Is Russia Banning Islam?

HUMAN EVENTS: Russia appears to be taking serious moves to combat the “radicalization” of Muslims within its border.

Recent pro-Islamic reports are complaining that Russia is banning the Islamic hijab—the headdress Islamic law requires Muslim women to wear—and, perhaps even more decisively, key Islamic scriptures, on the charge that they incite terrorism.

In the words of Arabic news site Elaph, “Russia is witnessing a relentless war on the hijab. It began in a limited manner but has grown in strength, prompting great concern among Russia’s Muslims.”

The report continues by saying that women wearing the hijab are being “harassed” especially in the “big cities”; that they are encountering difficulties getting jobs and being “subject to embarrassing situations in public areas and transportation. The situation has gotten to the point that even educational institutions, including universities, have issued decrees banning the wearing of the hijab altogether.” Moscow’s Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University appears mentioned as one of the schools to ban the donning of the hijab on its premises, specifically, last September (the New York Times bemoaned an earlier instance of anti-hijab sentiment in 2013).

While this move against the hijab may appear as discriminatory against religious freedom, the flipside to all this—which perhaps Russia, with its significant Muslim population is aware of—is that, wherever the Islamic hijab proliferates, so too does Islamic supremacism and terrorism. Tawfik Hamid, a former aspiring Islamic jihadi, says that “the proliferation of the hijab is strongly correlated with increased terrorism…. Terrorism became much more frequent in such societies as Indonesia, Egypt, Algeria, and the U.K. after the hijab became prevalent among Muslim women living in those communities.” Read on and comment » | Raymond Ibrahim | Tuesday, November 25, 2014

The Police Joint Union Says No to the Hijab
AFTENBLADET.NO: The police department is considering whether the head-wear, hijab [,] should be allowed to be [sic] work with the police uniform. The Police Joint Union says the hijab doesn’t belong with the uniform.

“We have very stringent regulations. It is not allowed to wear personal items that signify political or value-related standpoints. Use of the hijab would be in conflict with this principle,” says Arne Johannessen, leader of the Police Joint Union to NRK.

The question of use of the hijab in the police was raised a week ago. A 23-year old woman from Sandnes in Rogaland wrote a letter to the Police department, asking how this would be viewed, were she to wear a hijab with the police uniform.

The armed forces allow use of the hijab. It is also used in conjunction with the police uniform in Great Britain and USA.

Johannessen admits that use of the hijab might make it easier for the police in their contact with muslim women, but thinks this argument doesn’t hold its ground against the principle of the matter. [Source: Aftenbladet] | October 8, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback & Hardback) / Free delivery >>>

Hijab Brought Me to Islam: Jessica
MUSLIM MIRROR: Jessica Rhodes is a 21 year old female from Norwich, UK who works as a telesales consultant and is also a student. She was a Pagan before reverting to Islam a month ago.

She was born in 1991 and was adopted in 1993. Grew up in a small seaside town on the south east coast of England, she went to university at 19 to study for a degree in Music and she hopes to do postgraduate qualifications in counselling starting September 2013.

She has an amazing story of her reversion and how she got attracted to Islam. New York based lady Nazma Khan started a campaign known as ‘world hijab day’. The movement has been organised almost solely over social networking sites. It has attracted interest from Muslims and non-Muslims in more than 50 countries across the world. For many people, the hijab is a symbol of oppression and divisiveness. It’s a visible target that often bears the brunt of a larger debate about Islam in the West. World Hijab Day is designed to counteract these controversies. It encourages non-Muslim women (or even Muslim women who do not ordinarily wear one) to don the hijab and experience what it’s like to do so, as part of a bid to foster better understanding.

It was social networking that got Jessica Rhodes involved. Her friend Widyan Al Ubudy lives in Australia and asked her Facebook friends to participate. Jessica who was a non-Muslim decided to participate in the world hijab day. She says: “I took part in the first World Hijab Day and challenged myself to wear the hijab for a month. I then began reading the Quran and the words in the Quran seemed logical and clear, rather than in the Bible where they tend to waffle. I also did some research into Islam as a whole and felt that it was an inclusive religion that could give me the answers I was looking for”. Although her parents were little apprehensive, if it was a good idea or she may be attacked in the streets because of non-tolerance. » | Imaan Ali for Muslim Mirror | Sunday, March 31, 2013

Attackers Cut Ponytails from Iranian 10-year-old Girls Who Refuse to Wear Hijab

THE TELEGRAPH: Youngsters threatened with ‘big knife’ by unknown assailants, as police demand daughters should not ‘defy our religious values’

Iranian girls are having their hair hacked off by unknown assailants, in what police suggested could be punishment for refusing to wear the hijab.

