Is it my right to wear it, or their right to remove it?
I am a graduate, who was educated at one of London's top universities. From the age of 13 and throughout my education I wore an Islamic headscarf (known also as the hijab) outside, in the classroom, and in the lecture theatre. I am a British Muslim and was able to do this freely, yet if I was French then my chosen faith would not be so easily accepted. France is moving to ban the wearing of the Islamic headscarf in schools.

I and thousands of others have made educated decisions to wear the Islamic headscarf. French Muslims are being denied this choice. They are protesting on the streets for their right to dress modestly in accordance with God's commands. To prevent them from doing so is discrimination, and would not be tolerated in the UK. It is an infringement on their human rights, yet the young Muslims in France are stuck in an establishment that does not wish to support them.

So what are the issues here?

The headscarf should be banned from schools because it is not fundamental to Islam and is therefore a display of extremism

The Quran clearly highlights that the Islamic headscarf is a basic religious requirement, just like fasting and other acts of worship.

*The Quran says...

'Say to the believing men that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty: and that will make for greater purity for them: And Allah is well acquainted with all that they do.

And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands....' (Chapter 24 Verse 30-31)

It is of great concern that such a basic requirement is going to be banned from French schools. The Islamic headscarf has been hijacked by the media as a symbol of oppression and extremism - everything abhorred by the West. Yet frankly, these traits are also detested among ordinary Muslims who choose and want to cover.


The Islamic headscarf oppresses women and therefore has no place in French schools

Some are arguing that by banning the headscarf young Muslim girls will be liberated. There is a minority of incidents when Muslim girls are forced by their parents to wear the headscraf, but banning the headscarf is not about those incidents. It is about the religious act which is detested by some. It is this group in society that can not understand that Muslim women choose to be Muslim. They choose Islam as their religion, and the headscarf as part of their way of life . The reasons why they choose to wear the headscarf are plenty, but one interesting point so many headscarf wearers will make is that they choose to wear the headscarf for greater freedom . So who do the French want to free? Muslim women on the whole are not oppressed and are not asking to be liberated.

When in France we should do as the French do.

Many in France who are protesting the ban are French. It is their country and their home. It is not as if they they are outsiders who as some think 'should go home.' The display of xenophobia is astounding. In the UK there have been many debates about foreigners mixing in with the British culture and way of life. I am British. I speak the language and eat the food. Yet what is British? Is the headscarf British?

My final thoughts...

As a Muslim woman I am greatly concerned. I feel desperately sad for the young Muslim women who will be forced to either remove the veil or remove themselves from the classroom. The Islamic headscarf cannot be removed from the public eye and it is a form of worship that cannot be confined to outside school hours. The headscarf is intended to be worn in public. It is a smack in the face of logic to demand Muslim girls to remove it.

I feel strongly that the French should not move to ban the headscarf from schools. Those who choose to wear it should be free to do so. Education about what Islam is really about is greatly needed. By banning the headscarf, the French are stripping French school girls of one of their basic rights. They should be free to cover and to worship God. When I was in school I chose to cover. It was one of the best decisions I made. No one wishes to break the law of the land. If in France the headscarf is banned, then I hope and pray that Muslim school girls choose to be liberated and remove themselves from the classroom. It is the only way. Education should not come with such a price. God commanded Muslim women to cover and it is this duty they must obey.

*There are other sources besides this one verse that support the Islamic headscarf. They are more specific about what to cover and who to cover in front of.

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