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Unveiled

First France, then the UK, now Albania.

Two students at a university in Durres have been suspended - Behije Hoxha for wearing a veil, and Julian Mebelli for wearing a beard. Though I'm not sure how you tell the difference between a beard as a religious statement and a beard as a fashion statement.

I did find a website with an entire section dedicated to the beard in Islam and a s far as I can tell they argue that the beard should be grown and the moustache shaved. This would certainly be an unusual combination for the fashion-conscious beard wearer, and perhaps Mr Mebelli's beard was of this kind.

On the other hand, members of the Saudi royal family, the leader of Hezbollah, and the President of Iran - all overtly Muslim - seem to prefer the full beard and moustache. In fact, Ahmadinejad's is a rather neat effort.

The full face covering that was the issue in the UK does seem to me to be unacceptable in a public context; but it seems a bit much to exclude people for wearing veils that leave the face in view or beards.

Comments

Anonymous said…
yes i remember when i was in school in Tirana. It's not that they prohibit only muslim symbology, they didn't even allow me to carry a cross. Some other girl couldn't wear gold earrings with the crescent moon..etc..I like it this way, you shouldn't impose your religion on other people. Personally i can't stand the veil on the street, let alone in schools!
6:18 pm
Anonymous said…
It is not only in Uk, Fr, and Alb, they had a similar ruling in Ger as well. Albania has seen the threat of the east for more than half a millenium, and we know where to say "stop" at these things. But other western european countries are too tolerant with fundamentalists! They don't know what they are getting into! Just look at the Balkans!
6:21 pm
Anonymous said…
I wholeheartedly agree with the decision to disallow veils in schools. Children are susceptible - students even more so. However the "beard-decision" is weird. I think it is too much because you cannot really tell someone not to grow a beard because it might be a religious sign.
1:17 am
Miss Kim said…
And couldn't wearing a veil also NOT BE a religious symbol... merely "fashion"?
The problem is the hatred and fear we all have about anything "not the same as I am".
I may be idealistic but I support freedom of religious expression but only in combination with tolerance towards others.
3:10 pm
WARchild said…
Faleminderit, zonje.
12:48 am
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