Girls as young as 10 have had their ponytails chopped off by assailants who threatened them with a “big knife”. The hijab is mandatory from the age of seven in Iran.

The attacks are being carried out by someone who stops girls while driving a car around the streets of Damavand province, according to Arman Melli Online, an Iranian news website.

He is said to move from neighbourhood to neighbourhood and reportedly has been carrying bags filled with hair braids, some of them in multiple colours.

A spokesman for Tehran’s police chief, Babak Namakshenas, said the attacks were “the result of ignoring the Islamic social codes”. » | Ahmed Vahdat | Thursday, July 6, 2023

I spent many years working in the Middle East in years gone by. When I worked in Saudi Arabia, girls as young as ten were not required to wear hijab at all. I was informed on good authority, by a knowledgeable Saudi, that girls were only required to wear hijab upon reaching the age of puberty. Before that, there is no requirement for them to wear it. However, at puberty, the wearing of hijab becomes mandatory. So why are the Iranian authorities insisting that Iranian children wear hijab? Prior to puberty, a girl is but a child. When I worked in Saudi, I often saw little girls playing with each other with the wind blowing through their hair. It seems to me that the Iranians might perhaps have a distorted understanding of the strictures of Islam. – © Mark Alexander

Iran: Woman Arrested for Having Breakfast without Wearing Hijab

FIRST POST: Even as anti-hijab protests continued in Iran and spread to Afghanistan, an Iranian woman named Donya Rad was arrested for having breakfast without wearing a hijab on Friday.

Donya Rad was arrested for having breakfast without wearing a hijab. Image Courtesy: @AlinejadMasih
New Delhi: Even as anti-hijab protests continued in Iran and spread to Afghanistan, an Iranian woman named Donya Rad was arrested for having breakfast without wearing a hijab on Friday.

The information was shared on Twitter by Iranian journalist and activist Masih Alinejad whose post read, “The woman who posted this photo got arrested for the crime of having breakfast without hijab! This is the horrific story of being a woman in Iran in 21st century.”

“Her name is Donya Rad. Women will continue their civil disobedience every day,” her post added. » | FP Staff | Friday, September 30, 2022

Some Muslims In a Tiz-Woz Over Denmark’s Hijab Competition
Photo of Hudah Falah, the winner of Denmark’s hijab competition, courtesy of The National
THE NATIONAL - UAE: Beauty contests for women who wear the hijab are against the “spirit” of the Islamic message, says Shadia Abdullah, a board member of Jumeirah Islamic Learning Centre in Dubai.



Miss Headscarf 2008 took place in Denmark this month, giving a platform to “cool Muslim women who often make up a very fashion-conscious and style-confident part of the Danish street scene”.


The competition’s website has had more than 100,000 hits and the contest’s popularity means it is likely to be repeated.

A total of 46 women entered the competition and submitted photographs of themselves in hijab to the organiser, Danmarks Radio. The state broadcaster offered an iPod to the winner and magazine subscriptions to five finalists.



“The whole idea of the hijab is for a woman to cover herself and conceal her beauty,” Miss Abdullah said. “It is not about being ostentatious and showing off, but about being modest. This contest contradicts all those things.”

There were, she said, “a lot of criteria attached to wearing the hijab. For example, it should not be too flashy, expensive, show class or race differences, or draw too much attention to the wearer.

“It is as much about your behaviour when you are wearing it and covering what is inside while asking not to be judged on your looks,” Miss Abdullah said. “Islam does not say we should not be interested in fashion, but that industry is all about consumerism and our faith says you should not let fashion dictate to you.”

