Protests aimed at Europe, future

Muslims in the U.S. are taking steps to head off implementation of dress restrictions--such as a ban on women wearing head scarves in public--being considered in some parts of Europe

January 13, 2004|By Geneive Abdo, Tribune religion reporter.

When 11-year-old Nashala Hearn was suspended twice from her Oklahoma public school for wearing a head scarf, an act she believes is demanded by God, officials vowed she would not return until she complied with the dress code, which forbade hats.

But after several religious groups complained, Nashala was allowed into her Muskogee elementary class in October, said her father, Eyvine Hearn.

"She had been studying Islam for a year and we ran across in the holy Koran that women should wear a head scarf. That's why she starting wearing it. We believe it is her religious right," Hearn said this week.

Nashala is only one of a handful of American Muslim girls or women who have faced resistance to their wearing a head scarf in public institutions. But as more Muslim women choose to wear head scarves across the United States, Islamic groups fear they will face the same obstacles as Muslims in Europe, where a campaign is under way in France, parts of Germany and Belgium to ban all forms of veiling in some public institutions. The French parliament is likely to pass a law banning head scarves in primary and secondary schools in February.

That is why Muslims plan to stage protests at French embassies and consulates Saturday in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco in opposition to the proposed French ban. The protests will coincide with demonstrations in Canada and France. Many of the demonstrations are organized by the Muslim Students' Association, a national group with an estimated 2,000 chapters on college campuses in the U.S.

The demonstrations, say Islamic leaders, are part of a growing effort by America's estimated six million Muslims to assert their identity and defend their rights. This campaign has accelerated in the aftermath of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, when the U.S. government began programs of deportation and racial profiling that have shaken the Muslim-American community.

"The idea is if a religious practice is prohibited in Europe, America might be next," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Washington-based Council on American Islamic Relations.

In Chicago, the demonstration will be held outside the French consulate on Michigan Avenue between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday. The demonstration is being organized by the Muslim Students' Association of Illinois.

Muslim students said they do not know of any head scarf bans in Illinois universities. Still, they say there is widespread misunderstanding on campuses concerning the reasons women wear them. The students said they hope Saturday's rally will educate the public.

"Once, when I was in a class at Dominican University [in River Forest], we read an article that said Muslim women who wear head scarves are oppressed. I complained to the professor," said Manal El-Hrisse, a leader in the Muslim local association.

Last month French President Jacques Chirac called for the ban, which also included the Jewish yarmulke and prominent crosses from public schools, warning that France's tradition of staunch secularism was being threatened. The announcement touched off a wave of protests in France.

The Bush administration delicately criticized Chirac, saying such religious expressions display "a basic right that should be protected."

Dominique Decherf, the consul general of France in Chicago, said his government has no plans to reconsider the proposed ban. He said parliament will likely pass a law in February banning head scarves in primary and secondary schools, and the law will take effect in September, at the beginning of the school year.

"There has been a lot of debate in France and Muslims have been part of this conversation. But the government has reached its decision," Decherf said.

The hijab, as the head scarf is known in Arabic, is regarded by its opponents as a backward symbol that promotes extremist tendencies within Islamic communities.

For many Muslims, the head scarf is not a religious or political symbol; it is a religious obligation ordained by God. Many Muslims interpret verses in the Koran as calling for women to adopt modest dress--at the minimum by covering their hair and even disguising their body shape with long cloaks--once they reach puberty.

Islamic groups here and abroad were hoping the protests would put pressure on Chirac to reconsider his proposal. Representatives from the Council on American Islamic Relations met the French ambassador to the United States last week in Washington to voice their views.

"We emphasized to the French ambassador that people should have a right to practice their religion and that this is not incompatible with secularism," said Rabiah Ahmed, an Islamic activist who attended the meeting. "Veiling is something close to my heart, and I can't imagine such a ban in a democratic society."