Madam, - Ali Selim asks (Opinion, September 10) why the wearing of headscarves by Muslim women has become an issue now, given that it is a requirement dating back to the beginning of Islam. The answer is simple: because more Muslim women are now living in societies where Western culture is the norm.
He goes on to say that "a nun can wear a headscarf in the same society and nobody raises an eyebrow". Mr Selim should know that even nuns have moved on and that in most Western societies their "modesty", no more than any other woman's, is not determined by the wearing of a headscarf.
I do not know of anyone whose "determining source of rights and responsibilities. . .is materialism". It is insulting in the extreme to suggest that only Islam - or any narrowly defined faith - contains the means of living a just and responsible life. Certainly Western society faces difficulties and challenges, but so indeed does the Islamic community from the extremists in its midst.
Mr Selim's generalisations on women's roles are simplistic. Yes, women are exploited in Western society; but they have at least won the means to have their voices heard and to fight for change.
Education, intellectual debate and the challenging of existing structures have been core values of Western culture from the Renaissance to the present day. Many women find it difficult to reconcile those values with the practice and culture of Islam. - Yours, etc,
TINA BYRNE, Ballinteer, Dublin 16.