New Delhi: Muslim clerics Tuesday urged the Allahabad High Court to reconsider its judgment on wearing a hijab with a school uniform, saying that wearing of the head covering is “compulsory” in Islam.
The Allahabad High Court, in a significant judgment, clarified that a student does not have a right to alter the dress code prescribed by an educational institution according to personal preferences.
The court dismissed a petition, filed by a minor girl studying at a private school in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, seeking directions to school authorities to allow a student to wear a headscarf in addition to the uniform prescribed by the institution.
Reacting to the court’s verdict, All India Muslim Jamaat President Maulana Mufti Shahabuddin Razvi Bareilvi said that school uniform code and hijab are separate matters and that it should not be viewed together.
Bareilvi noted: “Withing the boundary of a school, the rules and regulations of the institution should be followed. As far as wearing hijab is concerned…its use has been clearly mentioned in Quran.”
“I would request the lawyer and the judges to please refer to the Quran, Hadith (and other religious texts), from where they will get to know about the Islamic practises,” he added.
Islamic Centre of India Chairman Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahli said: “We believe that the court’s decision regarding hijab needs to be reviewed and reconsidered.”
Maintaining that the ‘hijab’ is an integral part of Islam according to the Quran and Hadith, he added: “We believe that girls who want to go to school wearing a scarf or hijab, should not be stopped. As far as the school uniform is concerned, everyone must wear the uniform if they want to study in that school.”
“However, scarf or hijab should be allowed along with the uniform…People of other faiths also wear certain things according to their religion, to which no one has a problem,” he told IANS.
President of Shia Markazi Chand Committee, Maulana Saif Abbas Naqvi, also said: “We do not object to dress codes. Every school has a prescribed uniform, and students ought to wear it. If a girl seeks permission to wear a hijab—or a headscarf—I believe that permission should be granted. However, a crucial point to consider is the Allahabad High Court’s observation that the hijab is not an essential part of Islam. According to Quran, the hijab is compulsory in Islam. Yet, if 10–25 per cent of women do not wear the hijab, we cannot cast them out of the fold of Islam.”
Maulana Abbas told that the Allahabad HC’s decision should be appealed in the Supreme Court.
General Secretary of All India Shia Personal Law Board Maulana Yasoob Abbas echoed, saying: “Hijab is compulsory in Islam, and people of every religion and faith live in India. The question is, if a girl wants to go to school wearing a scarf, completely stopping her from doing so, in my view, is absolutely wrong, and the court should reconsider it once again.”
He cited the Constitution, noting that it grants equal rights to every religion.
Maulana Sajid Rashidi called the Allahabad HC’s judgment on hijab, “an attack on freedom of an individual’s choice.”
He remarked that the court should focus on pending cases, including those related to women’s divorce, rather than commenting on religious matters.
