THE LAND OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

Sun, 9 Mar 2008 18:46:40 -0600

In Islam, the word hijab, coming from the Arabic hajaba, meaning “to veil,” generally refers to a woman’s head covering, but also has the wider meaning of modesty, privacy, and morality.

Let’s suppose you are a Muslim female student and it is important, based upon your religious belief, for you to wear a hijab while at school.

Which of these countries do you think would be most willing to accommodate your belief: France, Turkey, or the United States?

There might be a reason to guess France, with a Muslim population between 5% and 10%.

In 1789, a month before America’s Bill of Rights, France adopted a Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. These Rights included the right to freely express religious views that do not disturb the public order.

But if you guessed France, you would be wrong.

In 2004, the French legislature, believing the wearing of headscarves does disturb the public order, passed a national public school dress code. It not only prohibits Muslim girls from wearing headscarves, but also prohibits Sikh boys from wearing turbans in school to cover their hair, religious Jews from wearing a skullcap (yarmulke) to class, and Christians from wearing large crosses around their necks.

Maybe you guessed Turkey, which has a Muslim population of more than 99%.

Prior to this month, previous Turkish governments imposed a ban on the wearing of headscarves on college campuses. This ban, supported by the military, was imposed by the country’s first president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk was dedicated to maintaining Turkey as a secular state.

But this month, the Turkish parliament, with the support of the newly re-elected and more religiously oriented Muslim Prime Minister Recep Tayep Erdogan, voted overwhelmingly to amend the Turkish Constitution to reverse the ban.

So it you guessed Turkey you might be right. But that assumes that the secular Turkish Supreme Court and the secular military will allow the new amendment to stand.

If you guessed the United States, which has a Muslim population of somewhere between 1% and 3%, you certainly would be right.

In the United States, the First and Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees this right.

In 2004, eleven-year-old Nashala Hearn, a devout Muslim girl, found that to be the case when she wore a hijab to school in Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Nashala believed that Allah, through the Qur'an, directed her to be modest. But when she expressed that belief by wearing a hijab to school, she was expelled from the classroom for violation of the school’s dress code.

It was then that the U.S. Government came to her rescue and joined a lawsuit to help her.

Nashala thought it was unfair that other students could wear crosses but she couldn’t wear her hijab. And the government’s civil rights attorney agreed saying, "No student should be forced to choose between following her faith and enjoying the benefits of a public education."

As a result of the litigation, the school district changed its policy and now permits Nashala and others to wear head coverings when those coverings are based upon religious beliefs.

What religious symbols or clothing, if any, would you prohibit from being worn on campus? Why?

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

THE LAND OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM