Maajid Nawaz Pleads With His 'Muslim Sisters' To Remove Their Face Veils

29 April 2017, 13:23 | Updated: 29 April 2017, 13:52

In this clip Maajid Nawaz pleads with his 'Muslim sisters' to respect the current climate and remove their face veils.

Footage showing a bus passenger in Muslim dress, screaming, as officers pulled her off the public transport in north London recently has faced some backlash.

She was pulled into a doorway next to a convenience store, had her bags searched, and forced to lower her veil after she was trailed by undercover police.

While this is a horrible clip, Maajid Nawaz asked whether, following recent terror attacks/scares, these mistakes are worth it in order to keep the public safe.

Maajid, a Muslim himself, says given the current climate, Muslim woman should remove their face veils out of respect. 

He said while he would never condone making them illegal, on a moral basis, he thinks Muslim women covering their faces should remove the veil. 

Maajid said: "This is my heartfelt plea to all of my Muslim sisters in this country who are covering their faces. Please, in the current climate, just take it off.  

"Take off that face veil. Last week you heard me say that I don't support calls to ban face veils, and I will repeat that, I will defend your right, legally, to cover your face.  

"But I will ask you morally to remove that face veil. It is not mandated by the religion, and is not conducive to the current atmosphere, where terrorists are using, they using your attire, to escape, and it's not therefore safe for you.

"It's not safe for you. Do you know why it's not safe for you, my Muslim sisters? It's not safe for you, because your Muslim Brother, Yassin Omar, a member of the 21/7 terrorist cell, used your attire to flee, dressed like you.  

"It's not safe for you, not because of what the police are doing, but because Mustaf Jama, slipped out of [the] UK, a man, your brother, slipped out of the UK dressed in a burqa.  

"A murder suspect, that's why it's not safe for you. Not because of the police. It's not safe for you because terror suspect Mohammad, abused your dress, and absconded, after emerging from a mosque in West London, disguised in a burqa.  

"That's why it's not safe for you, and the police, what are they expected to do? If they didn't keep us safe, if that woman did indeed have triggers in her bag, and if she was indeed a male, even, terrorist suspect disguised as one of you in a face veil, and they blew that bus up, then of course there would be a far bigger outcry than the mere screams of that one woman we heard, who ended up leaving without being harmed, without having any bones in her body broken.  

"And so though I will defend your right to cover your faces legally, I will ask you morally, religiously, and commonsenseically [sic], remove those face veils. 

"Keep your hair covered all you like, wear loose flowing gown, a jilbab, all you like. But for God's sake, in this day and age, show your faces."