Pastafarian can wear strainer on head in license photo - "A woman who belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is allowed to wear a pasta strainer on her head in her driver's license photo due to religious beliefs... Lowell, Mass., resident Lindsay Miller says wearing the colander allows her to express her beliefs, like other religions are allowed to do"
If you allow religious exemptions, you need to permit them all to be consistent. This is the same strategy that Satanists in the US use to troll Christians who try to put religion in government. So liberals and Muslims in Singapore who want the tudung to be allowed in uniforms should be careful what they wish for (though of course the exceptionalism logic can just be rammed through)
Muslim writer says hijab should be banned from medical profession - "the morality council in Saudi Arabia had recently announced that no Muslim woman could go to a hospital without a male relative and woman had to be seen by female doctors. These doctrines are increasingly be followed to the letter by so-called devout Muslims here too. We are seeing the rise of Wahhabism, a 19th century Saudi Arabian invention, throughout UK society and now in our state hospitals. Liberal muslims like myself are furious and helpless to stop this spread. Doctors and nurses in NHS hospitals are increasingly needing to confront the issue of so-called Islamic modesty code for women head on, either because patients demand it, or their own co-workers make it an issue. I find that white liberal apologists are becoming complicit in the slow take over of a fascist element with Islam, that seeks to impose its views on the rest of us... Recently, an NHS consultant anaesthetist was suspended for confronting a Muslim surgeon who refused to remove her hijab for an operation. The Trust reinstated him when a hospital investigation found he had simply being enforcing the Trust's own strict codes to minimise infection. It said that religious headscarves are excluded in areas such as the theatre, where they could present a health and cross-infection hazard. In Cairo in Egypt, the President of Cairo University has expanded his ban on the niqab face covering to all nurses, staff members of the faculty of medicine and female staff in the university's teaching hospitals, citing patient rights to know who is treating them... state run institutions including hospitals in a liberal society should be free from doctrine imposed by one section of society, not matter how intimidating and vocal they are."
Do dress codes lead to discrimination? - "Last week a Muslim healthcare professional left her agency post at the Royal Berkshire Hospital Trust in Reading, claiming she had been forced out because she refused to bare her arms. The trust argued that the radiographer had known about its ‘bare below the elbows’ policy for staff in clinical areas when she began working there in June. This is the latest in a series of incidents in which infection control policies and religious beliefs have clashed in the healthcare environment. In February female medical students at Liverpool’s Alder Hey children’s hospital objected to rolling up their sleeves when washing their hands and removing arm coverings in theatre. Similar concerns have been raised by medical students at the universities of Leicester and Sheffield. According to Islamic law, a woman should cover her arms, including the wrist, at all times except in front of close relatives."
If we assume for the sake of argument that BBTE works, is religion more important than hygiene?
Domestic laundering of nurses’ uniforms: what are the risks? - "With rises in healthcare-acquired infections (HCAIs) and antibiotic resistance, understanding transmission routes of bacteria is paramount. One possible route is nurses’ uniforms, which they wash at home. A study found that trusts’ policies on home laundering were inconsistent and that staff did not always follow guidance. Another study showed that, when contaminated and sterile fabric samples were washed at 40°C, a small number of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus bacteria survived and cross-contamination occurred."
