Word: islamic
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...need equal rights and duties," he says. Bacquelaine estimates the burqa is worn by only a few hundred of Belgium's 630,000-strong Muslim population, but the numbers have been rising in the past decade. "It has become a political weapon," he says. "There is nothing in Islam or the Koran about the burqa. It has become an instrument of intimidation, and is a sign of submission of women. And a civilized society cannot accept the imprisonment of women." (Read an argument against the veil by Azadeh Moaveni...
...students and staff from wearing headscarves and any other "conspicuous" religious symbols in state schools. Headscarves have also been outlawed in schools in the Netherlands, Britain and in many German states, and the Italian government has just started a debate on whether to ban them. The European pushback against Islam has gone even further in Switzerland, where the public last year approved a referendum making it illegal to build minarets on mosques, a move that outraged Muslims in the country. (Read a study on why European Muslims feel shut...
...Belgium, however, the burqa bill has the cautious support of much of the Muslim community. "Nobody likes somebody covered," says Saïd El Khadraoui, a Belgian Socialist member of the European Parliament. "It is wrong to say the burqa is part of Islam - the vast majority of Muslims do not wear it. And it's not a bad idea to give a signal that we need some rules to live together." His sentiments are echoed by Emir Kir, who was born in Belgium to Turkish Muslim parents and is now the Secretary for Public Sanitation and Monument Conservation...
Indonesia itself deserves no less. The 17,000-island archipelago boasts the world's biggest Muslim population and is also its third largest democracy, demonstrating that Islam and political freedom are not incompatible. Back when Obama lived in Jakarta, Indonesia was ruled by a dictator and mired in poverty. Today it is a member of the G-20 club of the wealthiest economies. "Foreigners used to think of Indonesia as a place of natural disasters," says Gita Wirjawan, the head of the nation's investment board. "But now they realize that this is a $550 billion economy that...
That is partly because Indonesia has done well at tackling extremism. The vast majority of its people practice a moderate form of Islam, but a small band of homegrown extremists is wedded to a bloody jihad; in 2002, for instance, the bombing of two Bali nightclubs killed 202 people. But of late, Indonesia has had impressive success netting hundreds of suspected extremists and re-educating youths susceptible to the call of militant clerics...