Quora Answer: Is It Fair to Ban the Burqa, Hijab & Niqab on Security Grounds?

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ 

The following is my answer to a Quora question: “On security grounds, is it fair to ban the burqa’, hijab, or niqab?” 

Strictly on the basis security, it is difficult to justify banning the hijab, which is essentially a scarf.  Are we then going to ban all manner of scarves, or any piece of cloth covering the head?  What about turbans, caps, berets or helmets?  We cannot claim it is because women are hiding bombs under those scarves. 

The niqab and the burqa, on the other hand, are clear security concerns because it hides the face, making identification of people in a high stress situation, and controlling a crowd, difficult.  Suicide bombers only require a split second, and there is a lot of room under the burqa for a suicide belt.