Not Your Hijab: Why Singapore Still Won’t Settle the Great Tudung Debate
Just because you don't like the conclusion doesn't mean it isn't settled
Liberals like to pretend that this shows that Muslims are oppressed, ignoring the fact that they have their own Minister and a whole parallel legal system, including polygyny
Those who claim there's special treatment for Sikhs ignore the fact that (as above) Muslims get even more special treatment, as well as the fact that Sikhs already compromise about the dulled/blunted kirpan
It's very interesting RICE plays the gender card without mentioning that many Muslim women are pressured into wearing the hijab by men (or, if you like, Muslim patriarchy, which other Muslim women contribute to as well)
RICE claims that the hijab isn't political, which pretends that its popularisation is not rooted in Wahhabi influence
It's amazing for an article about wearing the hijab in uniform to totally ignore the question of what a uniform is for
Taking a uniform approach to nursing attire - "most of the evidence supports the assumption that consistency in nursing attire communicates professionalism and lets patients identify nurses easily, meeting important goals of patient satisfaction"
What Westerners get wrong about the hijab - The Washington Post - "In the West, the hijab is often treated as a traditional feature of Islamic culture. But in Egypt and elsewhere, widespread use of the hijab is a relatively new phenomenon. This complexity was best captured by the bewildering case of Belgians and Brits debating the use of the full-faced veil, while Muslims in the Middle East were debating a less controversial head cover — both defended by supporters as the hijab mandated by sharia.The move toward Egyptian women wearing the hijab had a far more diverse array of causes than Westerners might expect: They included sociopolitical and religious events, the growing access to education outside of the elite, migration, the proliferation of private religious media outlets and social pressures to improve women’s chances of attracting husbands. Most significantly, the transformation illustrates how Egyptian society has grown more religious over time, while also revealing that adoption of the hijab isn’t simply a symbol of extreme religion, as critics like Johnson assume.That becomes obvious if you look at class pictures from Cairo University over the past 60 years. The 1959 black-and-white photo of Cairo’s English department was taken during the reign of Gamal Abdel Nasser, the popular Pan-Arabist leader and proud nationalist who wanted to emancipate the country from the vestiges of colonialism... Movies during the 1950s and 1960s portrayed women engaged in a quest for independence. The movie “Ana Hora” (I am free) was released the same year the Cairo University class picture was taken. It focused on freedom and feminism, featuring a main character who dreamed of independence. Actress Faten Hamama also made a big splash at the time with movies highlighting social issues related to women.This flourishing film scene meant that Egypt drew people from all over the Arab world who wanted to practice the arts. Screens showed scenes of kissing, bikinis, alcohol, dancing and casinos, a sign of growing liberalism in Egyptian society.The 1959 class photo reflected the culture nurtured both by Nasser and the film scene: The women wore dresses and short hairdos.But things began to change in Egypt shortly thereafter. In 1967, Israel defeated the Arab armies — signifying the failure of the region’s secular post-colonial regimes. A growing number of people began to embrace religion as an alternative, culminating in the Iranian revolution, the Siege of Mecca by extremists and the jihad in Afghanistan — all in 1979.At the same time, economic grievances caused many in Egypt to migrate to Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in search of jobs. At that time, the Gulf region was in need of laborers, doctors, engineers and teachers. When they began to return to Egypt, however, they brought with them fundamentalist versions of Islam, such as Salafi Islam, common in countries like Saudi Arabia, and full head covers for women.During the 1970s, Nasser’s successor, Anwar Sadat, gave the Muslim Brotherhood a degree of freedom, aiming to use the group to help confront communists. He freed members of the Brotherhood jailed during Nasser’s reign.By the 1980s, the Brotherhood and Salafi influence started to be widely felt in the streets and mosques — especially the Brotherhood’s. Its members blended in easily. Beards were optional and regular clothes were worn. The group focused on educational institutions and targeted the working class. It supported lower classes, through charities and service provision. All of this led to newfound influence.The second of the university pictures, taken in 1987, therefore, represented the end of an era. Women sported flared pants with big hair — and none wore hijabs. But the photo was deceptive. By the time it was taken, the Muslim Brotherhood’s campaign was succeeding in transforming perceptions of the garment. The hijab began to appear on campuses across Egypt by the mid-1970s. But as one 1975 graduate explained, “When we saw a woman in hijab at the time we thought she might be an extremist.” Within a decade, however, this woman started wearing the garment herself, revealing the dramatic shift that took place.By the mid-1990s and early 2000s, businesses motivated by profit, not a desire to proselytize, sensed a hunger for religious content, and pounced... women adopt the hijab for complex reasons tied to politics, fashion, entertainment and religion, not simply because they embraced extreme strains of Islam"
So since the tudung is not just about religion, trying to make it out purely as a religious thing is dishonest
5 Muslim Scholars On The Permissibility Of Not Wearing The Headscarf - "It is enforced as a religious obligation, sometimes under great moral duress. A young Muslim Canadian was murdered for not wearing it. On the other hand, other Muslim women, who elect to be visible by donning the headscarf, have been physically assaulted. A vast majority of Muslims believe in the obligation of the headscarf. How much of that stems from the rise of populist Islamic movements since the 1970s may be gauged from Leila Ahmed's book "A Quiet Revolution."Muslim feminists correctly argue that it is a matter concerning women, who have been given dictations by men. Indeed, the case for obligation is predominately made by male scholars and by male chauvinists who promote inane memes comparing women without headscarves to uncovered lollipops. Projecting themselves as custodians of Islamic values, they often sideline contrarian positions as stemming from secular or feminist values...
