France Bans Abaya in Schools

1 min read

The French education minister said before back-to-school season that state-run schools will ban the abaya, a loose-fitting, full-length garment worn by some Muslim women.

Since 19th-century legislation banned Catholic influence from public education, France has struggled to adapt to a rising Muslim minority.

French public schools ban huge crosses, Jewish kippas, and Islamic headscarves.

In 2004, the country prohibited headscarves in schools, and in 2010, it banned full-face veils in public, angering its five million Muslims.

“I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools,” Education Minister Gabriel Attal said TF1. “When you enter a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to tell the students’ religion by looking at them.”

The decision follows months of controversy about abayas in French schools, where women have long been barred from wearing them.

The right and far right supported the ban, which the left said violated civil liberties.

Unlike headscarves, abayas were technically legal until now.

The French Council of Muslim Faith (CFCM), which represents various Muslim organisations, stated clothing is not “a religious sign”.

Left-wingers supporting Enlightenment liberal ideas and far-right voters seeking a bulwark against Islam’s rising influence in French society all rally around secularism.

Source: Al Jazeera

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