In the first such case in the US, aface-veiled Muslim woman filed a lawsuit against a judge who dismissed her casefor refusing to take off her veil, the Washington Post reported onThursday, March 29.

"I want to make sure everyone across the boardis able to practice their religion freely in a democratic society," saidGinnnah Muhammad.

The 42-year-old Muslim was contesting a $2,750charge from a rental-car company to repair a vehicle that she said thieves hadbroken into.

Judge Paul Paruk in US District Court in Detroit told her need tosee her face to be able to judge her truthfulness.

The woman, who runs an aromatherapy business insuburban Detroit,refused to take off her veil, prompting the judge to dismiss the case.

Attorney Nabih Ayad said his client unsuccessfullysought to get a different judge to hear her case and asked the judge to removehimself, a request he turned down.

She is now suing Judge Paruk on the ground that hisposition could affect those who will stand before him in the future.

"Thus, future harm is imminent," says thelawsuit.

It also cites a federal civil rights law in claimingthat the woman was denied access to the courts because of her religion.

Unconstitutional

The Muslim woman said the judge's decision todismiss her case was unconstitutional based on her First Amendment right topractice her religion.

"You should be able to be who you are as longas you're not a criminal or hurting other people," she insisted.

"The way I believe in Islam is that a woman isvery virtuous."

The woman stressed that she would have removed herveil before a female judge.

"We should be covered when we come out. Thisprotects me as well as other people. I believe that God wants me thatway."

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, nota religious symbol displaying one's affiliations.

As for the face veil, the majority of Muslimscholars believe that a woman is not obliged to cover her face or hands.

Scholars, however, believe that it is up to women todecide whether to take on the face veil.

The niqab issue came to the fore in the West after Britain'sHouse of Commons leader and former foreign secretary Jack Straw asked Muslimwomen to take off their face-cover if they wanted to meet him to listen totheir complaints.

A Muslim teacher in northern England hasbeen sacked for refusing to take off her face-cover.

Muslims activists fear Straw's comments might be aprelude to a wide-scale European ban on niqab in state bodies like hijab.

The Netherlandshas already announced plans to ban the face-cover in public places.