1. Khaled Abou El-Fadl
El-Fadl finds it ironic that the headscarf has become "symbolic of Islamic identity," as for him it is "not at the core of the Islamic faith." He critiques the predominant Muslim position of viewing the khimar (veil) as a piece of cloth that covers the head and face or just the head. For El-Fadl, evidence does not exist that pre-Islamic women in Mecca covered their face or hair. He even mentions a great descendant of the Prophet known as Fatima al-Kubra who refused to cover her hair along with the noble women of her time. Moreover, he also points out that slave women had their heads uncovered so the issue for classical jurists on the dress code was not sexual seduction but rather social status. El-Fadl mentions that the illa (operative cause) for the injunction to cover was to protect women from harm and to avoid undue attention from mischief mongors. He also states that the ma'ruf (generally accepted as good) and the munkar (socially recognized as unacceptable) are based on pragmatic and practical experience. Therefore, he argues that if the headscarf itself causes women to stand out and put them in the way of harm and if uncovering the head is not considered socially immodest or licentious then it would be permissible for Muslim women to not wear the headscarf.
2. Javed Ahmad Ghamidi
Like El-Fadl, Ghamidi opines there were injunctions exclusive for the wives of the Prophet. He argues that there are only four instructions that pertain to Muslim women. These include lowering the gaze, wearing modest clothing, covering the bosom with a piece of cloth and not displaying ornamental embellishments before unrelated men. No other injunction other than these has been imposed on Muslim women. Ghamidi's affiliates like Farhad Shafti have clearly mentioned that the khimar (veil) was neither a religious act nor did it pertain to modesty and even the Qur'an uses the word without legal connotations. Another affiliate, Moiz Amjad also argues that, "Islam does not make it mandatory for women to cover their heads". He succinctly states that headscarf is not part of the sharia and that donning it is a personal choice.
5. Nasr Abu Zayd
According to the late Abu Zayd, both the awrah (intimate parts) and the hijab (veil) are subject to socio-cultural norms and therefore are changeable and not fixed. He opined that both are not legislated by Islam but are rather specific to the Arab culture."
If we must listen to Muslim women's voices, what does it say that there seem to be no high profile Muslim women scholars?
