Syria bans niqab in schools

[sparklingway]

SYRIA: School ban on all-covering veil raises nary a peep among activists in the Middle East​

July 15, 2010 | 11:42 am

Who knew right-wing Western politicians and the Syrian government had something in common?

The niqab, a face-covering veil worn by some Muslim women that has been maligned by many in Europe and the United States as a symbol of oppression and religious extremism, has been quietly outlawed in public schools by Syrian authorities in an effort to protect the nation's nominal secularism.

Syria has a long and fraught history with Islamic opposition groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood. But despite possibly forcing 1,200 women out of their jobs, no one is headed to the streets or has even launched a Facebook campaign yet.

"If people sense that this is a step that will lead to more repressive action by the state against other religious symbolism there may be a backlash, but this act on its own will not lead to a massive reaction," Ahmad Moussalli of the American University of Beirut, who has spent years studying political Islam in the region, told Babylon & Beyond.

The ban does not affect the hijab, or headscarf, which is favored by the vast majority of veiled Syrian women.

The issue of the niqab falls into a complicated cultural space in Syria. When similar bans were introduced in Europe, they were widely criticized in the Middle East as discriminatory against Muslim immigrants. But many women's rights organizations in the region, and in Syria specifically, are staffed by secular activists who also share some of the government's fears of radicalization.

Phil Sands of the Abu Dhabi-based National newspaper spoke with Bassam Kadi, director of the Syrian Women Observatory, who explained his reasons for declining to take up the cause of the niqab after several of the affected women approached his organization for help.

"The niqab is not a Syrian tradition," Kadi told the National. "It's an imported symbol of religious extremism and contradicts the moderate Islam we know here. If [a woman] wears niqab, she is forcing an attitude on society. She is making a statement. That is not acceptable in a school."

Although no formal announcement was made, local media began reporting the ban in June after women who wore the niqab began coming forward and complaining that they had been fired or reassigned to government offices where they would not come into contact with students.

"Education in Syrian schools follows an objective, secular methodology and this is undermined by wearing the face veil," Education Minister Ali Saad reportedly said during a teachers' syndicate meeting last month.

Reactions to the ban have ranged from outraged to approving, according to the Damascus Bureau blog, which monitored the reaction on Facebook and other online forums, a popular method for gauging public opinion in a country where the press is tightly controlled by the state.

Similar measures of forced secularization have had mixed results in such countries as Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey, where governments have sought to control the rise of political Islam through a mix of appeasement, coercion and violent repression.

Earlier this year, an Egyptian court upheld a ruling that banned female students from wearing the niqab during final exams, citing the possibility of cheating. Thousands of people demonstrated against the ban, which was criticized by many prominent Egyptian clerics.

But Syria is generally less conservative than Egypt, Moussalli explained, and the ban will affect a much smaller minority.

"I would say [the ban] is wrong because it goes against personal choice, so from that perspective I think it's problematic," Moussalli said. "But in Syria, freedom is not a choice; this is an act by the state to curb radical behavior ... maybe in certain religious circles they will be upset and angry, but other than that I think not."

-- Meris Lutz in Beirut

 

[sparklingway]

Will The News put this on their front page? Wiill Nawa e Waqt report this? Will Daily Ummat print this as their main headline? Will any paper report this? Will this get the coverage that the French or Belgium ban get? Was there even debate on this like the global debate on the French ban? Will this be the main headline at 2100 in Pakistan? Will anybody report the Tunisian ban on Hijab?

Of course not. Nobody in Pakistan will report this or Darfur or another thing committed by the "Ummah". All hail thy hypocrisy !!!

 

[somebozo]

Syria is a long term secular state in the lines of Turkish like policies. Face viels and religious symbols were "silently understood" off limits at all public facilities however recently Saudis have started to make inroads into Syria under the guise of economic developments and been doing some "dawa" on the side causing upsurge of popular islamic sentiments. And we know what happens when these wahabis are allowed to run free with their dawa. Pakistan and its madarssas are open story to the world.


BTW saudis have banned face veils too at their new universities. The face veil has nothing to do with Islam, it is a jahilia era arab pracitse to anoynomise woman identity. Because jahilia era arabs viewed woman as pleasure meat and curse.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Will The News put this on their front page? Wiill Nawa e Waqt report this? Will Daily Ummat print this as their main headline? Will any paper report this? Will this get the coverage that the French or Belgium ban get? Was here even debate on this like the global debate on the French ban? Will this be the main headline at 2100 in Pakistan? Will anybody report the Tunisian ban on Hijab?

