Women have the right to dress as they please, but the rights of the individual have to be balanced with the rights of society. Taking up the current controversy over the veil, Tarek Fatah, founder of the Muslim Canadian Congress, writes in the Toronto-based Globe and Mail that the veil is not required by Islam, nor should it be viewed as a conflict between Muslims on one side and the “Islamophobic” West on the other. The debate, he argues, is being waged primarily within Muslim society and is part of the battle for the heart and soul of Muslim communities from Tunisia to Turkey, Indonesia to India, and right here in Canada. He cites Yusuf al-Qaradawi who said last week, “It is not obligatory for Muslim women to wear the niqab. The majority of Muslim scholars and I do not support the niqab in which women cover their faces.”