Europeans uphold Turkish Hijab ban

The highest European human rights court delivered a verdict this month that the Turkish ban on Muslim women wearing the hijab in universities, was legal and consistent with human rights. This was the final verdict in a case brought by Layla Sahin, a Turkish medical student who was barred from sitting her final exams at her university for wearing her hijab.

The 17 European judges ruled that the ban does not violate the freedom to thought, conscience and religion enshrined in international human rights conventions. The court said that the ban was part of Turkish efforts to safeguard women’s rights in its constitution and that it recognised that it was needed to maintain public order.

"Imposing limitations on the freedom to wear the headscarf could, therefore, be regarded as meeting a pressing social need by seeking to achieve those two legitimate aims, especially since that religious symbol had taken on political significance in Turkey in recent years," the court said.

They also said that there is no further scope for appeal and that the verdict is binding. The Turkish establishment, lead by President Ahmed Sezar, were pleased with the result. However the parliamentary government said they would continue to seek to lift the ban. The Prime Ministers daughters wear hijab, and go to school in the US in order to avoid the Turkish ban.

This case shows the inability of secular judges to understand justice. Women are being prevented from expressing themselves and following their religion wearing the hijab, and somehow that is protecting their rights! Do they believe that a woman would pose a threat to public order if they were to wear a piece of cloth to cover their hair?

Alcohol, the lack of accountability and the pursuit of pleasure are what threaten public order in most European towns and cities. Female nudity in advertising and fashion, the high rate of violent and sexual abuse against women, and the degradation of respect for motherhood and the family are some of the things that especially compromise the rights of women in European society today. The wearing of the hijab does not pose a threat to either pubic order or women’s rights. What would the response of the “human rights” court be if Turkey sought to ban alcohol due to the threat it posed to public order and women’s rights, which it clearly does.

Reasonable Muslims in Turkey and elsewhere can answer a larger, ideological question based upon this verdict. In the Qur’an, Allah (swt) says:

… And they do not show their charms (zeena) except that which is apparent and let them draw their head coverings (khumur) over their necks and bosom (juyub). (Surat An-Nur 31)

And Ibn Jurayj narrated that the Prophet (saw) said;

“`Oh Aisha, when a woman reaches puberty then it is not permitted that any part of her body should be seen (by non-mahram men) except her face and what is below this.’ So he clenched his arm just above the joint of the hand leaving a space in between for another fist to be clenched.”

So the Law of Allah is that believing women should wear what is commonly referred to as the hijab (technically speaking the “khimar”), and the law of the European Human Rights Court is that women should be prevented from wearing it. Who do we follow? Who has more right to make law, these middle aged European judges or the unlimited and eternal Creator of the Universe?

If the answer is, as it will be for most Muslims, that Allah (swt) has more right to make law, then that goes for every law that exists in human society, not just the issue of hijab. Allah (swt) has more right to make law about interest, tax, border controls, capital punishment, social relationships and the role of parliament than a European court, or any leader from Hosni Mubarak to Pervez Musharraf.

If as a Muslim, you believe that this verdict is wrong on the basis that it contradicts the rules of Allah (swt), this should extrapolate to an entire rejection of secularism itself and the systems and rules associated with it. Indeed it is with this that the Europeans are challenging Muslims, particularly in Turkey, i.e. to see whom they follow. They are asking – “Who is your master, Allah or us?” and “What is your system, Khilafah or Secular democracy?” Muslims are now being pushed into a corner to choose between these allegiances because, as this case skilfully demonstrates, you cannot choose both.