The Hijab Crisis - Unveiling Islamic Privilege in Postcolonial Nigeria - "the hijab controversy is part of a broad campaign to enthrone Islamic privilege in postcolonial Nigeria... colonialism was seen to have privileged Christianity. The state was largely perceived as Christian and western. The Islamic establishment treats the ‘state’ with suspicion and mistrust unless in situations where it is qualified as Islamic. Muslim ideologues believe that the project of statecraft was rigged against Islam, and to deny Islam the privileges that it had long enjoyed.So, the post-colonial Nigeria has been characterised by a fierce and sometimes, vicious battle and competition for religious influence and control. And sections of the country such the central and Southwest Nigeria, where the two faiths do not command an absolute majority have been fierce battlegrounds. In an attempt to reassert Islamic privilege in postcolonial Nigeria, the Islamic establishment has used two main strategies. They are the majoritarian and human rights strategies. How do these strategies work? In parts of Nigeria where Muslims are dominant, the Islamic establishment employs the majoritarian device to secure a special treatment Islam and for Muslims. They insist that the state and society be organised on the basis of Islamic norms because Muslims are in the majority; they outnumber those who belong to other religions... During the Sharia crisis in the early 2000s, Muslim authorities claimed that sharia law would apply only to Muslims. But that did not happen. Today, sharia is applied to everyone, both Muslims and non muslims alike. In line with their majoritarian strategy, the Islamic authorities capitalise on their number to get everyone to abide by Islamic norms while ignoring that this approach infringes on the rights of non-muslims.In parts of the country where the Muslim population is a minority or not as significant, the strategy is different. The establishment uses the human rights mechanism to realise a special treatment for Muslims and Islam. It portrays Muslims as victims of human rights abuses and persecutions, and Islam as an endangered religion. For instance, in Lagos, Oyo and Osun states, Muslim authorities have argued that refusing the use of hijab in state schools constitutes a violation of human rights. They have made a similar case in their agitation for the construction of mosques in Cross River and other states in southern Nigeria. Islamic authorities use litigations to secure special status for Muslims. Actually, they take the cases to state courts where Muslim judges constitute the majority and are compelled either by personal faith or religious pressure to rule in favour of the Islamic establishment. With their majoritarian and human rights strategies, the Islamic authorities are seeking to establish or re-establish Islamic privilege across the country and to get all Muslims in various parts of the nation, whether they are in the majority or in the minority, to enjoy rights and advantages which people of other faiths or none in the country do not possess... If Muslim girls are allowed to wear the Islamic veil as part of their uniform, then other children should also wear their religious veils and symbols as part of their school uniform. Anything short of this is patent discrimination and a slippery slope into anarchy, chaos and confusion in schools. The stubborn refusal by the Islamic authorities to understand the destabilising potentials of their hijab campaign is quite disturbing. Their unwillingness to accept that what applies to Muslim school girls equally applies to all school children drips with fanaticism."
Facebook - "Raneem Wael is a 16 year old girl from Egypt who was ran over by her own mother as a punishment simply for discussing taking her hijab off. Forced to wear it since she was a child, Raneem recently brought up the courage to talk to her mum about removing the hijab. Consequently, she was beaten and threatened by both her mum and uncle - shown in one of the photos carrying a knife. A few days later, she was home alone waiting for her mum to come back from work, when she got a phone call from her mother telling her she now approves of her taking the hijab off, and to get herself ready as she will be taking her out for dinner as a treat. Raneem dressed up and got in the car, elated to be free from hijab for the first time in years. However after a short drive, her mum suddenly told her to get out of the car. As Raneem was walking away, her mum ran her over, almost killing her. Bystanders then took her to hospital, where it was found that she had fractures in the pelvis. Raneem later filed a case against both her mum and uncle but was treated like a criminal by Egyptian police and was threatened to be thrown in prison by an officer unless she dropped the charges against them. Having no choice but to do so, she is now in hiding and in fear for her life... In any normal society, victims of abuse find protection and sympathy. This case is a clear example of how victims of abuse in the Islamic world are shamed and shunned for speaking up. Pictured below are the public’s reaction to Raneem’s live stream (mostly angry faces) vs the sad reactions to her mother’s live stream in which she admits that she hit her daughter solely for wanting to remove the veil and therefore “walk free” and “be out of control”. The support that the mum received from the general public only shows that the idea of having the choice to take the hijab off is not only unacceptable but enough for a woman to lose any sympathy. Women having autonomy over their bodies or speaking up against a person who resembles authority, changes the power structure and endangers the patriarchal hierarchy of control. While western liberals and feminists try to portray the hijab as a symbol of empowerment, hijab for Muslim women is nothing but a tool of systematic oppression that will always be used against them."
