Veil Debate in Britain Is Also Divisive for Muslims

"They are not saying anything different from Jack Straw," said Alam, who does not wear a niqab. "But it has to come from the right place. What Jack Straw said really rubbed people the wrong way. They are saying, 'I'm going to wear this because you don't want me to.' "

The veil issue has also divided women's rights advocates, Muslim and non-Muslim. Some argue that wearing the veil is simply a woman's choice, whether a statement of quiet religious observance or a battle cry for political independence, and should not be questioned by white male government officials. But others call veils a sad symbol of oppression and subservience.

The Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie, whose book "The Satanic Verses" once led to death threats against him by Islamic clerics, recently said veils were "a way of taking power away from women." Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell said veils represent "women's subjugation."

But Alam called such comments "outdated." While a small number of women are compelled to wear veils by men in their family, she said, most do it for their own reasons: "They have reclaimed the veil and redefined it for themselves."

At the Whitechapel market, where back-to-back stalls offer practically everything from fabrics to phone cards and fennel, Razia, a married mother of two who was born in Britain, said she started wearing the niqab when she was 13. She was inspired by a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, she said, and listened to tapes of his sermons and saw him speak when he came to the East London Mosque.

"The face is the main thing about a person," she said. "If you expose it, others will judge whether you are pretty or not. It just makes sense according to my religion to wear it."

Razia said her mother had never worn the niqab but "became so inspired by me she started to wear it, too."

Razia, who studies math at Tower Hamlets College in east London, said a teacher there asked her to remove the veil "so we could better communicate." Now, Razia removes the veil during class, but "the moment I leave the classroom, I put it back on again," she said.

At home, she wears Western clothing. "I don't do it outside because there is no need to show the world your body," she said. "You can wear whatever at home in front of your husband. This is my way."