Supreme Court erred in ruling on the hijab

A major controversy has been stirred by the apex court after it quashed Court of Appeal’s ruling on the validity of Hijab (Islamic female head cover) in schools.

The Supreme Court ruled that the tolerability of the apparel would be determined by respective schools which, of course, include the Isiolo-based and Methodist Church-owned St Paul Kiwanjani Secondary School that had all along refused to approve it; leading to suspension of three Muslim girls and forced the resultant drawn-out legal contest, from the High court to the Supreme Court. The judgment rendered by majority of judges at the Supreme Court is wrong and should be revisited.

The decision is literally indistinguishable from sacrilege given the fact that it has plainly devalued the divine order for Muslim females to wear Hijab- as a protective cover which fosters decency and modesty in them.

One of the verses in the Qur’an that carry the Hijab command states: “And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their coverings over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, [ a list of relatives], [household servants], or small children who have no sense of shame of sex; and that they should not strike their feet in order to draw attention to their hidden ornaments. And O ye believers! Turn ye all together towards Allah, that ye may attain bliss”. (24:31)

The values

Even though Kenya is a secular state, we are still a positively theocentric people. That is the underlying principle behind the recognition and safeguarding of freedom of worship and unhindered adherence of one’s chosen creed under the purview of the wide-ranging Bill of Rights set up in chapter four of our Constitution.

By the same token, the first line of our national anthem starts prayerfully with the words, “ O God of all creation” in recognition of the prominence of spirituality in our personal and national endeavours. A word of prayer also customarily preface parliamentary sessions which are attended by men and women who once held high a copy of the bible or the Qur’an as they took their oath of office and allegiance like many other state and public officials, starting with the President. Our Chief Justice David Maraga too once eminently observed that “The greatness of any nation...above all lies with respect to God”. So, in this context, the right for school-going Muslim girls to adorn Hijab as a divine instruction ought to have been respected and upheld by the Supreme Court, which failed to do so.

Schools are a place where sound knowledge and values are supposed to be imparted to our young, receptive minds. It is particularly important for children in schools to be taught about the values of broad-mindedness and appreciation for diversity. It is thus disgraceful that the Supreme Court squandered a great chance to encourage open-mindedness in our schools by allowing Muslim girls to enjoy their right to education in any school of their choice without intrusion on their personal and religious right to put on hijab.

Many Christians

What if some schools refuse to admit girls with hijab in future due to the discretionary power the Supreme Court has granted them on the matter? Does that mean that Muslim girls would have to compromise one right in order to enjoy the other? Just picture not making it to your school of choice because the wearing of hijab is unwelcome there. That is certainly not the Kenya we want.

The issue of hijab should not be a bother to church-funded schools for the reason that wearing it is not odd to Christianity. The nuns for instance, do cover themselves. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a great Christian nun and missionary modestly covered her hair. Likewise the portrait used by many Christians to display Mary, the mother of Jesus and a pious woman who is equally held in high regard by Muslims, is that of a woman who opted to conceal her body. A harmonious likeness of sorts for the two Abrahamic faiths.

This pointless fuss around hijab, which is correspondingly international in scope, is just a portrayal of the distortions and negative propaganda about Islam, which drives some institutions like those that are faith-based to adopt radical and stereotypical outlook and positions on Muslims.

A good example is one transnational Christian charity that recently published a shocking and spiteful report on what it considered massive sidelining and persecution of Christians by their Muslim counterparts in the country. That was pure hate-mongering that has the potential for being exploited for youth indoctrination and subsequent recruitment in terror groups using members of both faiths.

Finally, this year’s World Hijab Day, which will be celebrated in over 140 countries around the world this Friday, will definitely be a sombre one for Muslims in the country following Supreme Court’s uninspiring decision on the religious clothing. The event was started by Bangladeshi-American activist Nazma Khan in 2013 with the objective to raise awareness on the important Islamic garb, fight discrimination and create peace in the world.

The theme for this year is ‘Breaking stereotypes; Shattering boundaries’, the very slogan that we suitably require to embrace in order to end unreasonable fear and dislike for hijab in our schools and even beyond. Kenya, as a democratic and multi-religious state, should not tolerate religious discrimination of any kind. The personal and religious right for school going Muslim girls to wear hijab included.

Mr Mohamed comments on sociopolitical issues. [email protected]