T

empers are flaring around the Muslim world over the proposal to ban on Muslim women from wearing the hijab (hair veils for Muslim women) in France. The proposal stems from a report prepared by a parliamentary committee. Thirty-two deputies on the committee allegedly studied the issue of wearing traditional Muslim clothing in public places due to numerous complaints received from native citizens of France.

It is alleged that the native French are concerned with the growing number of women dressed in dark coveralls in the streets. The members of the committee came to the conclusion that hijabs  symbolize oppression and terrorism. The deputies decided that the garments violated the principle of sexual equality and were therefore incompatible with the norms of France.

The committee recommended that the government draft a law regulating the wearing of hijabs in public places including schools, markets and offices.

A woman who wears a hijab as a religious obligation does not expect a reward from her husband or members of family, but from her creator. This proposal from France borders on the extreme and is in bad taste. France is one of the countries which claim to believe in democracy and individual enjoyment of freedoms.

The events in France raise two questions: Are Muslim women putting on hijabs because they are of a lesser sex or inferior? Does the hijab have benefits for those who choose to wear it? Muslim women wear it for many reasons including piety, identity and even as a political statement.

According to the Koran, women put on hijabs for their own protection: “O Prophet, tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks close round them (when they go abroad). That will be better, so that they may be recognized and not annoyed. Allah is ever forgiving, merciful” (Koran 33:59).

The Koran is not alone in trying to agitate for decency amongst the female population. The Bible also calls for decency amongst women: “But every woman that prayeth or prophesied with her head uncovered dishonored her head: for that is as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered” (Corinthians 11:5).

Therefore, trying to equate the hijab to a symbol of oppression is farfetched, and a figment of people’s imagination.


Kiira Jamal
Bandung