As a veiled member of Sisters in Islam, I would like to respond to the letter from Ghimo Malaya entitled 'Sisters in Islam not a good source' (Aug 2). It is a shame that all the efforts of Sisters in Islam for over a decade to address injustices that are falsely perpetuated under the name of Islam, have been reduced to matters of the veil, some 45 inches of material on someone's head.

The recent workshop on Islamic Family Law and Justice for Muslim Women was composed of veiled and unveiled women from several countries working together for Allah in their respective communities.

Sisters in Islam consists of veiled and unveiled women working for Allah. In the history of Islam there have been veiled and unveiled women.

This reader is apparently under the illusion that all problems of gender injustice among Muslims will be resolved by a veil only. This ignorant assessment of the realities experienced by veiled and unveiled Muslim women for more than 1,400 years could make justice harder to achieve by giving permission to those who perpetuate the injustices to ignore the humanity of the ones oppressed by focusing on 45 inches of material.

It is time Muslims move towards issues of substance and stop repeating the empty platitudes.