Of course, the “right” to wear hijab is just the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent. This “right” rather quickly becomes a grim requirement — as women in Iran and elsewhere have discovered. It is just like conversion: one is free to convert to Islam; one is not free, however, to convert from it. Women in the UK must be free to wear headscarves. All right, but how long will it be before they are not free not to wear them? From Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, with thanks to Sharon:
London, 20 July 2004 — A newly established group in the United Kingdom aims to protect the right of Muslim women to wear traditional Islamic head scarf, or hijab.
The Assembly for the Protection of the Hijab was created in July by the U.K.’s Muslim Women’s Society and the Muslim Association of Britain.
It vows to fight bans on wearing the hijab in schools, as well as the impact such bans have on communities in Western Europe. It has even declared 4 September, the start of the new school year in Europe, International Hijab Solidarity Day.
“I think it shows how concerned the Muslim community is about the whole issue of dress, and how much emphasis is being placed on how Muslim people dress,” said Shabana Khan, a spokeswoman for the Muslim Council of Britain, which is affiliated with the Muslim Association of Britain.
Khan pointed out that two recent events acted as a catalyst for the group’s formation.
One is the ban on hijab in state schools in France that comes into force after the summer school holidays.
The other is a ruling of the European Court of Human Rights to uphold the decision of a university in Turkey to force a female student to stop wearing the hijab.
Khan said both decisions represent a basic violation of mainstream Muslim views[.]
“The mainstream Muslim or Islamic view is that for men and women there is a dress requirement, and I think that the covering of a woman, including her hair and her body, is part of that requirement,” Khan said.
This woman’s language betrays the unilateral nature of her quest. If a “dress requirement” is part of “mainstream” Islam, what will prevent it from eventually being required of everyone?