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Tuesday 5 October 2010

Spain: Burqa'd 18-year-old Sumaya can't listen to music, her husband says

And of course, the burqa is not really bad, as it has holes to let the air in..

Anyway, I know why he doesn't wear a burqa: he is so ugly I doubt really any woman in her senses would look at him. From Diario de Navarra.es:
The black burqa hides the face of a young Moroccan, 18, called Sumaya. Sohaib sleeps in his arms. Her baby. He was born in Tudela, on Wednesday September 22nd, at five in the afternoon. Right of Sumaya, is Benaomar Rachid, 33, her husband. Rachid has not hesitated to answer this newspaper's questions and explain why his wife has to live under a burka.
On Saturday, September 25, Said, 12, and his brother Hamza, 7, waited impatiently beside the gate that guards the village mosque. Said explains, the weekends, the Muslim children of the city and the region come to study the Koran and learn to read Arabic. Although Said was born in Morocco, is expressed with a local accent. "What are you a journalist? Why do you want to interview the imam Mustafa?" Said asks and answers a frantic pace. "My father works on site. I want to be a policeman." Hamsa is impatient at the delay of the magnet and starts throwing stones at the gate. "It is showering," says Said. "He can not hear because the mosque is very large, has five doors," apology to the magnet. The minutes pass. Said adds the release. This time, the stones fall inside a courtyard.


The interior is a ship enabled with two carpeted rooms, the largest for men's prayers, on the other, for women's. Villafranca's neighbors believe that is one of the largest mosques in northern Spain. Across the walls are the desks and blackboard, where small study. "It's cold!" says Hamza. The minutes pass. The imam does not make an appearance. At that time, a Moroccan appears. Mohamed tells the boys that the magnet is traveling in Morocco, says he is managing his wife's papers to bring. Hamsa Said and attentive listening and translating. Then, playing away to an irrigation canal. The journalist took the opportunity and asked the newcomer by Rachid Benaomar and his wife. "They live in front of the Civil Guard barracks," says Mohamed, "but he is not the imam," corrected. 

The uneasiness among the residents of this town of three thousand inhabitants began in April. The locals could not believe it. They had just crossed the street with the silent pace of a "faceless woman". And the concern evolved into fear and worry. The deputy mayor of Villafranca, Enrique Marín
San Miguel acknowledges that it surprised them. "Never before has there been a similar case despite the increase in Muslim population in the area which reaches now 22%," he says. "We are concerned. Do not know if this will go further. That woman lives in a prison. Do not you see the eyes. The municipalities can not prohibit the burqa. It should be done by the Government of Navarra."
Is Rachid here?
He isn't, says one of the children with a good Castilian accent.
When will he get here?

I do not know. He's working, inside the house heard a few words in Arabic, they seem uttered by a woman. He is arriving now, says the boy.
A few minutes later, Rachid arrives by car. He's sitting in the passenger seat. Mohamed, a friend,drives. Without getting off, he asks the reporter to enter the car and sit back. "We apologize for the delay. "I have not much time," he says with the palm of his hand on his chest.
Q: Villafranca's neighbors say they'd known you for years.
A: Yes, I came to Spain 12 years ago. I live in Navarra since 2001. Sumaya came in April.
Q: How did you get?
A: By patera (that is, he entered Spain illegally).

Q: Do they think you have changed?
A: Yes, I was a young boy who came to Europe to improve life. Here I have experimented with almost everything, as usually young do, but that's something that is between Allah and me, "he confesses. I was pursuing happiness and truth. To see if I could find it. I asked. Didn't find it. I have lived in many parts of Spain. I was working in the field, had some money, car, home, women, but my heart wasn't calm. I was not happy. It was empty. I was getting out much at night. I came to Navarre in 2001. That year some friends came to visit me and they told me it was a good boy, that religion should be respected. And I put it into practice. I spent the first few days praying and crying with happiness. I felt good with the world. I was at peace with myself.
Q: Speaking of peace ... Your religion is related to terrorism
A: My religion forbids killing anyone.
Q: Why does Sumaya dress like that?
A: My wife wears a burka since before marrying me. In addition, it is said by the Qur'an, our holy book. There are two or three pages in the talk about women's rights.
Women must be covered to go out.
 