Of course not. Nobody in Pakistan will report this or Darfur or another thing committed by the "Ummah". All hail thy hypocrisy !!!

Im HAPPY TO BURST UR BUBBLE.....It was reported in DAWN NEWS which was founded by the NATIONS FATHER....QUAID E AZAM MUHAMAD ALI JINNAH.
N i cant be sure abt Darfur .....


All hail the liberals n their IGNORANCE

 

[sparklingway]

Im HAPPY TO BURST UR BUBBLE.....It was reported in DAWN NEWS which was founded by the NATIONS FATHER....QUAID E AZAM MUHAMAD ALI JINNAH.
N i cant be sure abt Darfur .....

Did I name Dawn here? No. Since Dawn seems to follow the line of the segment of society it caters to. There's only one liberal newspaper in Pakistan and that is Aaj Kal. Obviously, it has a very low readership.

The hopeless attempts at using an exception to negate an entirely valid hypothesis and argument has been the norm of all nay sayers.

You cannot deny that this will never, ever get the coverage the French ban gets. Tunisia banned the Hijab altogether, let alone the Niqab. Obviously nobody will print that or comment on that, not that Tunisia is not important but because it won't sell well since west-is-out-to-get-islam sells very well.

All hail the liberals n their IGNORANCE

All hail the hypocrites.

 

[SekrutYakhni]

Pakistani government should also ban burqa etc

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Did I name Dawn here? No. Since Dawn seems to follow the line of the segment of society it caters to. There's only one liberal newspaper in Pakistan and that is Aaj Kal. Obviously, it has a very low readership.

The hopeless attempts at using an exception to negate an entirely valid hypothesis and argument has been the norm of all nay sayers.

You cannot deny that this will never, ever get the coverage the French ban gets. Tunisia banned the Hijab altogether, let alone the Niqab. Obviously nobody will print that or comment on that, not that

Hey MOD read wat u said

:Of course not. Nobody in Pakistan will report this or Darfur or another thing committed by the "Ummah". All hail thy hypocrisy !!!

U seem to fire n forget....

it won't sell well since west-is-out-to-get-islam sells very well.

Yup lets draw a cartoon of Prophet Muhamad SAW with a bomb,Ban hijab (basic human right as per amnesty international and UN) n join the freedom party who have verbaly insulted as our religion n Prophet n call for bannin muslims in EU etc? or no Minarets etc

All hail the hypocrites.

Both Liberal morons n hypocrites should be shot...

P.S=Im not very religious but i speak the bitter TRUTH.

 

[FreekiN]

Both Liberal morons n hypocrites should be shot...

Yes, kill off the opposition! As we are Islamist Fascist Tyrants of a theocracy, are we not?

 

[Saleem]

The Syrian Government has nothing to do with Islam - the rulers are Alawi's (sp?) who are proteges of the French Colonial regimes. They can be expected to do anything to preserve their rule and a requirement of that is to collaborate with anyone who will help in this regard....

 

[Saleem]

At the same time they have been very effective in controlling terror within their borders....

 

[sparklingway]

Hey MOD read wat u said

Exceptions do not qualify as negations. I accept my mistake. Counter my point, not a factual error.

Yup lets draw a cartoon of Prophet Muhamad SAW with a bomb,Ban hijab (basic human right as per amnesty international and UN) n join the freedom party who have verbaly insulted as our religion n Prophet n call for bannin muslims in EU etc? or no Minarets etc

Typical reactionary verbal vomits.

Both Liberal morons n hypocrites should be shot...

You peaceful and tolerant being.

P.S=Im not very religious but i speak the bitter TRUTH.

So say the hypocrites.

 

[Speaker]

Niqab ban in Syrian schools ‘is aimed at Islamists’ - The National Newspaper

DAMASCUS // The recent ban on fully veiled women from teaching in Syria is the latest move that may signal the authorities are trying to reign in hardline Islamic sentiments.

Full-face veils, or niqabs, symbolise a conservatism that, many moderate Muslims and minority groups here say, is not in keeping with local tradition.

Most of Syria’s Muslim women wear open-faced headscarves – frequently white – a stark contrast from the all-enveloping black niqab. But the niqab has become increasingly common, particularly in the northern city of Aleppo, fuelling concerns that ultra-conservative interpretations of Islam are spreading.

The first clear sign of renewed government action against hardline sentiments came at the end of 2008, when tight new regulations were imposed on private Islamic schools. Those measures were introduced after a deadly bombing in Damascus was traced to a private Islamic institute in the city, one described by a former student as a haven of extremist doctrine.

