Assalamu alaikum, ya nesan!

The burka and its close associate the abaya-niqab combination has been thrust into the spotlight, rather unceremoniously, in recent times. It is an attire that is now illegal in our blessed island and indeed in many countries across the world, following years of opposition from all quarters of society. Although the vocal opponents of this garment come from feminists, racists and security establishments, their arguments are often contradictory and they are not people who can sustain a campaign for as long as the campaign against the burka has lasted. Therefore, this leads Ibn Serendib to conclude that the burka has a bigger enemy than those mentioned earlier; namely the technology industry.

Many tech companies have invested billions of dollars in face recognition and surveillance systems, in the hope that they will be deployed internationally, and yield massive profits for their creators. Face recognition surveillance works by employing a camera to capture an image of the subject’s face, and uses the features and proportions of the eyes, nose bridge and mouth to uniquely recognize an individual. One single camera can recognize potentially hundreds of such faces in its picture frame, per second, and match this with a database of each person’s record. The record will contain information of the person, including nationality, criminal history, and social media opinions. Artificial intelligence algorithms can determine whether the individual is a risk by using this information, and authorities could intercept potentially risky people.

features and proportions of the eyes, nose bridge and mouth to uniquely recognize an individual.

This technology is a necessity in our airports, train stations, highways and other transit locations, as checking desks are highly inefficient in coping with the ever-increasing population. This is where the burka, niqab and any other garments that conceals the face run afoul of the rulers. Face recognition surveillance only works if it can image your face, and if you are wearing a burka it cannot do so. Therefore, international security think tanks maybe motivated to eradicate this garment altogether. Face concealing motor cycle helmets, scarves and the such like have already been banned with a swift stroke of legislation. But the burka, has been a more sensitive issue due to its religious affiliations, and therefore needed a more sophisticated, if not subversive approach. Using an extremely serious issue like terrorism may have been employed to shock and scare people into accepting a burka ban. Ibn Serendib feels this maybe the motive behind recent events.

Face concealing motor cycle helmets, scarves and the such like have already been banned with a swift stroke of legislation. But the burka, has been a more sensitive issue...

The deep pockets of the technology industry, are highly capable of financing sustained campaigns for social change to increase the market success of their technology, and it isn’t entirely impossible that they will indirectly finance activists to advocate for changes on their behalf.

In the future Ibn Serendib feels that the hijab, caps, hats and beards will also be targeted to allow imaging the hairline and the jawline as face recognition parameters, to improve the accuracy of these systems. And it is interesting to imagine what type of social strategies will be employed to condition society to comply, in enabling these advances in technology.

Allah is all knowing, and all merciful!