Q: People think you force her to wear a burqa.
A: She dresses well because it says that the Koran. Forcing her to dress like that would not help. It would be false. She is the one that has to want this. I respect the Spanish culture, I have many Spanish friends. Why do people think that we forced them to cover his face? It is not serious.
Q: But the Qu'ran says nothing about the burka. According to Islamic tradition or Sunna (second source of Islam), it was the prophet who set the women of his harem to wear the veil as a sign of identity.
A: Yes, the Koran says it, Mohammed interrupted.
The prophet explains what the Koran says. I can not say - begins to drop verses from the Koran. You have to cover the woman's neck, breasts ... When a woman passes the first thing we look at is the face, eyes. So you have to cover the face.
Q: What is most important for you, the heart or the physical appearance?
A: The heart. But first, you always look the flesh of women. After that, the heart is the boss.
Q: So how can a man fell in love with a woman who is concealed by a burqa?
 
A: I went to visit my family in a city near Melilla and Sumaya was there in the house, covered with the burka. My sister asked me if I wanted to marry her. In my country, love knows no age difference. For a year, we just talked. Everything was fine. All I wanted she wanted it too.
Q: For a year your relationship went on without seeing the face of your wife?
A: My religion says that the first day you can see the hands and face of your future wife, then you can not date her until you get married, is prohibited. I returned to Spain to work. Until the wedding night, I never saw her again.
Q: Does she also wear it at home?
A: If she is with her family members, she can take it away.
Q:  Do you like your wife?
A:  I love her. I'm happy with her.
Q: Is she happy?
A: Of course. She has always worn it.
 
Q: Does your wife like her life in Navarra? What is the kind of life she leads here?
A: (He is silent) She is religious. She likes very much to read the Koran. We go to the mosque. I have brothers here who come to help.
She is with me.
Q:  Does Sumaya have any hobbies?

A: She likes to cook, especially fish and tortilla.
Q: And the music?
A: No. .. she can not hear music.
It's prohibited because most of the songs express bad words.
Q: Do you walk together down the street?
A: When I was pregnant almost every day. Yes, arm in arm.
Q: Isn't Sumaya lacking nature's experience with all senses? For example, fresh air in the face ...
A: The burka has small holes. The air can enter through them.
For example, if we are in the country alone, she goes behind and discovers herself.
Q: Can she go out alone?
A: (He doubts for a few seconds.) If she wants to buy something, of course she can, but must be accompanied by her husband, father or son when she travels. The husband is the one who orders here. We are those who bring money home. In our religion we all have our work. And our women are to be at home. They have to explain to our children the religion. So we leave our wives at home.
Q: Do you think the burqa or veil allows Muslims to integrate into Europe?
A: I traveled a lot. I know and respect all cultures. I respect a woman if she wants to go without clothes, but if a woman wants to be coated, her will should be respected too. So far in Navarra, they respect us. We are calm.
Q: How about banning the burka?
A: It goes against the rights of women.
Q: What if one day it's forbidden here?
A: We would go immediately. We would go back to our country.
 
Q: What if your wife decides one day not to wear it anymore?
A: I would't not forbid it. She does this for god, not for me. I'm just her husband. I respect her.
Q: The Qur'an permits polygamy.
A: The Quran allows many things but I can not ...
Rachid terminates the interview. He has to cut his child's hair, as it's said in the Qu'ran it's necessary to mark the birth of a baby. He must also sacrifice a few lambs in his honor. On Tuesday the kill will take place. I ask to take a photo of them. At first, Rachib disapproves it. There are people at home. He thinks for a few seconds. Then he agreeds. "Wait a minute." He enters the house. Then he comes out. "You can now". The joy is gone. "Where are the children?". In the room there's nobody left. The burka is black. It covers her entire body. The hands also are hidden by black gloves. Sumaya doesn't even utter a word.
 
In the comments' section, some commenters say that she always goes behind her husband and that if the latter stops to speak to someone, she just stops too, but at a distance, as if she thought she was meddling in other people's business, and never utters a word.

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