Another scare for Syria’s moderates, minorities and secular groups came last year, in the form of a draft personal status law. It proposed reversing a number of women’s and children’s rights and paved the way for bringing non-Muslims under Sunni Sharia rulings.

Civil society organisations and liberal religious groups, Christian and Islamic alike, were outraged and united against the draft, saying it would “Talibanise” the country. The proposed legislation was scrapped following intervention by the president, Bashar Assad.


The contents of that draft law, civil society activists say, surprised and alarmed the authorities, underlining that ultra-conservative Islam had grown in strength and wielded significant power within the Syrian establishment.

Moves were made to reinforce moderate religious sentiments. In January, Mahmoud Abul Huda al Husseini, was appointed to head the office for religious endowment in Aleppo. One of the wealthiest and most powerful Islamic organisations in the country, it has long had a reputation as a bastion of ultra-conservative Islam.

Mr al Husseini, a genial moderniser with degrees in medicine, Islamic law and history, was given a reforming mandate and said his task was to “clean the environment that fosters radicalism”.

Since taking over the post, he has incurred the wrath of some in Syria’s religious hierarchy by stopping dozens of reactionary imams from preaching publicly, on the grounds they had failed to understand Islam’s inherent tolerance and needed to learn the Quran properly.

There have been other signals that the space given to hardline Islamic sentiment inside Syria is being newly restricted.

Last year, a leaked document revealed the Baath Party, widely assumed to be jealously secular, had approved the opening of a group expounding an ultra-conservative brand of Islam. Run by Sheikh Abdul Hadi al Bani, the organisation contended that television was against Quranic teachings and that women should not be allowed to work outside their home.

According to the memo, the al Bani group was not to be considered a “negative influence” on society if it limited its work to religion and did not dabble in politics.

That decision was greeted with dismay by moderates, who said it was proof a blind eye was being turned towards dangerous grass-roots atavism.

This year, however, the party reversed its decision on al Bani, saying that, as a secular political organisation, it was opposed to such groups having licence to operate.

Then, without public announcement, came the ministry of education’s disputed ban on niqab-wearing teachers, a move the government justified as necessary to defend “secularism”. The minister of education, Ali Saad, hinted that other public sector departments would follow suit.

Religion is a sensitive topic in Syria, in part because the regime is by background Allawite, a minority sect of Shia Islam, but by instinct secular. It governs over a Sunni Muslim majority population.

In the 1980s, radical Sunnis from the Muslim Brotherhood led a violent uprising against the ruling Arab nationalist Baath Party. The rebellion was crushed and, subsequently, the authorities have taken a hard stance against anything they perceive as domestic extremism.

Regular Sunday sessions at the Supreme State Security Court, convened under controversial emergency laws, continue to jail defendants in cases related to radicalism and illegal political movements.

And yet, Damascus has been a major supporter of groups such as Hamas and Hizbollah. The logic behind these alliances is simple: while differing in ideology, they are joined by opposition to Israeli occupation and believe a united front aids their collective cause.

Similarly, when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and threatened Syria with regime change, Damascus had little incentive to stop guerillas wanting to wage jihad on US troops. Those same militants would, under different circumstances, be Syria’s sworn enemies.

As a result, Damascus has for years walked a tightrope of contradiction, siding with Islamic radicals on some foreign policy issues while trying to constrain those same forces domestically. Although there is no question of Syria ending its partnerships with Hamas and Hizbollah while still at war with Israeli, it appears the Syrian authorities may now feel that conservative Islam has been given too free a reign at home and should be hauled back in.

 

[into the wild]

what has wearing a face veil, or having a beard or wearing, an arab dress or shalwar kameez has any bad thing to do..

if these pathetic acts continue in the west, or a middle east backward country, syria has a significant population of jews i guess, ban the jew cap i guess in syria and the west?? and sikh turban and beard in india, will they do it, no!!

whether banning emarat in swizerland, or hijab in turkey or germany or france, intolerance towards religion is also not justified as religious intolerance cant be justified..

 

[into the wild]

Pakistani government should also ban burqa etc

pak govt doesnt listen to a canadian... it listens to pakistanis and works for pakistanis, it bans alcohol and night clubs instead.. why dont your country ban the burqa??

 

[Bhim]

My opinion strictly for debate purposes with no religious flavor.

In Hindu customs the girls were asked to wear a Chunni, and the daughter in law were to have a Ghunghat(Face covered with Saree). But other than very conservative societies, this thing has vanished and instead Jeans and other type of Western wear has become the vogue.
I personally feel rather than imposing a dress code, it should be a personal choice. But in strict family gatherings the old customs should follow.