This is just getting out of hand. Ridiculous...

A Muslim cleric in Saudi Arabia has called on women to wear a full veil, or niqab, that reveals only one eye.

Sheikh Muhammad al-Habadan said showing both eyes encouraged women to use eye make-up to look seductive.

The question of how much of her face a woman should cover is a controversial topic in many Muslim societies.

The niqab is more common in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf, but women in much of the Muslim Middle East wear a headscarf which covers only their hair.

Sheikh Habadan, an ultra-conservative cleric who is said to have wide influence among religious Saudis, was answering questions on the Muslim satellite channel al-Majd. [Source: BBC]

This is how Saudi ladies will look like from now on :-(

Why don't they enforce full-face cover and kill the issue? What do you call this? Religion and Islam? No Way!

Oh... by the way... anyone knows which eye should be covered? Left of right? (I assumed left because they keep on telling us to do things with our RIGHT thing... Ah... now I'm getting the rule. "Do the Right things with the RIGHT things only." This is where the Human "Rights" came from and here we see it in action.

Long live "One-Eye Veil."

If the Netherlands becomes the first European country to ban the burqa and other Muslim face veils this month, Hope says she'll resort to wearing a surgical mask to dress in accordance with her religious beliefs.

"I'll wear one of those things they wore during the SARS epidemic if I have to," said the Dutch-born Muslim, one of about 50 women in the Netherlands who wear the head-to-toe burqa or the niqab, a face veil that conceals everything but the eyes.

Last December, parliament voted to forbid women from wearing the burqa or any Muslim face coverings in public, justifying the move in part as a security measure.

The cabinet is awaiting the results of a study into the legality of such a ban under European human rights laws, before making its final decision. The results are expected in the second half of this month.

"This is an enormous victory for traditional Dutch decency," said Geert Wilders, the populist member of parliament who first proposed the burqa ban, after hearing parliament had backed it.

"The burqa is hostile to women, and medieval. For a woman to walk around on the streets completely covered is an insult to everyone who believes in equal rights."

The Dutch may have been among the first to legalize cannabis, prostitution and euthanasia -- earning them a reputation for tolerance -- but they are now in the process of imposing some of Europe's toughest entry and integration laws.

Famile Arslan, a Dutch-Muslim lawyer, believes a ban would only reinforce today's polarized climate, and prompt more women to wear the niqab as a form of protest.

"We are very scared that what starts with a ban on the burqa will end with a ban on the hijab," she said, referring to the Muslim headscarf worn by thousands in the Netherlands.

"A country once known for its tolerance is now becoming known for its ignorance," she added, stressing public opinion of the Netherlands' 1 million Muslims had hit an all-time low.

In 2004, France controversially banned overt religious symbols such as Muslim headscarves, large Christian crosses and Jewish skullcaps from schools, arguing they were contrary to its separation of church and state.

In the same year, the Belgian town of Maaseik banned burqas, by adapting existing laws which require people to be readily identifiable in public.

The fact that the potential new law is consistently spoken of as a "burqa ban" also spreads confusion and reveals ignorance about Muslim customs.

"I think the niqab and the burqa are a little bit extreme and can I understand why people want to see a woman's face," said 16-year-old Kaoutar Yakubi, who chooses headscarves ranging from bright pink to black depending on her mood.

"But I don't think there should be laws governing how a person dresses -- it is their choice."(Reuters)

Maybe if the burqa is something like this:

or maybe if the were like how Hussein Chalayan shows them, it would be art and fashion!!

Then it would be acceptable in the west.

Happy Woman's Day!!!

PS. Burqa is similar to a niqab, the burqa covers the wearer's entire face except for a small region about the eyes. There is a misunderstanding that the burqa is like abaya (a long garment used by Muslim women), which is not true.