Pauline Hanson has suggested Muslim women are paid to wear the burqa after a Swiss academic backed her stance on the Islamic garment and said ‘the burqa is not Islamic’.
Dr Elham Manea, from the University of Zurich, said the burqa originated in Saudi Arabia and was made popular with oil money in the 1970s.
Senator Hanson, who leads One Nation, said the burqa was a political symbol and not a religious one.
Senator Hanson, who leads One Nation, said the burqa was a political symbpl and not a religious one
Speaking on 2GB radio on Tuesday, Ms Hanson said she believed Muslim women in Australia would support the banishment of the burqa.
‘Look, there are women here who I really do believe would really love us to bring in laws that they don’t have to wear the burqa anymore,’ she said.
‘But they’re actually controlled by their husbands and their fathers and brothers and they have to do it.
‘And I do believe that, what I’ve heard is, there are women getting paid to wear the burqa.’
Ms Hanson’s comment comes after Muslim scholar and human rights advisor Associate Professor Elham Manea (pictured right) said the burqa was not a garment of faith
Dr Manea (pictured right) said the veiled garment was not worn by women outside of Nejd until Saudi Arabia’s Wahabi regime came to power in the late 1970s
Ms Hanson’s comment comes after Muslim scholar and human rights advisor Associate Professor Elham Manea said the burqa was not a garment of faith.
‘The burqa is not Islamic,’ she told the ABC.
Dr Manea said the veiled garment was not worn by women outside of Nejd until Saudi Arabia’s Wahabi regime came to power in the late 1970s.
With Gulf money, she said the burka turned into an ‘Islamic’ tradition.
Dr Manea, a Swiss-Yemeni citizen, said Senator Hansons burqa-wearing stunt should not have been so harshly condemned by her peers in the Senate
While Dr Manea did not align her beliefs with those of Ms Hanson (pictured), she said the burqa was a sign of segregation, separation and the rejection of modern day values
Dr Manea, a Swiss-Yemeni citizen, said Senator Hansons burqa-wearing stunt should not have been so harshly condemned by her peers in the Senate.
She said conversation surrounding the burqa was hugely important.
‘To tell me that by talking about the burqa we are hurting the feelings of the Muslims is not only inaccurate, with all due respect, it’s almost racist,’ she said.
While she did not align her beliefs with those of Ms Hanson, she said the burqa was a sign of segregation, separation and the rejection of modern day values.
‘(It reflects) a culture that treats woman as a sexualised object that has to be covered,’ she said.