The Niqab and the Kneecap

by Esmerelda Weatherwax (December 2011)

The woman in the niqab, burka, yashmak or whatever you want to call a veil that covers the face is a very common sight around east London. I am not the only one who has written at this site on the way being unable to see the face cuts such women off from the social interaction normal in English society. I can chat to anybody but the lack of that hint that a conversation can be struck, taken from the smile or the twitch of the lips, means that my conversation with niqabis has been limited.

I had what could have been a better opportunity earlier this year when I attended a local hospital for day surgery on my knee. I thought I had torn a cartilage while climbing down from the wall around the statute of President Eisenhower outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square, whereup I had climbed to get better photographs of the Al Quds day protest in September 2010. In fact my kneecap had decided to wander in an excursion of its own and day surgery was required to set it back on the straight and narrow.

The Muslima came out from behind the curtains, in her dress but without the niqab. She walked up and down the ward, in full view of my husband, other husbands and the male physiotherapist with no apparent embarrassment. And she smiled.

Then having shown that she could walk, the abaya and veil went on, her personality was locked down behind the cloth, her husband spoke to the interpreter, nodded to the ward sister and left the ward with a black figure on crutches behind him.

To comment on this article, please click here.

If you enjoyed this piece and would like to read more by Esmerelda Weatherwax, please click here.

To help New English Review continue to publish articles such as this one, please click here.

Esmerelda Weatherwax is a regular contributor to the Iconoclast, our community blog. To view her entries please click here.