Memo to Muslim girls: For hijab’s sake, don’t give up on education

We are now more than two months into the escalating Karnataka hijab ban row, and with the Supreme Court saying no to urgent hearing, the issue is likely to drag on while tensions are rising fuelled by a politically charged public discourse.

In recent weeks, much has been written on the issue with the usual suspects on both sides of the aisle making familiar arguments to defend or oppose the ban. These are then regurgitated by their respective student groups. The whole debate has turned on the politics of the ban with little attention being paid to the damaging impact of the standoff on the future of the schoolgirls at the centre of the controversy.

For liberals, both Hindus and Muslims, it's proving to be a tricky issue. Their normal instinct is to oppose religious or cultural practices they regard as symbols of oppression, especially in relation to women. They have been opposed to burqa, for example. But they also strongly believe that in a liberal democracy people should have the freedom to wear what they like so long as it doesn't offend public taste or safety. And, they're struggling to reconcile these two positions. Especially because they don’t wish to be seen ranged against an insecure minority group.

Also read: Karnataka hijab controversy: Indian democracy enters uncharted territory of grave danger

Barred from exam to dropping out of school: How the hijab ban has affected Muslim students
But as a liberal myself, I believe that a truly liberal position would take into account the long-term interests of the girls and prioritise them over ideological considerations. Rather than getting bogged down in an argument over their democratic right to wear hijab we should ask: How forcing this argument to its logical conclusion would affect their education?

If the insistence on wearing it leads to their expulsion from their schools or colleges; or the parents themselves decide to withdraw their daughters from these institutions in protest, jeopardising their educational prospects, then our friendly advice to them should be to think again — and not egg them on into rushing into an emotional response for some short-lived glory.

By abandoning educational opportunities these girls will be playing straight into the hands of Hindutva provocateurs who have a vested interest in ensuring they remain in purdah: Isolated, and cut off from the mainstream. An army of modern, educated, strong and aspirational Muslim women, able to stand up for their rights, doesn’t fit into their stereotypical portrayal of the Muslim community as backward, timid and easy to provoke. Any move by the Muslim community that might further entrench its isolation will only please the forces that triggered the row.

Globally, women's Islamic dress code has become one of the most contentious issues in the post-9/11 debate on Islam with the hijab, particularly, in the spotlight as Western Muslim women started wearing it as a symbol of resistance against Islamophobia. The fact, however, is that hijab has no special religious significance, and not wearing is not regarded a sin in Islam.

Indeed, historically the veiling of the face was practised by many cultures in the Middle East even in pre-Islamic days, and according to scholars its adoption by Muslims was part of “fitting” into the society. In fact, Abaya — a full-length loose garment which covers the whole body — is more widely used and regarded as obligatory in many parts of the world, especially Gulf countries, than hijab. It is often attributed to the Quranic quote, “O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters, and the believing women, to cover themselves with a loose garment. They will thus be recognised and no harm will come to them” (Qur'an 33:59, translated by Ahmed Ali).

Islamic scholars have long differed over which specific form of clothing women are obliged to wear under Islamic injunctions. There’s consensus only on the fact that Islam demands of Muslim women to dress modestly, but it doesn’t prescribe a one-size-fits-all dress code. In other words, not wearing a hijab doesn’t make a woman less modest or a lesser Muslim. Especially in the present case where they are not giving it up on their own volition but are being forced to do it by law.

Islam allows a lot of room for compromise depending on the circumstances. Prophet Muhammad himself was forced to make compromises in the larger interest of Islam and the community. Contrary to the image of Islam presented by its critics and hardline Islamists invoking images of damnation and hellfire, its teachings are full of practical advice and common sense. It also lays great emphasis on education. In Islam it’s obligatory for every Muslim to seek and gain knowledge. To describe the importance of knowledge Prophet Muhammad said: “Seek knowledge even if you have to go as far as China”.

And that’s an advice these girls and their parents must keep in mind when deciding their next move. When I hear modern and educated young Muslim women say they would rather forego education than forego their right to wear hijab my mind travels back to an older generation of Muslim women who fought exactly the opposite fight: The right to be allowed to study, seek careers, and lead normal lives without being constantly judged according to some arbitrary notion of Islamic values.

They fought against “purdah” and other forms of what they saw as oppressive patriarchal practices. In a sense, they were the original feminists, ordinary middle class women rebelling against having their lives run by mullahs invoking Islamic injunctions. My mother was one of them. Way back in the late 1950s, at a time when ordinary Muslim women were barely heard or seen in public, she fought a bruising personal battle against burqa while living in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood of Old Delhi.

She faced abuse and intimidation, and nearly lost her teaching job after some parents accused her of “brainwashing” their daughters. But much to their chagrin the girls she was accused of brainwashing in fact rallied round their “ustaniji” (female teacher in Urdu) forcing the management to think again. The girls wanted to study, move of out of mental ghettoes, and weren’t going to let burqa came in the way.

Isn’t it ironical that more than half a century later, a more educated and emancipated generation of Muslim women should be willing to stake all in the name of hazy notions of religious and cultural identity propagated by conservative gatekeepers of Islam?

None of this, however, distracts from the fact that the whole controversy was unnecessary, raked up to provoke and humiliate Muslims — and badly handled by the state government. Unfortunately, Muslims fell into the trap, egged on by radical groups like the Popular Front of India (PFI).

The author is an independent commentator. Views expressed are personal.

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Hasan Suroor