After Protests, Alabama Scraps Driving License Hijab Ban

[DuctapeFatwa]

After its decision to ban women from wearing hijab for driving license photos triggered a backlash among American Muslims, the state of Alabama backtracked on the measure Friday, February 20.

Muslim women had appealed to Alabama state officials to reconsider the ban in January while the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued an alert against the measure.

Many concerned Muslims from all over the country contacted the Alabama Department of Public Safety (DPS) to scrap the decision.

According to the new policy, the photograph of each applicant must be a ‘full face' photo, and that head coverings and headgear are only acceptable due to religious beliefs or medical conditions.

http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-02/21/article02.shtml

[papau]

1. What is the point of taking a photo of a Hijab (Veil)? - The point of

the Hijab (Veil)is to end the ability of others to judge your beauty or lack thereof- to not be ability to identify you from your facial image.

So we have an ID card - the drivers lic. - that has a photo that is useless to ID the carrier.

And this this is a victory for human rights over logic!

Well congrats to those that wanted this result - I am always happy when a group can get city hall to go their way - and what they wanted was no harm to my life!!

:-)

[DuctapeFatwa]

2. I think it raises the question of whether a photo is the best ID for

drivers' licenses. If the point is to be able to match the face on the photo to the driver in the car, that can easily be thwarted intentionally or un by unveiled people who change hairstyles, get contact lenses, grow or shave facial hair, even get plastic surgery between the day their drivers' license photo is taken and the day the cop stops them :)

[papau]

4. eyeprints will be here in no time - but any ID other than DNA can

be played with -

at the usefull with little cost level, the photo ID is a winner.

the signature is about all the AL police now have left plus height (wieght always changes).

I wonder if they will now drop the must carry lic while driving rule - or does the printed info make it easier to write the ticket? - Seems DC just tickets the lic# on the car with the photo machines - but if you want to hit someone with "speeding" I really think you should ID who is driving the car.

Seems to make identity theft a little easier, doesn't it!

Oh well - if folks are happy, why not!

:-)

[donco6]

14. I wonder if eyeprints are violation of 14th Amendment?

Since the laser has to do a retinal scan (interior) of your eye, to me this seems way invasive. I don't see how they could force you to submit to that, any more than they can force you to submit fingerprints for a traffic stop or pre-arrest questioning.

[liberalhistorian]

3. Good for them!

Glad to hear they were able to get this to go their way, especially in Alabama.

[Doogie]

5. Are you kidding me???

The point of ID is to *identify* you. They do that right now by your *picture*.

So can I, as a non-muslim, go and get my drivers license, or better yet, my concealed weapons permit phot taken with a mask over my face??

This is a ridiculous decision, by any standard. It has nothing to do with religion.

[liberalhistorian]

6. To each

his own, my friend. We agree to disagree.

[RC]

7. OK, then

Why bother with a picture ID if the picture is of a person in a mask? There could be a man under there for all anyone knows.
This is one place where religion must bow to the state.

[DuctapeFatwa]

8. You can do much better than a flimsy niqab

you can change the color of your eyes, your hair, if you are male, you can grow or shave, or modify facial hair. If you are female, you are probably aware of the difference skillful application of cosmetics can make.

You can even surgically alter your nose, your cheekbones, chin, have collagen injections in your lips, and leave the officer who looks at your photo, and then at you, even more confounded than the cop who stops the lady in niqab.

[Robb]

10. Exactly

If the intent is to defraud, there are a million ways to do it well. I knew a guy once :eyes: who was in the fake ID industry. These things are not complicated if you have the will to do so.

Photo IDs are "good enough", as another poster put it. The ROI on them is fine when 99% of the population isn't trying to beat them, but they are easy to beat.

Statistically there's no point in trying to legislate against the population that wants to wear a veil, period. You have to admit the system is flawed, and move on -- because the alternative is to ban beards, long hair, and makeup.

[Scairp]

11. You are confused

Hijab does not cover the face. It covers the hair of the women who wear them. Hijab is not the veil.

[DuctapeFatwa]

12. I think this was about niqab. The Florida case was

Hijab is a broad term, it can mean a dupatta that sometimes lies across the back of the head, the middle, just above the hairline, or a scarf pinned tight under the neck, or tied under the chin, or crossed under the chin and a squillion other things, even a do-rag, kerchief, or a wide hairband.

Niqab is the little piece that covers the face except for the eyes. Millions of women wear some kind of hijab and don't wear niqab at all.

I'm assuming Alabama is talking about niqab because wearing a scarf on the head does not cover any part of the face.

[PsychoDad]

13. The Hijab does NOT cover the face.

Only the hair... which can be shaved, permed, or dyed.

[Onlooker]

9. Why do we respect reactionary religious beliefs?

With few exceptions, the hajib is a symbol of oppression from a religion that, in its fundamentalist form, is terribly sexist and otherwise intolerant. If we want to maintain the separation of church and state, let the state not be impeded by religion.

[Scairp]

15. "Symbol of Oppression"?

Not necessarily to the women who wear it. Please read this article.

http://www.analitica.com/bitblioteca/emily_monroy/chador.aspb