Some of the entrants sent in head-and-shoulders photographs, while others stood with hands on hips or struck provocative poses. The winner was Iraqi-born Huda Falah, 18, chosen for her “hidden beauty”. Danish Hijab Contest ‘Contradicts’ Modesty >>> By Tahira Yaqoob | June 16, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US)

Cornered – Princess Hijab, Paris's Elusive Graffiti Artist
THE GUARDIAN: Princess Hijab daubs Muslim veils on half-naked fashion ads on the metro. Why does she do it? Is she a religious fundamentalist? And is she really a woman? Angelique Chrisafis meets the elusive street artist

Princess Hijab . . . 'I use veiled women as a challenge. The veil can be as profane as it is sacred'. Photograph: The Guardian
Just after dawn at Havre- Caumartin metro station, Paris's first commuters are stepping on and off half-empty trains. Then, at the end of the platform, a figure in black appears, head bowed and feet tapping with nerves.

Princess Hijab is Paris's most elusive street artist. Striking at night with dripping black paint she slaps black Muslim veils on the half-naked airbrushed women – and men – of the metro's fashion adverts. She calls it "hijabisation". Her guerrilla niqab art has been exhibited from New York to Vienna, sparking debates about feminism and fundamentalism – yet her identity remains a mystery.

In secular republican France, there can hardly be a more potent visual gag than scrawling graffitied veils on fashion ads. Six years after a law banned headscarves and all conspicuous religious symbols from state schools, Nicolas Sarkozy's government has banned the niqab from public spaces amid a fierce row over women's rights, islamophobia and civil liberties. The "burqa ban", approved last month, means that from next year it will be illegal for a woman to wear full-face Muslim veils in public, not just in government offices or on public transport, but in the streets, supermarkets and private businesses. The government says it is a way of protecting women's rights and stopping them being forced by men to cover their faces. >>> Angelique Chrisafis | Thursday, November 11, 2010

GUARDIAN PHOTO GALLERY: Princess Hijab: underground resistance – The Paris metro system is under attack - by graffiti artist extraordinaire Princess Hijab, who provocatively adds veils to billboard advertising. Here are some of her best works >>> | Thursday, November 11, 2010

Iran’s Onerous Hijab Law for Women Is Now a Campaign Issue

THE NEW YORK TIMES: In a sign that a women-led movement has gained ground, all of the men running for president have distanced themselves from the harsh tactics used to enforce mandatory hijab.

Iranian officials insisted for decades that the law requiring women to cover their hair and dress modestly was sacrosanct and not even worth discussion. They dismissed the struggle by women who challenged the law as a symptom of Western meddling.

Now, as Iran holds a presidential election this week, the issue of mandatory hijab, as the hair covering is known, has become a hot campaign topic. And all six of the men running, five of them conservative, have sought to distance themselves from the methods of enforcing the law, which include violence, arrests and monetary fines.

“Elections aside, politics aside, under no circumstances should we treat Iranian women with such cruelty,” Mustafa Pourmohammadi, a conservative presidential candidate and cleric with senior roles in intelligence, said in a round-table discussion on state television last week. He has also said that government officials should be punished over the hijab law because it was their duty to educate women about why they should wear hijab, not violently enforce it.

The hijab has long been a symbol of religious identity but has also been a political tool in Iran. And women have resisted the law, in different ways, ever since it went into effect after the Islamic Revolution in 1979. » | Farnaz Fassihi and Leily Nikounazar | Monday, June 24, 2024

FIFA to Vote on Lifting Hijab Ban, Prince Ali Says Scarf Poses No Danger

TORONTO STAR: Sprained ankles. Pulled hamstrings. Bloodied knees.

The 350 girls in the Islamic Soccer League are not afraid of a little rough stuff on Toronto’s east-end pitches, logging trophy wounds and earning bragging rights playing the game they love.

But not one girl has been on the DL because of hijab injury – despite insistence by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body, that headscarves are a danger to Islamic women who want to bend it like Beckham.

“We’ve never had an incident where hijab was an issue,” says Majied Ali, president of the 1,600-member ISL, whose female players – aged 5 to 18 –play with or without hijab. He estimates about 75 per cent of the girls wear it.

“Most of our girls tie hijab round their heads, not around their necks, somewhat similar to how a bandana is tied. Some other girls have invested in the Velcro-type of (tear-away) hijab.” » | Mary Ormsby | Feature Writer | Saturday, March 03, 2012

FIFA Dress Code Bars Iran Girls From Youth Games
ASSOCIATED PRESS: ZURICH — Iran's girls' soccer team was thrown out of the Youth Olympics because FIFA rules prevent players from wearing an Islamic headscarf.

