So the tide is rapidly turning against the Niqab in Europe. Muslims for the most part are sitting back and hedging their bets. They fall into four main camps:

Camp 1: The liberal fundamentalists

These Muslims hate Islam and anything connected with it. They see any form of hijaab, beard, or Muslim symbolism as a threat to their hopes for seamlessly integrating with the Western world and eventually becoming enlightened Europeans. They think the Niqab ban does not go far enough.

Read on...

Camp 2: The rationalist Ostriches

This group believe that the Niqab is an expendable feature of Islam in our quest for fitting in. They feel that by relinquishing the right to wear Niqab, the Western world will be happy to "allow" Muslim women the right to wear Hijab. They are like the proverbial bull who continually offers up one of its fellow bulls to the hungry Lion in the hope that their own turn will never come.

Camp 3: The irrational reactionists

This group see this as evidence that the West is evil and that Muslims are right and the best way to deal with this situation to get more women to wear Niqab, leave the West or just burn with impotent rage.  My money is on them burning with impotent rage.

Camp 4: The Jedi

This small group is so-called because of their keen perception, selfless devotion and ability to do things - not just try. This is a small band of brothers and sisters with whom the force of their faith is strong and who realise that the current external attacks on the Niqab are merely the inevitable result of a steep decline in the Imaan of the Muslim Ummah and our disunity. Instead of just fuming or protesting at the "West", they understand that what Allah means when He says that He will never change the situation of a people until they change themselves is ... (wait for it...this is amazing Jedi understanding) ...that He will not change the situation of a people until they change themselves! They intend to change the situation of the Ummah by uniting it upon Islam, one person at a time... the fate of the galaxy depends on it.

Which of these camps do you belong to?