By insisting that she show only her green eyes to the world
through the narrow slit of her black veil, Sultaana LaKiana Myke Freeman has
suddenly become the focus of a national controversy.
The 35-year-old Florida mother of two and convert to Islam has taken the state
to court because it has refused to issue her a new driver's license unless she
agrees to be photographed with her face revealed. For Freeman, the lawsuit is
about her right to follow what she believes is a divine precept.
"I veil to obey my Lord," she said Thursday, speaking through the
full facial veil called a niqab. However, she added, she also needs to
drive.
"I can't even buy diapers when we are running low," said the Winter
Park woman, who gave birth to a son six months ago. She and her husband also
have a 2-year-old daughter.
State officials say Freeman's demand runs counter to their mandate to protect
the public in the environment of heightened security that has followed the
Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. A license showing only the bearer's eyes is of
little value for identification purposes, they say.
"The common-sense argument on our side is we need, and have a right as a
state, plus a constitutional duty, to ensure domestic tranquillity,"
Florida Atty. Gen. Charlie Crist said in an interview. "It's important
that when someone presents an ID that it be that person."
Arguments concluded Thursday in a nonjury trial before Circuit Judge Janet C.
Thorpe, who said she expected to rule by late next week. The trial was shown on
Court TV.
"Rather than respecting her religious values, the state is using her as a
scapegoat in this so-called war on terror," attorney Howard S. Marks, who
was provided to Freeman by the American Civil Liberties Union, said as the
trial began Tuesday. "As if restricting one woman's ability to drive her
kids to the doctor or go grocery shopping does anything to make us safer."
Shortly after moving to Florida from Decatur, Ill., Freeman obtained a Florida
driver's license with a photograph of herself clad in her veil. According to
the ACLU, she also had a license in Illinois that showed her wearing the black
hood.
Then came the 2001 attacks and the discovery that some of the 19 hijackers had
obtained Florida licenses. The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles
asked Freeman to replace the photo with one showing her entire face. She
refused, and her license was revoked.
Florida officials deny that they have made a scapegoat of Freeman, or that
religion is an issue in her case. They say the Legislature adopted a law in
1967 that requires every driver's license applicant to submit "a
full-faced photograph or digital image of the licensee."
"I'm not aware of any exceptions ever being made to the statute,"
said Bob Sanchez, a spokesman for the Department of Highway Safety and Motor
Vehicles in Tallahassee.
Crist, the attorney general, said officials were so sensitive to Freeman's
faith that they offered to clear all males from an office issuing licenses so
she could be photographed by a female staff member. "We are very
respectful of all religions," Crist said. "We've offered to take her
photo in private."
The state of Florida flew in Khaled Abou El Fadl, a UCLA law professor
specializing in Islamic law, who testified Wednesday that there are times
observant Muslim women might be expected, out of necessity, to bare their
faces.
A Muslim academic advisor from the University of Central Florida, called to the
stand by Marks, testified that Freeman's strict interpretation of her faith
means she has to keep the veil on except in instances where her life might be
in danger.
Marks argued that 800,000 people including members of the military already
are allowed to drive in Florida using temporary permits and other documents
that lack full-face photos. Allowing another exception, he added, would not
increase the danger to the public.
Freeman said Thursday that she has received many supportive phone calls and
e-mails. Some prominent American Muslims, however, have expressed concerns that
the lawsuit might make it seem as though believers in Islam are making
unreasonable, even potentially dangerous, demands on American society.
"I think you could easily make the case that this takes things too
far," said Hussein Ibish, communications director of the Washington-based
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. "If she is so determined not
to show her face, perhaps she shouldn't drive."
Complicating the issue is the lack of any uniform standard of what constitutes
proper attire for Islamic women. "Only a small number of Muslim women
believe in wearing a veil," said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, a Los Angeles
physician and spokeswoman for the Muslim Women's League. "There are
different degrees of modesty, and one cannot say there's only one way and any
other way is wrong."
As noted in testimony, many predominantly Muslim countries require photos of a
woman's uncovered face for identity documents. In Pakistan, "driver's
licenses need a picture," Mohammed Sadiq, chief of mission at the
Pakistani Embassy in Washington, said in a telephone interview. Even for
religious pilgrimages to Saudi Arabia, a passport carrying a photo that clearly
shows a woman's features is required, Sadiq said.
For Freeman, who identifies herself as a member of the ultraorthodox Salafiyya
branch of Islam, what counts is how she interprets her religious duties.
"Whether you believe that the niqab is a requirement of Muslim
women or not, the fact is it is how I have chose to practice my
religion," she said in a written statement.
Freeman, a native-born U.S. citizen previously known as Sandra Kellar, said she
converted in 1997 after opening the Koran and finding "the literal word of
Allah." In court Thursday, she sat quietly, clad in a flowing black hood
and robe, as the lawyers made their summations.
Abdul-Maalik, her husband, said that he and his wife were overwhelmed by the
national attention, but that they felt obligated to persevere. "It's a
little bit more than we bargained for," said the man, who wore a white
robe and Muslim prayer cap. "But our course is to serve our Lord,
period."