Muslim Woman Ordered to ‘Remove Face Cover or Get Out’ at New Jersey Shopping Mall

Muslim Woman Ordered to ‘Remove Face Cover or Get Out’ at New Jersey Shopping Mall

A New Jersey Muslim woman was told to get out of a prominent shopping mall on Saturday because she was wearing a traditional Muslim face covering.

Wakeelah Salaam, who was born in the United States and was raised Muslim,  filed a complaint against Bridgewater Commons Mall after a security guard approached her twice demanding she remove the veil, known as a niqab, worn by some Muslim women.

'He said, 'ma'am, I'm telling you, you cannot wear that mask in here. He came as close to me as though he was going to kiss me, and then he made the hand gesture like he was going to lift it up for me,' Ms. Salaam said.

Salaam has always worn a long dress, or hijab, and a headscarf.  When she was in her mid-20s, she decided to start wearing the niqab that shows only her eyes whenever she's in public.

'This is a protection for me,' Ms Salaam told WABC. 'This is my honor'.

She said she had worn the niqab to visit a relative in prison and even in court so was shocked when she was refused entry to the mall, especially as she had shopped there before without any problems.

She eventually called the police and left the shopping centre.  'I felt threatened, like I couldn't walk and shop in the mall without this man asking me to take off my niqab,' she said.

The mall apologized adding that its security guard had received cultural diversity training.  An executive with the company that runs security at Bridgewater Commons later called Ms Salaam to apologize.

Face veils, niqabs and burqas have sparked controversy in a number of Western nations when Belgium and France banned wearing them in public spaces.

Posted by Melanie Mendoza on Thursday May 24 2012, 3:40 AM EST. Ref: Reuters. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Shopping. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0