Thailand replaces Iran in the August tournament, the governing body of Asian soccer said on its Web site Monday.

The hijab scarf — worn by girls and women to observe Islamic dress code — was not allowed under FIFA rules relating to on-field equipment, the Asian Football Confederation said. Iran's national Olympic committee had urged soccer's international ruling body and the International Olympic Committee to review the ban.

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke rejected the Iranian Olympic panel's request in a letter to the national soccer federation. He said the FIFA executive committee had "no choice but to take the decision."

FIFA maintains that soccer's international rulebook contains a section on player equipment, stating that "basic compulsory equipment must not have any political, religious or personal statements." >>> | Easter Monday, April 05, 2010

Iran Demands Fifa Lifts Olympic Games Football Hijab Ban
THE TELEGRAPH: Iran has demanded that Fifa overturn a ban on its girls football team from the Youth Olympic games after the team was kicked out for wearing Islamic scarves that contravene international rules.

Players of Iran's women national football team. Photograph: The Telegraph
Iran's national Olympic committee had called on Fifa, football's world governing body, and the International Olympic Committee to review the ban on the hijab.

The hijab is worn women beyond the age of puberty to observe Islamic rules on modesty and interaction of the sexes.

"We have asked the heads of these international sports organisations to review and annul Fifa's decision," Bahram Afsharzadeh, the Iranian Olympic committee secretary general said. "Hijab is related to the Islamic culture and Muslim women can't take part in social activities without it." >>> Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent | Tuesday, April 06, 2010

John Lewis's New Line, Hijabs to Wear at School: Department Store Signs Contract with Schools in London and Liverpool to Offer Conservative Islamic Clothing

MAIL ONLINE: John Lewis is offering hijab in school uniform department for the first time / Headdress is to be sold in the company's stores in London and Liverpool / Retailer signed contracts with two schools, including Islamia Girls' School / Hijab covers head and chest and is worn by Muslim women after puberty

John Lewis is offering the hijab in its school uniform department for the first time.

The headdress is to be sold in the company’s stores in London and Liverpool after it signed contracts with two schools – one which was set up to educate Muslim girls and a second that welcomes pupils from all religious communities.

The hijab covers the head and chest and is worn by Muslim women after the onset of puberty as a sign of modesty in the presence of men who are outside their immediate family.

It is different from the niqab, which is a full face veil and has proved divisive in schools and public life, for example if wearers are giving evidence in court.

There has been controversy over whether it is right for girls attending state schools to wear religious dress rather than the standard uniform.

But the fact that a mainstream retailer is starting to stock the hijab alongside blazers and blouses is likely to be welcomed as a breakthrough by Muslim parents who have so far had to rely on specialist shops. » | Sean Poulter, Consumer Affairs Editor | Saturday, August 16, 2014

A Growing Islamic Identity for Chechnya
USA TODAY: SERZHEN-YURT, Chechnya – Seda Makhagieva, 15, had to fight to wear the hijab, a scarf that some Muslims say must be worn by women and older girls.

"My family didn't allow me to wear it at first," the petite Chechen girl said as she wrapped a pastel-colored scarf around her head and neck, concealing every strand of her long, brown hair.

"They said I was too young. My mom beat my sister and me every day, but I didn't care: I am a Muslim and it is my duty to wear it."

Half of the girls in Seda's ninth-grade class in the Chechen village of Serzhen-Yurt near the Chechen capital, Grozny, now wear the hijab, a sharp break from local tradition. In past generations, married women in Chechnya covered their hair with a small, triangle-shaped scarf as a sign of respect and modesty.

But these girls are part of a new trend in the republic that has seen two wars in the past few decades and a rise in adherence to the kinds of codes promoted by fundamentalist Muslims. Some Muslims are fighting against it.

"I didn't want them to wear the hijab. I argued, yelled and even beat them," said Seda's mother, Rosa Makhagieva, 45, whose three daughters all cover themselves in loose-fitting, modest clothes. "My husband was against me. He said, 'If you don't allow them to wear it, I am going to make you put it on.' "

Though Islam first arrived in the North Caucasus around 500 years ago, decades of religious repression under communism made it difficult to practice. Now mosques are packed with worshipers every day, and the hijab is becoming increasingly popular. » | Diana Markosian, Special for USA TODAY | Thursday, March 22, 2012

Clashes in Enghelab Square Over Improper Hijab
PERSIAN2ENGLISH: According to reports by Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran, clashes occurred today at 2:20pm on Enghelab Square between young Iranian citizens and police forces who tried to arrest young women for “improper hijab”.

