Schoolgirl loses right to wear Muslim garb

[Muslimah]

http://news.ibn.net/newsframe.asp?url=http...en.asp?url=sglr


By Gideon Long


LONDON (Reuters) - A girl lost a legal battle on Wednesday to be allowed to wear full Islamic dress in school in a case which has been likened to the row in France over the wearing of Muslim headscarves.


Shabina Begum, now 17, was sent home from school in September 2002 and ordered to change her clothes after she turned up wearing a jilbab, a long gown which covers the whole body except for the hands and face.


She successfully appealed against the school's decision in March 2005 when the Appeal Court ruled her human rights had been breached by the ban.


Her case was championed by Cherie Booth, wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair and a prominent human rights lawyer.


But Begum's school, Denbigh High in Luton, itself appealed against last year's decision and on Wednesday was backed by the House of Lords.


The Lords said Begum's family knew what the school's uniform policy was when they sent her there and should have enrolled her at a different school if they objected to it.


Begum said she was disappointed by the verdict but proud to have taken issue with a ban which she and others among the country's 1.6-million-strong Muslim population regarded as a fundamental breach of their rights.


"Obviously I am saddened and upset at the result but I am glad that I can now move on, having made a stand to speak out against this," said Begum, who was in the House of Lords to hear the decision. She has since left the school.


"EXCELLENT NEWS"


Denbigh High said it was pleased with the verdict while Luton Council, which had backed the school, described it as "excellent news".


"We are pleased that Denbigh High has finally been vindicated," the council said in a statement. "The school has always adopted an inclusive uniform policy that satisfies the religious needs and cultural backgrounds of its pupils."


Muslim groups were dismayed by the ruling.


"On a matter of principle we are disappointed," said Tahir Alam, education spokesman for the Muslim Council of Britain, the country's largest Muslim lobby group.


"There are lots of schools across the country which allow the jilbab and this issue should have been resolved at a local level. It's unfortunate that it's gone through the courts."


The case, which has rumbled on for 3-1/2 years, has drawn comparisons with the furore in France triggered by a ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools.


France banned all conspicuous religious clothing, including headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses.


The move sparked angry protests across the Islamic world.


(Additional reporting by Tim Castle)

[arclight]

I think it needs pointing out that this report is more than a little one sided.


The school does allow muslim girls to wear traditional dress, if they wish. The arguement has infact been specifically over the jilbab. The school itself has bent over backwards over the years to accomodate the religious needs of it pupils.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/4832072.stm


Ironically, the clothing she has decided to wear outside the court would in fact be permissable in the school. So quite why she needed to wear a jilbab in school, but is quite happy to not wear it outside of it is beyond me.

[AlShamms]

Peace.....


I have heard many news broadcasts about the head scarfs in France. What I don't understand, and perhaps someone can clarify it for me, is why if the state school in France has such uniform policies in place, why the muslim population feels the need to challenge the policy? Was it a case of, it was allowed at one time, and now is not? Or was it always not allowed and the Islamic community wants the policy changed?


Shamms

[Rock]

Peace Shamms


I think the case is"it was allowed at one time,and now is not".


But actually it does`nt matter what is the case,the problem is"this policy forced the Muslims


to disobey their God if they want to join the schools".

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


salam all


arclight, if u have noticed the source is Reuters and to be honest, there was another case that we discussed a few months ago in NewZealan. I think and Allah u a`lam if the girl is allowed to comply with Islamic dress code, then there is no need to make a problem over Jilbab.


As for France, the issue has far more dimensions. It all started when the girls refused i think as far as I remember to sit by boys side. I remember a Slovanian revert who was here in Egypt at the time of that issue, she made a very logical comment. She said, they refused to sit side by side with boys, they should move if they can to an only girls school. My own personal opinion, I had an ambitious project that is on hold for the moment, that this is our own responsibility to use Muslim wealth in providing affordable Islamic schools for those who live in non Muslim countries. May Allah Assist us

[arclight]

The story was given more coverage in todays papers. It turns out that not only did the school consult local islamic groups over the dress code, but the headteacher is also a muslim.


