KOZHIKODE: The Samastha Kerala Jam-Iyyathul Ulema has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court’s ruling that wearing hijab is not an essential part of Islam. Samastha, however, said it is not against the imposition of uniforms in educational institutions, but only wanted permission for Muslim girl students to wear headscarves of the same colour as that of the prescribed uniform.
In a special leave petition filed in the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the implementation of the High Court order banning hijab in classrooms, Samastha said “the Holy Quran speaks of a mandatory requirement for women to cover their head and neck on more than one occasion.”
Quoting the two verses from Quran cited in the High Court order, Samastha said the HC “erroneously” took these two verses out of their context and put them together to hold that wearing hijab is not mandatory in the Islamic faith. There are authentic ‘hadis’ to prove “it is a farz (the commandments of Quran) for women to cover their head and neck and exposing the female body otherwise is forbidden.”
The petition says the High Court erred in solely relying on the footnotes of Abdulla Yusuf Ali in his translation of the Quran in arriving at its conclusion. “Footnotes of Yusuf Ali are only his personal opinion about the Quranic verses concerned and their historic background. This opinion cannot be considered as a source of Islamic law,” it said.
‘Compulsion to remove headscarf contrary to ideas of pluralism’
Kozhikode: Making clear that it is not against the imposition of uniform in educational institutions, the petition said “the plea is only to permit Muslim girl students to wear a headscarf of the same colour as that of prescribed uniform along with the prescribed dress code.”
Compelling girl students to remove headscarves and insisting that all students wear the same style of dress in classrooms are contrary to the noble ideas of pluralism and inclusiveness, the petition said. The high court passed the order on March 15 after controversy erupted over the ban on hijab in some colleges in Karnataka.