As one young woman resisted, fellow citizens came to her aid and drivers honked in protest. Police called in for backup. Police on motorcycles arrived on the scene and arrested at least four young citizens.

Witnesses described the behaviour of the police as brutal and stated they beat anyone standing around.

Reports also indicate that the police asked for money from young women accused of improper hijab. The hijab crackdown by police is believed to be a tactic to instill fear in citizens to prevent protests on June 12, 2010. [Source: Persian2English] | Thursday, June 10, 2010

Übersetzung: Unzureichende Verschleierung: Zusammenstöße am Enghelab-Platz >>> Von Julia | Donnerstag, 10. Juli 2010

Julias Blog >>>

French Rapper Stuns Fans, Makes First TV Appearance Wearing Hijab
AL ARABIYA NEWS: Amid a nationwide debate in France surrounding attitudes towards the Islamic veil, or hijab, a French rapper has surprised fans by announcing her conversion to Islam and choosing to wear a headscarf.

Mélanie Georgiades, known as Diam’s, has gone through what onlookers have described as a “complete transformation” from an image she had prior to 2009.

Since 2009, Diam’s had been unusually absent from the mainstream rap scene, prompting more than three years of controversy over her whereabouts, despite making the odd public appearance with her scarf. But recently the French rapper made her first television appearance with her new image.

Diam’s appeared in an exclusive TV interview with French TV station TF1, to talk about a past experience with drugs, including hallucinating narcotics, and being in a mental asylum until she discovered the “serenity of Islam.” The rapper said the religion was introduced to her by coincidence, when she saw a Muslim friend praying.

Diam’s, said she has been married for over a year and is a now a new mother, moving far away from her drug-relate past.

In her TV interview she said her “conversion to Islam was the result of a personal conviction, after understanding the religion and reading the Holy Quran.”

When asked about wearing the hijab in France, a country which has banned the niqab, she said: “I believe that I live in a tolerant society, and I don’t feel hurt by criticism, but by insults and stereotyping and ready-made judgments.”

Asked by her host about why she is wearing a hijab while many Muslim women don’t wear it, and don’t find it to be a religious obligation, she answered: “I see it as a divine order or a divine advice, this brings joy to my heart and for me this is enough.” (+ video) » | Ramdane Belamri | Al Arabiya | Monday, October 02, 2012

Mélanie Raconte son récit du Rap à l'Islam »

Lien en relation avec l’article »

Barbara Kay, Quebec Shock Jock Is Accused by the Usual Suspects of a Hit Job on a Hijab
NATIONAL POST: There's a witch hunt going on in Quebec, and as all too often in this country's linguistically fractured country, what is happening in Quebec seems to be staying in Quebec. This is annoying, because it's a free-speech issue that concerns us all.

Here is the story, with details provided from Richard Martineau's post in Canoe, the Journal de Montreal's comment blog. On September 10, outspoken 98.5 FM radio host Benoît Dutrizac interviewed NDP candidate for Bourassa riding, Samira Laouni. Ms Laouni is an observant Muslim (she wears the hijab) and has worked as project manager for the Canadian Islamic Congress, a militant lobby for Islamic interests, including, most troublingly, the introduction of Sharia law. Dutrizac has a reputation for impertinence - in fact, many Quebec radio show hosts permit themselves the kind of shock-jock licence you would never find in the rest of Canada - so nobody is suggesting the interview wasn't meant to provoke discomfort in Ms Laouni.

Dutrizac pressed hard on such issues as the CIC's reputation for extremist views, where Ms Laouni stands on Sharia, whether she is prepared to defend the rights of homosexuals, and does she find it unacceptable that ten-year old girls have to wear the hijab. He also asked her if she had to ask her husband's permission to launch her political campaign (she said no). Ms Laouni stood up well to the challenge, the mood was playful, relaxed and warm, and both laughed frequently. Listen for yourself. Even if you don't speak French, you can sense that both are very much at ease, that Dutrizac holds no personal animosity, and that Ms Lauoni is totally on top of the situation. At the end of the interview, Dutrizac asked NDP big wig Thomas Mulcair, who had accompanied Ms Laouni to the station, if he was happy with how it had gone. Mulcair flashed him a smile and a two-thumbs-up.

