Is it anti-Islamic to ask a Muslim woman to unveil her face at a police checkpoint? Apparently, not even the Saudis think so:
“Saudi scholars, Imams and women say that unveiling in critical situations is appropriate, and called for establishing policewomen sections within existing male departments to help foil terrorists who disguise themselves in Abayas. Tareq Al-Hawass, a professor at Shariah College in Dammam, believes that Islam does not prohibit a woman from unveiling her face if the necessity arises and for the sake of proving her identity to a policeman at a checkpoint.”
Meanwhile, British Home Secretary David Blunkett has announced that those Muslim women who request it will be exempted on ‘religious’ grounds from the requirement to be photographed for the proposed British identity card. Before finally conceding that point, he should chat to those experts in Islam over in ‘Saudi’ Arabia.