Reem Maghribi, editor of Arab culture & lifestyle magazine SharqMagazine.com, and Lord Nazir Ahmed, Britain’s first Muslim peer, joined forces to win a debate in which they argued for the motion that the face veil hinders integration in the West.

The debate, to be aired on BBC World on 10 and 11 March, was conducted by the Doha Debates, a member of the Qatar Foundation, and was attended by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah, first lady of Qatar, nobel prize winner Ahmed Zewail and Mona Makram-Ebeid, former member of the Egyptian parliament, among other prominent figures.

Internationally renowned broadcaster, Tim Sebastian, formerly of BBC World’s HARDtalk programme chaired the debate. The audience, which included a large number of Qatari students, spent much of the one hour debate questioning Ms Maghribi & Lord Ahmed about the meaning of integration and the human rights of the individual. As testament to both the clarity of their arguments and the conviction in which they were delivered, the evening ended with 56.7% of the audience voting in favour of the motion that the face veil is a barrier to integration in the West.

Ms Maghribi argued that “it is the Muslim community’s responsibility to encourage dialogue with the West” and that “wearing a face veil makes Muslims appear as ‘the other’, encouraging people’s fear and alienation of Muslims.”

Lord Ahmed agreed saying "the niqab creates separation between Muslims and their host society. Islam is a religion of moderation and not extremism that encourages engagement and not separation."