The veil was originally worn by Arab Muslim womenfolk as a mark of cleanliness and Godliness to distinguish them from the idol-worshiping Arabs, who were out to slaughter the ummah way back in the 600s AD.

It is now 1,400 years later, and the disciples of those great false prophets of women's enslavement, Mr Saud and Mr Wahhab, of 'Saudi' Arabia, insist that God forces Muslim women to cover their hair at all times.

What? Do we still need to distinguish Muslims from non-Muslims these days? Aren't the non-Muslims of today People Of The Book, namely the Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and Sikhs? Aren't the idol-worshipers at war with Islam gone forever?

The truth is, the death of Ali, the St Peter of Islamdom, in 661AD, and the resultant rise of the autocratic Ummayad, Abbasid and Ottoman dynasties, marked the demise of the true, rightly- guided Islamic Commonwealth that strove to create a just world order, the best of humankind.

The Islamic Commonwealth which the Holy Prophet and his Rightly Guided Caliphs or Disciples Abu Bakar, Omar, Osman and Ali upheld came to an end with Ali's demise. Ali's demise marked the end of Islamdom's claim to be the boss of the human race.

The context of wearing the veil changed once Islam reached the shores of non-Arab countries and non-desert countries, such as Malaysia's Kelantan sultanate. While women of the Arab world wore the veil to denote cleanliness and Godliness with desert storms as their backdrop, the same cannot be said of Malay women in the tropics who have monsoon rains as their backdrop.

Wearing the veil should be entirely optional, and nobody should compel others to do so in this time and age. It is against Islam to make life uncomfortable for Muslims.

And before one calls me a person who approves Britney Spears hemlines above the knees and very brief dressing, I wish to say that I'm against the British-isation of Islamdom. Hemlines above the knee for women, as well as women's fashion which almost resemble bikinis, are no-nos if Islam's true path of moderation and Asian values are to be adhered to.

And as for the men, jewellery is a no-no if one is a practising Muslim.

Also, contrary to popular non-Muslim belief, giving special privileges and rights to women is a very, very Islamic thing to do. Any Muslim man who says that Islam gives a little more to men as opposed to women is not a practising Muslim.