Headscarf dilemma is tangled in politics
Headscarf dilemma is tangled in politics – ExpressNews – University of Alberta
Some Muslim women state that wearing the hizjab is obligatory, others say it isn’t. At the same time non-muslims state a hizjab is a sign of oppression, others say it isn’t. Well here we have the hizjab-debate in a nutshell. An article by dr. Saleem Qureshi from the university of alberta (canada) on this debate with examples from Turkey and France.
Headscarf dilemma is tangled in politics
By Dr. Saleem Qureshi
June 4, 2004 � Muslim women wear headscarves called hejab; those who wear them
insist that their religion requires it; those who don�t say there is no such
requirement.
Who is right and whose assertion is to be accepted? The Canadian answer has
been that this is not a matter for public policy and should be left to
individual choice. In most Western democracies an eclectic attitude has been
adopted and women are free to choose.
In two democracies, one overwhelmingly Catholic in France, and the other
overwhelmingly Muslim in Turkey, but both legally secular, the hejab has
become a political issue between state policy and freedom of choice.
France has seen fit to legislate against headcovering and wearing of
conspicuous religious symbols in public institutions. The country has the
largest Muslim population in Europe, with Muslims accounting for the second
largest religion there. France has a history of secularism and a particular
sensitivity to any challenge to that concept. The French law is a response to
several incidents of Muslim girls being sent home from school for defying the
dress code.
But the deeper issue, and particularly from the perspective of the French
state, is the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in France and its links to global
terrorism. The French want to draw their Muslims away from fundamentalist
influences, but the government has not done much to ameliorate the social,
economic and political alienation of the Muslims. It is the mosque that offers
solace of any kind to the deprived, but the mosque has its own agenda–to keep
Muslims deeply attached to Islam, which in practice works out to staying away
from the modern world, and thus from mainstream Europe.
In theory the French idea of legislation is not as bad as it sounds, but in
practice it seems to work against the very objective France desires. Perhaps
there should have been more thought and more consultation bringing down the
law so that the French objective, which seems laudable, would have had a more
reasonable prospect of being achieved.
Turkey, 99 per cent Muslim and since 1924 a staunch secular state, has a
long-standing law against the wearing of headscarves in public institutions.
Women in universities have repeatedly protested the law but to no avail.
Lately, the case of an American woman of Turkish ancestry, Kawakji, has
brought to light the depth of feeling on this issue. Kawakji sought and won a
seat in the Turkish Grand National Assembly and she appeared for the
swearing-in ceremony wearing a hejab. The response of the Turkish state was
even more draconian than the French law; Kawakji was not only expelled from
the Assembly, but her Turkish citizenship was revoked.
A 12-year-old French girl named Hilal, sent home twice within six months, as
reported in the National Post (May 25, 2004) again draws attention to
the core issue: is clothing fundamentally related to religion, i.e., is
religion dependant upon the form of clothing, and further, can any individual
demand a particular right saying, ‘This is my religion?’
If the individual were to be the ultimate determinant there would be chaos.
Ultimately, what prevails is what society is willing to accept as the proper
norm. But, then, what about the individual and the freedom of choice?
Democracy in this respect means balancing individual freedom with social
cohesion.
France would be better advised to create room for flexibility in the
implementation of the anti-religious symbol law as well as to initiate
improvements in the social, economic and educational prospects of its Muslim
citizens. French Muslims must look to France as their home and the French
society as their society. This would require a great psychological and
cultural leap, but it is one they must undertake.
Dr. Saleem Qureshi is a Professor Emeritus in the University of Alberta’s
Department of Political Science. He has taught about Islamic fundamentalism
and contemporary Islamic movements and his current research interests include
Islamic political culture and Islamic politics in South Asia.
Related links � internal
The U of A Department of Political Science website:
http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/polisci/
Dr. Saleem Qureshi’s U of A webpage:
http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/polisci/Qureshi.cfm