The purpose of hijab i.e. veiling in Islam is essentially to inspire modesty in women (men are not left out). Women are admonished in the Holy Qur’an to cover their heads. Holy Qur’an chapter 24, verse 32. Not all Muslim women wear hijab but that is not to deny those who do their right to wear it. It is a matter of faith and it must be accorded the utmost respect by all and sundry. The Lagos State Government has banned the wearing of hijab in its public schools.
This is one law too many for the Lagos State Government. One will always be willing to support the state government’s dedicated efforts at making Lagos a city worthy of its inhabitants’ pride, but abusing people’s right to adorn their religious garb in the process amounts to going a step too far. The government has overstepped its bounds by banning hijab in public schools.
If this ban is about uniformity in the dress code of Lagos State’s public school students, then we could have an argument here – albeit a weak one. A fundamental error of judgment would be to ban the hijab on the basis of preemptive measure against terrorism. Is the Lagos state government saying there is a link between wearing hijab and terrorism? Are there proofs to show linkages between those who wear hijab and suicide bombers? Is this not what stigmatisation is about? Whether intentional or not, banning a group of people because of what they wear is a form of stigmatisation especially if the said ban is connected with a crime. What could be more criminal than terrorism?
How many Lagos state students even wear hijab to school? Is this really a pressing issue for the people and government of Lagos state? France has a similar ban but the French society is historically different from Lagos. France can defend the ban on the basis of being against its dominant culture (Judeo-Christian), same cannot be said for Lagos. Governor Fashola and his advisers are treading on dynamite. This is a very contentious issue and you can trust it to polarise the citizenry as I already noticed yesterday from my article on it. Nothing could be more divisive.
What urgent public problem will the ban on hijab solve? Are we alienating true Muslim believers in the name of saving ourselves from those who have chosen to denigrate the religion in the name of defending it? We cannot afford to set Muslims apart in our fight against terrorism. If we cannot fight this demon as a people united in purpose and in defence of our collective belief in peace and justice we would have lost the fight before it even gets started.
Another fall out of this ban is that Muslims who wear hijab in places where hijab is not banned will now attract unnecessary attention as potential terrorists. This is of course not what the state government intends but this is what would come with their thoughtless idea to ban hijab. It does not matter if the ban is partial or total; it is unnecessary.
England is not less terrorized than Nigeria yet nothing of such is being muted let alone declared as a rule. A friend’s son attends Cheetham C of E Community Academy. All Muslim female pupils (who wish to) wear Hijab. About half of its staff members (if not more) are Muslims. The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (OFSTED) is the regulatory body for standards. The school was awarded in 2009/2010 for being Outstanding in Morals/Manners (Adab). Even a British teacher will say Salam Alaekum to Muslim pupils. During their parents-teachers meetings, they speak English, Urdu, Arabic and French, just to try to engage these people categorized as minority group. Guess what, the C and E in Cheetham C of E Community stand for Church and England – Cheetham Church of England Community Academy.
There is a story for Lagos and indeed societies that care about justice and peaceful co-existence. You cannot alienate a group of people in the fight against a societal menace and expect the cooperation of such people in the same fight. If we fight the enemy together, we stand a better chance of winning the war on terror than if we fight ourselves in order to win the enemy. Does that even make sense? That is how much of a sense the ban on hijab makes. If we cannot protect our pupils except by denying them their individual rights, then we have lost the moral right to even begin to talk about protecting them. You can’t protect me by stripping me of my rights. As you were; let it be that this was a joke and let the pupils and students go back to class wearing their hijabs. Children should not suffer because adults are confused about how to protect the society from evil.
Read my Metropole piece on the ban here http://metropole.ng/index.php/views/item/271-the-lagos-hijab-ban
I am @omojuwa