Against the backdrop of Dutrizac's career-long history of aggressive and even what many would call at times offensive tactics, this was completely normal. But reaction from the hard left was swift and heated. The left wing "The Dominion" wrote that "Madame Laouni has been viciously attacked by a racist, misogynist and Islamophobic host." The Ontario branch of CUPE said "Dutrizac must resign and the CRTC should lead an inquiry into the hate-filled and sexist words directed to a Muslim candidate." The Canada-Arab Federation demanded that "The Corus network should review its policies in the area of hate speech and enforce harassment training on all its personnel." Barbara Kay, Quebec Shock Jock Is Accused by the Usual Suspects of a Hit Job on a Hijab >>> By Jonathan Kay | September 29, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Canada) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Canada) >>>

Women Who Reject the Hijab Are ‘Stupid, Naïve and Ignorant’ Says Top Islamic Scholar

EGYPTIAN STREETS: The debate around Islamic headscarves (Hijab) and an Islamic dress code for women is still raging in Egypt. Sheikh Ali Gomaa, an internationally known Islamist jurist and Egypt’s ex-Grand Mufti (top interpreter of religious edicts issued by Muslim clerics), recently joined the debate with some very surprising and alarming comments.

On live television, Sheikh Gomaa not only reaffirmed that headscarves (Hijab) are mandatory in Islam; he labeled any woman who disputes this interpretation as an infidel. Moreover, he said women who reject the Hijab are “stupid, naive and ignorant.”

His comments have raised fears among non-Islamist Egyptians that supposedly moderate mainstream scholars are now giving their blessing to new institutionalized Islamism.

In Egypt, the dress code for women has been controversial for nearly 100 years. The controversy started in 1919, when many women took off their veils as a gesture of support for Egypt’s freedom from British occupation. Political Islamist groups, however, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, have always campaigned for a strict Islamic dress code that includes covering the head as a minimum requirement for Muslim women. The group’s supporters resorted to social coercion to spread their message, using fear tactics (such as threats of punishment in the afterlife) to ensure adherence to the dress code. Salafists have opted for an even blunter approach, with a sharper dose of social coercion against women in their social circles. » | Nervana Mahmoud | Doctor, Commentator and Writer on Middle East Issues | Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Hijab Couture

THE ECONOMIST: Designers are profiting from Muslim women’s desire to look good

FEW sartorial choices are scrutinised as closely as those of Muslim women. Their clothing is regulated both in countries where Islam is a minority religion, and in those where it is professed by the majority. France bans face coverings, thus outlawing the niqab, which leaves just a slit for the eyes. In Iran, a theocracy, and Saudi Arabia, a monarchy reliant on clerical support, women must wear a hijab (head covering) and abaya (long cloak) respectively. Only last year did Turkey partially ease a ban, dating from Ataturk’s founding of the modern secular state, on female civil servants wearing headscarves.

Most Muslim women want to dress modestly in public, as Islam prescribes. But increasing numbers want to be fashionable, too. That is partly because of the relative youth and rising prosperity of the Islamic world. A growing sense of religious identity also boosts Islamic style. The Islamic revival of the 1970s, and then a shared sense of persecution in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks, led many Muslim women to wear their hearts on their sleeves, says Reina Lewis, an academic at the London College of Fashion and editor of “Modest Fashion: Styling Bodies, Mediating Faith”. Many say that Islamic dress is better suited than their country’s traditional garb to modern life. “The hijab helps women be treated for their minds, not their looks,” says Aziza Al-Yousef, a Saudi professor. » | Saturday, April 26, 2014 | Cairo, Jeddah and Riyadh | From the print edition

A Relationship with God, My Foot!
THE INDEPENDENT: To some it is a symbol of female subjugation. But these women believe that their Islamic headwear is a versatile, liberating way of expressing their identities.

