Turkey is a secular state and being a secular state the government should be neutral in all matters regarding religion. Big nations like the U.S., Canada and China allow their citizens to follow and practice their faith. The ban placed by a country like France, where Muslim children are not allowed to wear headscarves in public schools, has been fought over constantly. At the time in 2002, the ban threatened to eliminate a widespread religious symbol of Islam. However, the ban was put into place because there were no Muslims in power in France, unlike Turkey where many citizens are Muslims and there are many Muslim politicians.

On Tuesday, the most recent law proclaimed that in the coming school semester of 2013/2014, female students at public schools will be allowed to wear headscarves during Qur’an lessons. This newest reform was part of a law which also banned school uniforms with a modern set of courses for children ranging from the age of 11 as a substitute of 15. The Turkish Prime Minister, Erdogan, said at the news conference in Madrid that these action are taken on demand.

Turkey headscarf ban

After the sweeping victory of the AK party in the 2010 elections, the mildly conservative party lifted the ban on female students wearing hijab  headscarves in schools providing religious education. This is drawing criticism from the secular parties that are putting forward the Islamic agenda. There has always been differences of opinion between the conservationists and the liberal parties regarding education. The secular party accuses Prime Minister Erdogan of imposing religion. Education sector union stated that by spreading religious obligations and lifestyle it would put a negative impact on minds of the students. Since Turkey is a secular state and consists of majority Muslims, everyone in this country is free to practice their own faith or religion.

About the author

Jawad Ahmad

I am 24 years old and i have done Masters in Business Administration (Finance) from a recognized university.
Right now i am doing freelancing and writing articles on different projects.

View the Original article

The parents of a schoolgirl living in the village of Privolny, Stavropol Territory, are complaining that their daughter has been barred from school for wearing a headscarf.

"Today we sent our daughter to school on the school bus. The senior teacher put her back on the bus and it took her home. She has been barred from classes over the headscarf for about two weeks now," the girl's father Rizak Rizakov told Interfax.

Rizakov said the teachers are saying this decision has been made because of a decree issued by the governor. "My daughter is in 3rd grade. Other children don't wear headscarves to school. There were three girls who wore headscarves, they have now removed them," the source said.

The man said he has filed complaints with the prosecutors and intends to stand his ground. He also said his daughter has worn a headscarf to school since September 1.

In the meantime, the press service for the territory's Education Ministry told Interfax these actions violate the school charter, which outlines requirements for students' appearance. "They will be talking to the parents and the schoolgirl. If they don't observe the school charter, they will be offered to choose a different form of education," the ministry official said.

In October, the Stavropol Territory's muftiat reported on complaints made by some schoolgirls' parents saying that their Muslim daughters had been barred from classes for some two weeks for wearing headscarves. The incidents occurred at School No. 12 in the village of Kara-Tyube.

The issue of headscarves was discussed at the highest level on October 18. Russian President Vladimir Putin said, commenting on this conflict, that people's religious feelings need to be respected, but the fact that the Russian state is a secular one needs to be taken into account.

"We always need to treat people's religious feelings with a lot of respect. This should be manifested in the state activities, in nuances, in everything. Secondly, our state is secular and we need to work on the basis of that assumption," Putin said during a meeting with Popular Front representatives.

The Stavropol Territory's Governor Valery Zerenkov later ordered immediate work on the territory's regulation governing students' appearance. "There should be uniform rules in one territory," he said.

According to the territory's Education Minister Irina Kuvaldina, the Stavropol Territory's schools will introduce a school uniform by December 20.

Interfax, 30 November 2012

View the Original article

A new school headscarf is set to be introduced following pressure from pupils. Pleckgate High School, Blackburn, saw girls rebel after bringing in a uniform hijab, complaining it was ill-fitting or against their Islamic principles.

The school began working with a group of girls on a new design which will become uniform policy after the half-term holiday. Headteacher Cherry Ridgway said: "All the girls have behaved well throughout the process and parents have been very supportive."

The school decided to only include the girls who found the scarf uncomfortable in the redesign.

Mariyah Mahmud, 15, said: "I don't think there will be any more problems over the headscarf now. They talked to us and let us have our say and now all the girls are happy. Now that there is no issue with the length of it around the neck I don't think anyone will complain."

The new headscarf will be longer than the two designs which were rejected and will bear the school emblem on the front. Ms Ridgway said: "One or two girls said they would prefer it not to have the school logo but, as the longer design covers the tie, it is important that this carries the logo as it is part of the uniform."

The pupils who refused to wear the headscarf because it was too small have been allowed to sport their own choice of plain hijab in the meantime.

Lancashire Telegraph, 25 October 2012

View the Original article

A German dental practice which refused to hire a young Muslim woman because she insisted on wearing a headscarf at work broke the law, it was reported on Thursday. The court ruling is the first of its kind for the country.

