who adopt it and those who oppose it. This clearly indicates that it is more than just a
piece of cloth and sentiments and reactions including fatal ones related to the veil have

1 In Saudi Arabia the hijab is compulsory under law for all women
2 Marnia Lazreg, Questioning the Veil: Open letters to Muslim Women (Princeton University Press 2009)
5
3 Ibid 6
4 John Borneman, ‘Veiling and Women's Intelligibility’ (2009) 30:6 Cardozo Law Review 2745 <
http://cardozolawreview.com/Joomla1.5/content/30-6/BORNEMAN.30-6.pdf>accessed 3 July 2012
5 Faegheh Shirazi, The Veil Unveiled: The Hijab in Modern Culture (University Press of Florida 2003) 175
6 Pamela K Taylor, ‘I just Want to be Me: Issues in Identity for One American Muslim Woman’ in Jennifer
Heath (ed), The Veil: Women Writers on Its History, Lore, and Politics (California University Press
2008)128
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surfaced in not only Muslim but European states too. Veiling has invoked solidarity and
protests throughout the Western world; it has attracted extreme comments from the local to
the political and even led to a fatal stabbing of a veiled Muslim woman in a courtroom in
Dresden, Germany in 2009.7 However, in both examples the resultant loss for being unveiled
and veiled has been borne by a woman.

The power of the veil has not been confined to a singular feature; its multiple and variable
meanings have been attributed to religious fundamentalism, human rights violations, and even
terrorism.8 Its utility and the obsession with it has led it to be used as a marketing tool
advertising consumer products, featured in cinema, played a part in erotica, been the subject
of literary works, been militarised, politicised and featured in fashion shows. Hussein Chalayan
a reputed fashion designer showed his provocative collection in spring/summer 1998 which
Blanchard described:

The show ended with a line-up of six models. The first wore a chador, which
covered most of her body and allowed a gap just for her eyes. Each veil became
shorter and shorter until, finally, the last one was nude apart from a mask covering
her face. 'It was about defining your cultural territory,' he says. 'How a group of
people define their territory with their clothes. The covering of the body was also
representative of death, the veil bringing the body to a mummy-like state. It is a
deathly state. You're pretending you don't exist. By becoming an anonymous
person, you are creating your own territory. It was such a powerful show - so
moving for me.9

The debates on veiling are controversial, multi-faceted and are consistently increasing in
intensity and diversity. It is not possible to examine every perspective on veiling as that would

7 Daily Mail Reporter, ‘German accused of stabbing pregnant Muslim woman to death inside a
courtroom goes on trial’ Mail Online (27 October 2009) <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-
1223018/Man-accused-stabbing-pregnant-Muslim-woman-death-inside-German-court-goes-trial-tight-
security.html> accessed 20 October 2010
8 Philip J. Rosenbaum, ‘The Role of Projective Identification in Construction of the ''Other'': Why do
Westerners want to ''Liberate'' Muslim Women?’ (2013) 19 Culture & Psychology 213, 214
9 Tamsin Blanchard, ‘Mind Over Material’ The Guardian (24 September 2000)
<http://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/sep/24/features.magazine37> accessed 4 September
2013
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