Jilbab. Niqab. Al Amira. Dupatta. Burqa. Chador. Even the language used to describe the various kinds of clothing worn by Muslim women can seem as complicated and muddied as the issue itself. Rarely has an item of cloth caused so much consternation, controversy and misunderstanding as with the Islamic headscarf or veil.

For those Muslims who literally wear their religion on their sleeves, hijab (from the Arabic for curtain or screen) can be many things. For some it is a cultural practice handed down through the generations, an unquestioned given that is simply adopted. For others the need to dress and behave modestly can define a person’s relationship with God, their religious devotion or even their politics. For others still hijab is a complicated journey, one with twists and turns where veils are briefly discarded on the ground or taken up with willing fervour.

“Muslim women wear hijab for many reasons including piety, identity and even as political statements,” says Tahmina Saleem, the co-founder of Inspire, a consultancy which helps Muslim women become vocal members of their communities. “Most do so willingly, some unwillingly”. The many faces behind the veil >>> Arifa Akbar and Jerome Taylor | Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Rouhani Clashes with Iranian Clergy over Women Arrested for 'Bad Hijab'

In a pre-summer ritual, an Iranian policewoman warns a young
woman about her clothing and hair during a crackdown to
enforce the Islamic dress code. 

THE GUARDIAN: With summer approaching, president has provoked a row with senior clerics after criticising police for enforcing a strict interpretation of dress codes

President Hassan Rouhani, who came to office in 2013 partly on the votes of young, middle-class women, knows that in the summer, hundreds or even thousands will be arrested by the morality police for “bad hijab”, a slack interpretation of the official dress code requiring women to cover their hair and figure even as temperatures push 40 degrees.

In his remark last year that “you can’t send people to heaven by the whip”, the president expressed a belief that citizens should not be forced into “good” behaviour, and in two recent speeches he skirted the issue of hijab, provoking a critical response from Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader, and from senior members of the clergy.

In late April, the president told an assembly of Iranian police officers the duty of the police was solely to enforce the law. “The police’s job is not to enforce Islam, and furthermore, none among them can claim that their actions are sanctioned by God or the prophet [Mohammad].” » | Tehran Bureau correspondent | Wednesday, May 27, 2015

France to Ban Muslim Students* Wearing Abayas in State Schools - BBC News

Aug 28, 2023 | Pupils will be banned from wearing abayas - loose-fitting, full-length robes worn by some Muslim women - in France's state-run schools, the education minister has said.

The rule will be applied as soon as the new school year starts on 4 September.

France has a strict ban on religious signs in state schools and government buildings, arguing that they violate secular laws. Wearing a headscarf has been banned since 2004 in state-run schools.


Verwandter Artikel auf Deutsch.

Schoolchildren are more usually and more correctly referred to as pupils rather than students. Is, perhaps, the word 'students' being used here by the BBC to obfuscate the issue?

In regard to the banning of abayas and hijabs, the French are right to ban these modes of dress for schoolchildren. In a good, well-functioning establishment dedicated to the education of children, difference should be minimised. This goes for children of different religious- as well as children of different socio-economic backgrounds. Children need to be well-socialised. Well-socialised children grow up to be well-socialised in the community, too. Fostering difference, by contrast, leads to disharmony and even strife in society.

Regarding the wearing of hijabs, abayas and other types of headscarves, headcoverings and body coverings, even for the strictest and most devout of Muslim families, they are totally unnecessary before puberty. One should always ask oneself WHY headcoverings and other such garments become mandatory for Muslim women. (Please note that I use here the word 'women' not 'girls'. A clear distinction should, and must, be made here.) It is because of hair and the figure having the potential to arouse and excite the senses. For this reason, it is customary in Islamic societies to insist on long, loose clothing and full head coverings in order to hide the potential cause of sexual arousal. In actual fact, the very word hijab means curtain! Therefore, the wearing of a hijab is tantamount to hiding one’s adornment, beautiful hair behind a curtain, as is the wearing of long, loose abayas. A pre-pubescent girl is not, and should not be, troubled by such matters, exactly because they are pre-pubescent. Therefore, in conclusion, anyone who insists on the wearing of a hijab or abaya in a school environment is quite possibly making a political, rather than a religious, statement. Even in Saudi Arabia, the home of Islam, when I was there, it was not customary to dress young girls up in such clothing. Children should be allowed to be children. It belongs to a healthy development in childhood. – © Mark Alexander