School wins jilbab case

The Beeb again:

A school which was told it unlawfully excluded a Muslim pupil for wearing a traditional gown has won its appeal at the House of Lords [...] The Court of Appeal had said Denbigh High School had denied Shabina Begum the right to manifest her religion in refusing to allow her to wear a jilbab [...] But in a unanimous ruling, judges at the House of Lords overturned that [...] They said the Luton school had "taken immense pains to devise a uniform policy which respected Muslim beliefs".

I would question the specious link between schools enforcing some kind of authority (which they have to) and school uniforms; I don't there is any such proven link. It seems, based on the ruling, that the Law Lords have decided that it wasn't so much a case of school interferring with her right to education based on her religious beliefs, but that the school had consulted other Muslims in the area over what was 'acceptable' and that other schools were available to accodmodate her beliefs:

[Lord Bingham of Cornhill:] The respondent criticised the school for permitting the headscarf while refusing to permit the jilbab, for refusing permission to wear the jilbab when some other schools permitted it and for adhering to their own view of what Islamic dress required. None of these criticisms can in my opinion be sustained. The headscarf was permitted in 1993, following detailed consideration of the uniform policy, in response to requests by several girls. There was no evidence that this was opposed. But there was no pressure at any time, save by the respondent, to wear the jilbab, and that has been opposed. Different schools have different uniform policies, no doubt influenced by the composition of their pupil bodies and a range of other matters. Each school has to decide what uniform, if any, will best serve its wider educational purposes. The school did not reject the respondent's request out of hand: it took advice, and was told that its existing policy conformed with the requirements of mainstream Muslim opinion.

It seems the logical conclusion of this case is that Muslim interpretations of religious obligations are fought over in English courts...

Comments

[Suhail]

Thabet..You used to have a really great blogroll and set of links.

Where did they go??

Bring them back please

[thabet]

assalamu 'alykum

I will, insha'allah. I'm havnig problems with this template; as soon as they're sorted I will put all links to blogs/websites back up.

wasalaam