Two officials of the Muslim Canadian Congress argue in today’s Globe and Mail that the hijab, or head scarf, originated as a useful piece of clothing in the deserts of Saudi Arabia, not as a requirement of Islamic teaching.  Only recently have some Muslims begun to claim that it epitomises female piety.  In reality, however, it has nothing to do with Islamic morality.

There is not a single reference in the Koran that obliges Muslim women to cover their hair or their face. The only verse that comes close to such a dress code (Sura 24, "The Light," verse 31) directs believing women to let their head coverings obscure their bosoms.

Yet, in the past few decades, Islamists and orthodox Muslims have made the covering of a woman's head the cornerstone of Muslim identity. The head cover been pushed as a symbol of piety and only the Egyptian and Saudi version of the head cover — the hijab — is considered worthy of respect. Coverings that originate in South Asia, the sari or the dupatta, have been relegated as less authentic under Islam.
. . .
Islamists have turned the hijab into the central pillar of Islam. They consider Muslim women who do not cover their heads — the vast majority — as sinners or lesser Muslims. They should come out and debate the issue rather than using young Muslim girls as shields to pursue a political agenda.

This line of reasoning implies that the hijab is not a religious symbol of any kind and, therefore, is entitled to no special protection under Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The column was written by Farzana Hassan and Tarek Fetah, president and founder, respectively, of the Muslim Canadian Congress.

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