| August 2010 |
|
No place for the Niqab By Obaida Hamad
Sometime several months ago, the Ministry of Education quietly began transferring 1,200 female teachers in primary schools throughout Syria from their classrooms to government administrative offices. The women were allegedly selected and moved for one reason – they wear the niqab, a veil that covers all but a woman's eyes. The story broke via a June 27 interview with Ali Sa'ad, Minister of Education, in the private Al-Watan daily newspaper, more than two months after the ministry had started removing the teachers. "The education process in Syrian schools follows an objective, secular methodology and this is undermined by teachers wearing the face veil," Sa'ad said. "I expect other government ministries to follow suit in the near future." News outlets worldwide picked up on the story, likening it to similar moves to legislate Muslim women's dress in Europe. The issue gathered steam when on July 17, the private website Syria News quoted an anonymous official at the Ministry of Higher Education who said that munaqbat – women who wear the niqab – were now also prohibited from enrolling in both private and state-run universities. Officials have refused to confirm this latter measure, however. When contacted by Syria Today, a press officer for the ministry disputed reports it had banned the face veil at universities. "We cannot deny or confirm this news, but until today there is no official printed law which means the old orders are still in effect and munaqbat are allowed to attend Syrian universities," the officer said. Independent civil-society groups investigating the removal of niqab-wearing teachers said that all the women affected were employed at primary schools. About 400 of the these teachers are believed to be from Aleppo governorate, around 600 from Damascus and its surrounding suburbs, while another 200 or so are from Deir ez-Zor and elsewhere in the country. These groups point out, however, that the teachers only taught in all-girls classes, meaning that they generally removed their niqab during lessons. Divisive issue Countries from around the region and throughout Europe have weighed in on the veil in recent years. In Egypt, moves to ban students who wear the niqab from attending university have been struck down by the courts. In Jordan, commentators have charged that government reports of thieves using the niqab to commit crime are really intended to discourage the wearing of the garment. Turkey bans Muslim headscarves in universities, saying they are an attack on the country's modern, secular heritage. In Europe, France, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands are all considering banning the niqab on the grounds it is degrading to women. The issue is sensitive in Syria where the government has been controlled since 1963 by the Ba'ath Party which was founded on secular, nationalist principles. In recent years religious groups led by women have led to an Islamic revival for women in Syria who are playing a much more active role in the intellectual discussion of their faith. At the same time, many secular-minded Syrians have felt that conservative religious groups are exerting growing sway over public life. In an interview with US broadcast journalist Charlie Rose aired in late May, President Bashar al-Assad said the biggest challenge he faced was keeping society "as secular as it is today". Even among Islamic scholars, the wearing of the niqab is debated. On June 19, Muhammed Saeed Ramadan al-Buti, a well-known professor of sharia law at the University of Damascus, published an editorial in the pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper outlining his support for the ban. "If a woman has to choose between the niqab or her job, she should choose her job, which serves the public interest," Buti wrote. Bassam al-Kadi, director of the Syrian Women Observatory, also published an editorial supporting the ban on his organisation's website. It has proved controversial, because in it he compares munaqbat to nudists. "The niqab is no different from a striptease," he explained to Syria Today. "If you want to cover your entire face, you should also be able to walk around naked. You haven't the right to walk in the street in disguise, not as a human." The debate in Syria also includes notions of cultural interference. Kadi differentiated between the hijab, a headscarf traditionally favoured in Syria that covers women's hair and necks, and the face-covering niqab more commonly seen in the Gulf. The hijab, he argued, is a matter of individual freedom, while the niqab is a harmful political statement. "I reject any claim that it is required by Islam," Kadi said. "It is not an Islamic thing, it's a cultural thing that comes from outside Syria." The niqab is linked to the conservative Salafi movement in Islam, a school of thought widely practiced in Gulf countries, most notably in Saudi Arabia. The niqab is not a Syrian tradition, Kadi insisted, and only grew in popularity when Syrians began working in Gulf countries and returning home with new religious values. Internal opposition While the ban is a sensitive issue in Syria, it is not without its public critics. "I am against the niqab and also against the way the decision was issued," Mohammad al-Habash, a parliamentarian and head of the Islamic Studies Centre in Damascus, said. "We should give these teachers time to think and choose between wearing niqab or their teaching position. I am sure most of them will choose the job." This is because niqab is not farida, a religious obligation required by God, Habash said. Rather, it is sunna, an optional religious expression recommended by the Prophet Muhammad. Instead of telling women how they must dress, a better alternative would be to educate the public on the meaning of the niqab in Islam, he said. A number of the decision's most vocal critics say they don't like the niqab, but believe it is not the role of government to tell women how to dress. "It's a wrong and unfair decision to transfer these teachers," Abdel Karim Rihawi, president of the Syrian League for the Defense of Human Rights, said. "I'm personally not a big supporter of the niqab, but I think this is a matter of personal choice and personal freedom. It is not for the Syrian government to tell people how to dress. In fact, the government has the constitutional duty to protecting such freedoms. As such, the decision is illegal." Notably, the input of women is lacking in the debate. Syria Today communicated by e-mail with one of the transferred munaqba teachers who explained why she wears the veil and what it means for her career prospects. The interview was arranged by a trusted third party. "I think some women wear niqab because they believe it is part of Islam, but according to my own experience and others I know, women also wear niqab because of social traditions," the woman, who asked to remain anonymous wrote, adding: "The minister's comments that other ministries should take the same measures in the near future means that women like myself will be jobless." Ousting a select group of teachers suddenly and without warning was unfair, she wrote. Singling out women for wearing the niqab was also unfair as the government does not have any set dress code for teachers. |
1 February 2012
| |||