A young Berlin woman applied last summer for a traineeship to become a dental assistant. Despite being qualified and getting along with staff, she was told that she could not have the position unless she removed her headscarf, the Tagesspiegel newspaper said.

This was religious discrimination, the city's labour court ruled. A headscarf was not an "arbitrary piece of clothing" but an expression of her beliefs and wearing it was part of her right to religious freedom. Refusing to employ because of her headscarf was in breach of the Equal Treatment Act, the judge said.

The court also rejected the suggestion that headscarves could pose a hygiene risk to patients. There was no more chance of transferring bacteria with a scarf than there was via human hair, the judge said.

The Spandau-based dental surgery argued that they had a right to religious neutrality in the clinic. But the judge said that as "it was in no way a religious institution," this was not valid.

Other women who had appealed for the right to wear a headscarf at work have lost in the past, generally because they had taken church-related employers to court.

The woman applied for the position in the summer of 2011. When she was rejected she decided, with help from the Turkish Association of Berlin and Brandenburg, to take the practice to court.

The Local, 18 October 2012

See also "German court rules in favor of headscarf freedom", Today's Zaman, 18 October 2012

View the Original article

Marianne Møllmann of Amnesty International welcomes FIFA's recent decision to lift its ban on women footballers wearing headscarves and also the news that several gulf countries are for the first time sending female athletes (wearing headscarves) to the Olympics. She notes, however, that more and more European countries are imposing restrictions on the wearing of headscarves or face-veils in public.

RH Reality Check, 23 July 2012

View the Original article

Tahira B. El, a practicing Muslim, faced religious discrimination when she was fired by her employer, a security company providing guards to the Pennsylvania Convention Center, because she refused to remove a head scarf she wore for religious reasons, according to a federal lawsuit filed in Philadelphia on her behalf Wednesday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The suit said that El, of Philadelphia, was hired by ABM Security Services, of California, to work at the center on Feb. 21, 2011. She was fired the next day, the suit said, when she showed up in uniform, wearing the khimar, which covers her hair and ears, but not her face.

Because the Convention Center did not employ El, it is not named in the suit, but "we would not prohibit anyone from expressing their religious beliefs," convention center director Ahmeenah Young said in a statement.

ABM said some clients require adherence to a strict uniform code. The company said in a statement that it was disappointed that EEOC filed the suit because El was given the opportunity to work elsewhere but declined.

Philadelphia Inquirer, 19 July 2012

View the Original article

The most controversial article of clothing of the early 21st century may be the headscarf.

In her new book, The Headscarf Controversy: Secularism and Freedom of Religion, UCSB professor Hilal Elver tackles the issue currently affecting Muslim women – and courtrooms – around the world.

Elver, a global and international studies scholar, explains the legal and historical background of wearing headscarves in public places, specifically in Turkey but also in Germany, France, and the United States.

Elver believes that due to the recent "war on terror" in the Middle East, many Western countries have banned public use of the headscarf, supposedly in the name of women’s rights. But rather than helping women, she argues, the ban has had the disastrous effect of excluding pious Muslim women from society.

"My experience in Turkey in relation to the headscarf is the main reason behind the book," Elver said in a prepared statement. "My mother was an educated woman, and a devout Muslim, and when I was growing up, I witnessed the difficulty she experienced in trying to fit into the Turkish secular environment."

As a law professor in Ankara, Turkey's capital, Elver saw many women who did not pursue jobs or university educations when the ban was implemented either because of their own religious beliefs or those of their fathers and brothers. The ban was part of Turkey's effort to secularize, democratize, and assimilate to the Western world, so it seems counterintuitive that it would violate human rights, said Elver.

Elver's legal background, particularly her focus on international human rights, puts a unique lens on this long-contested issue. For those who adamantly believe that headscarves are detrimental to the well-being of Muslim women, this book may provide interesting food for thought.

Santa Barbara Independent, 4 July 2012

See also USCB press release, 21 June 2012

View the Original article

FIFA's medical advisers say new designs are needed because headscarves worn by Muslim women players could lead to head and neck injuries. Michel D'Hooghe, chairman of FIFA's medical committee, says samples received from two designers "represented a danger" to players' health.

Soccer's rules-making panel has said it intends to approve headscarves following a campaign by FIFA executive committee member Prince Ali of Jordan. However, the panel asked for more medical advice before it meets on July 2.

D'Hooghe says his group of doctors tested the scarves and believed they could lead to head and neck injuries, plus overheating. Modified designs are expected to arrive at FIFA "in the coming days," the Belgian doctor said.

Associated Press, 24 May 2012

An earlier report had already indicated that FIFA might be backtracking on its earlier commitment to revoke the headscarf ban:

"'Testing' of the headscarf apparently involved asking a secretary to walk around the room while attempts were made to pull the scarf from her head. That image, together with the absence of any apparent 'live' match test, suggests both a lack of both serious intent and perception concerning the issue."

View the Original article