As for exclusive Islamic schools, its certainly not something I'm happy about. How can you possibly expect muslims and non-muslims to integrate when they are always being seperated. Rather than having one nation getting along fine, you end up with to seperate peoples living within the same borders. In the UK all ethnic minorities tend to live in the same area's as each other, so theres minimal integration. Seperate schools aren't going to help.


I can't understand the logic of muslims coming to the UK, but wanting to seperate themselves from the rest of the UK population, as if we are in some way 'dirty'. If you are muslim, and want to live with muslims, with muslim culture, and dress, to the exclusion of all else then live in a muslim nation. If you, however, you want to be my neighbour,then fine.

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


Arclight, I must say that u actually made some very interesting points here. To my surprise, you came up with points by instinct that are part of the Islamic teachings. Matter of fact, and with all due respect to all my bretheren who immigrated to Non Muslim countries in order to better their living standards ( I was discussing this with a Muslim brother the other day), according to Islamic teachings we are not allowed to immigrate (make Hijra) except for the sake of Allah, when we are not allowed to practice our religion where we live, if we find it difficult to practice where we live (no those are not similar points i will elbaborate later), or to carry out Dawa activities (call for the path of Allah). Other wise, we stay where we are and Allah Shall provide for us. BUt of course not every single Muslim is following Islamic teachings as they are supposed to be.


The reason of proposing Islamic schools, is that even under the previous conditions, we prefer to have boys and girls separate in schools. Not that we refuse to mix with non Muslims. We mix with them arclight even in our own countries. I have Christain co workers whom I mix with, I have Christian neigbours whom I greet for their feasts and occaisons. The idea of Islamic schools is not to detach Muslims from the community they live in, but rather allow children learn properly within an Islamic environment.


hope I helped. :)

[AlShamms]

Peace....


Muslimah I have to agree with you. If it is a question of muslim children being allowed to practice their faith, then they should go to Islamic schools. That way they can observe the Islamic dress code and it not be a problem. The same thing happens here in the States. Many parents, upset with the acceptance of homosexuality in public schools, remove their children from the state run school and either enroll them in chrisitans schools or home school them. I am a firm believer that people should not compromise thier faith under any circumstances. And if that means not sending your children to the state school, so be it. However the state, should not make allowances for one religious group that they do not make for all.


Shamms

[Muslimah]

Bismillah


Exactly Shamms, parents face such problems specially with the acceptance of homosexualy when children are taught that types of families are three. u know what i mean. children at a young age cannt handle such situations. We need to lay the foundation, teach them properly what is legitimate /illegitimate in the Eyes of Allah, then they can integrate into the society. i must say, still they encounter much problems such as when a girl is mocked for instance for being still a virgin at the age of 16.


Alhamdulelah for being a Muslim

[arclight]

Don't get me wrong, I can understand why you would want your children to go to a muslim school. But that only solves a short term problem. What worries me is the lack of integration, which seperate faith schools do nothing to help. Get down to basics, and theres little difference between what kids need to learn. 2+2= 4, and log tables are damned confusing things in any language :D Wouldn't it be possible for seperate religious classes within schools, to educate children in that area? Besides, don't they learn that sort of thing at home, and in the mosque?


When I was at Primary School there was only one coloured kid there, but no-one ever saw him as black,he was just another kid. If children can learn that theres not much difference between them at that age, then it helps later in life. Keeping children seperate just helps to breed distrust. You only have to go look at Bradford and Oldham in the north of England to see the problem caused by immigrants keeping to themselves. Both sides distrust each other, and it often boils over into violence.


People fear what they don't know, and to quote Yoda "Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering"


On seperate sex schools, TBH I don't have much of a problem with that. Most schools in the UK used to be like that, and there are still a few around, but education reforms in the 70's changed all that. But research has shown that boys actually perform better in single sex schools, although there wasn't much difference for girls.


As for teasing, it doesn't really matter much what the subject matter is, kids will always tease other kids over something.