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Indian court upholds ban on hijab in classrooms as it is ‘not essential practice’ in Islam

31st Mar 2022
Indian court upholds ban on hijab in classrooms as it is ‘not essential practice’ in Islam

By Shauqueen Mizaj

The hijab controversy in the Uduppi district of the Indian state of Karnataka has been making quite a splash internationally. The Karnataka High Court upheld a government ban on the hijab in classrooms, ruling that the headscarf is not an “essential practice” in Islam. A three-judge bench relied on the Qur’an and a paper by a history major to rule that the Qur’an does not mandate the wearing of the hijab, adding that those not wearing it are not considered sinners in the religion.

The court, which declared the verdict on March 15, after a hearing of about 23 hours spread over 11 days, held that permitting the hijab in classrooms would violate the spirit of the constitution’s “positive secularism.”

The 129-page judgement appears to be flawed due to several aspects, such as omitting certain key points put forward by the petitioners and refusing to consider other court precedents. The court relied on the commentaries given in the footnotes to the Suras in the Qur’an, Text, Translation and Commentary by Abdullah Yusuf Ali to conclude that hijab is not an essential practice. It refused to accept other translations of the scriptures referred to by the petitioners, saying the author’s credentials were not established. The court also admitted that there was no scholarly assistance to it to explain the implications of the holy text referred to by the petitioners. Further, the court referred to an article by Sara Slininger from Centralia, Illinois, to conclude that hijab is a cultural practice and not a religious one. However, it mentions nothing about the author’s credentials.

The petitioners had heavily relied on a Madras High Court judgement over a plea that sought to restrain the Election Commission of India from publishing photographs of Muslim women in purdah in the electoral roll. The court had observed that “purdah is not essential but, the covering of the head by a scarf is obligatory”. However, the Karnataka court did not discuss the said Madras High Court judgement. It seems to suggest that the court was acting according to prejudiced notions rather than sound judicial reasoning.

The judgement evoked mixed reactions from Islamic scholars, with many disagreeing with the verdict, while others welcomed it.

The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, two prominent Muslim organisations, said the ruling was ‘utterly disappointing’ and that it could have a direct impact on religious freedom.

Maulana Mahmood Asa’d Madani, President of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, said that the verdict would negatively affect the education of Muslim girls as they would lose their right to choose. A society where traditional and social values matter a lot, cannot be governed only by its legal nuances, and judicial intervention can never erase the deep attachment Indian Muslim women have to their belief in modesty and hijab. Maulana Madani said that the decision regarding any religion should be based on the accepted interpretation of the beliefs by the authoritative scholars and jurists of that religion. The courts should not take a diverted path.

Calling the court verdict ‘discriminatory’, Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, General Secretary of the AIMPLB, said that the verdict was unconstitutional as it was a denial of the fundamental right of Muslim women.

Ameer-e-Shariat of Karnataka, Maulana Sagheer Ahmad Khan Rashadi said that education was possible while still adhering to religious practices.

Ashraf Usmani, the spokesman of Darul Uloom Deoband, a world-renowned Islamic educational institution, said that the headscarf was approved by the Qur’an and what has been mentioned in the Qur’an is a duty of every Muslim.

Of the scholars and intellectuals who welcomed the verdict, Akhtar-ul-Wasey, an Islamic scholar and professor at Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi, said that even while he supported the verdict, the “students may be allowed to cover their heads with uniform-coloured cloth as is done by the Sikh community”.

Arif Mohammed Khan, Governor of the state of Kerala, welcomed the judgement, stating that there won’t be any more attempts to push Muslim girls back into the four walls of their home. He had said that, unlike the five pillars of Islam, the hijab was not an essential religious practice.

The controversy began in December 2021, when six Muslim students at a government college protested against a hijab ban imposed by the institution. The issue soon snowballed into a huge controversy with sectarian overtones, protests intensifying and schools and colleges shut for several days.

In India, where public displays of religious symbols are common, Muslims view the hijab ban as part of right-wing propaganda to dehumanise them. The controversy is not about the hijab, but a majoritarian agenda against India’s minorities.

Muslims form about 12.91 per cent of the population in Karnataka, and the majority of women in the community cover their heads outside their homes. Muslim women across the country and Karnataka in particular, are increasingly gaining access to education to a secure future. The hijab ban is therefore a heavy blow to Muslim women, who will now be left to choose between their faith and education.

[Photo: Muslim women students in the Indian state of Karnataka banned from wearing the hijab in classrooms returned to schools seen outside the school on 16 February 2022. Photographer: Stringer/Anadolu Agency]

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