"A Jilbab in the School's Colors"

It's hard to say exactly where the frontlines of militant Islam's non-violent war with the West are most advanced, but here's a nomination for the British town of Luton, Bedfordshire, about 30 miles northwest from downtown London.

The town's Denbigh High School has a student population of one thousand, of whom an estimated eight hundred are Muslim. The school long ago accommodated their needs, including an Islamic school uniform made up of the Pakistani shalwar kameez trousers, jerkin on top, and hijab head covering.

Shabina Begum

For two years, a female student of Bangladeshi origins named Shabina Begum wore this uniform. But then, starting in September 2002, she said her faith had deepened and she had to wear a jilbab, an ankle-length gown that covers the entire body but for the face and hands. The school administrators rejected her request and denied her access to the school until she wore an approved uniform. Begum replied that the shalwar kameez did not adequately conceal her arms and lower legs. As a compromise, Begum suggested that she wear a jilbab in the school's colors. Her lawyer, Yvonne Spencer explained Begum's outlook: "She is very happy to be identified as a member of the school community. But what she is not prepared to do is sacrifice her devout religious beliefs."

Of course, the matter ended up in court. Perhaps the most interesting argument was one put forward by Simon Birks for the school, who noted that Denbigh is a multi-cultural and multi-faith secular school and there would be "the risk of division if the jilbab were to be adopted. There could be two classes of people - those who wore the jilbab and those who wore the shalwar kameez, with those wearing the jilbab regarded as ‘better Muslims' than those who wore the shalwar kameez."

Today the verdict came down, in favor of the school. Judge Sir Hugh Bennett found the school's dress code to be a "reasoned, balanced, proportionate policy." In response, the Muslim Council of Britain condemned the judgment as "extremely worrying."

Comment: Although the jilbab lost this round, it is already acceptable at other British schools (indeed Denbigh High tried to get Begum to transfer to one of those) and it seems destined to vanquish the opposition. (June 15, 2004)

	Women wear head scarves in the French flag's colors at a protest of a ban on religious attire in schools. (Laurent Rebours for AP)

June 16, 2004 update: Quick confirmation of my prediction came in today's Daily Telegraph, the normally very sensible and hard-headed London newspaper, which editorialized that yesterday's ruling is "a regrettable limitation of personal freedom."

July 3, 2004 update: For a twist to the jilbab in school colors, note the women in France wearing tricolor hijabs as they protest the ban on hijabs in public schools, as pictured in today's Washington Post.

March 2, 2005 update: As I predicted above (the jilbab "seems destined to vanquish the opposition"), Britain's Court of Appeal reversed last year's verdict on the grounds that it violated Begum's right to religious freedom under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees "freedom to manifest one's religion or beliefs." The appeals court instructed Denbigh High School to come to terms with the jilbab, and did not even require that it be in the school colors. It also instructed the school to pay her legal costs.

What makes this high-profile case notable beyond the issues at hand is the identity of Begum's lawyer at the appellate level: none other than Cherie Booth, the wife of British prime minister Tony Blair. Booth called the judgment "a victory for all Muslims who wish to preserve their identity and values despite prejudice and bigotry." More petulantly, Begum denounced the school's decision as "a consequence of an atmosphere that has been created in Western societies post 9/11, an atmosphere in which Islam has been made a target for vilification in the name of the ‘war on terror'. … It is amazing that in the so-called free world I have to fight to wear this attire." (That "so-called" adds just the right touch – Begum neatly manages simultaneously to exploit Londonistan and despise it.)

Aug. 5, 2005 update: The personal testimony of a young Muslim woman, written to Johann Hari, a columnist for the Independent, makes for striking reading:

My younger sisters go to Denbigh High School which was famous in the headlines last year because a girl pupil went to the High Court for her right to wear the jilbab. Shabinah saw it as a great victory for Muslim women ... but what happened next shows this is not a victory for us.

My sisters, and me when I was younger, could always tell our dad and uncles that we weren't allowed to wear the jilbab. Once the rules were changed, that excuse was not possible any more so my sisters have now been terrified into wearing this cumbersome and dehumanising garment all day against their wishes. Now most girls in the school do the same. They don't want to, but now they cannot resist community pressure ... I am frightened somebody is going to fight for the right to wear a burqa next and then my sisters will not even be able to show their faces.

Feb. 8, 2006 update: And why did Shabina Begum insist on wearing a jilbab? As the five law lords who constitute Britain's highest civil court heard yesterday an appeal by Denbigh High School against the earlier ruling permitting the head-to-foot vestment, they learned from Richard McManus, QC, representing the school, that "the school wished to be inclusive and attend to the needs" of its religiously diverse community of Muslims, Hindus, and Sikhs. To accommodate all these faiths, it adopted the shalwar kameez (a sleeveless, smock-like dress worn with tapered trousers and a sweater or shirt to cover the arms). "An important attraction for the school was that the kameez was worn by different faith groups and it hoped that would minimise the differences between them."

McManus went on: "Unfortunately, the reason for its appeal to the school is the same as one of the objections raised by Miss Begum's advisers, in that it is a dress worn by non-believers and not suitable for that reason." To which Cherie Booth, QC, replied that minimising differences between pupils was not the reason Begum had objected to the school uniform. "It is because it is not modest enough."

Mar. 22, 2006 update: In a surprise decision, the Court of Appeal at the House of Lords ruled unanimously in favor of the school's appeal and against Begum and Booth. The judges said the school had "taken immense pains to devise a uniform policy which respected Muslim beliefs … in an inclusive, unthreatening and uncompetitive way/" Begum responded: "I had to make a stand about this. Many women will not speak up about what they actually want. I still don't see why I was told to go home from school when I was just practising my religion." She added that the shalwar kameez permitted by Denbigh High School "did not satisfy Islamic clothing. I feel it is an obligation upon Muslim women to wear this [the jilbab], although there are many other opinions." She also said she would consult her lawyers about an appeal to the European courts, so the saga may not be over.

Mar. 23, 2006 update: Even more surprisingly, the Daily Telegraph, which nearly two years ago had condemned an earlier ruling in favor of the school as "a regrettable limitation of personal freedom" (see the June 16, 2004 update above), today endorsed it, writing that "the Law Lords have injected some sanity" into this case. How good to see sanity return to Britain's best newspaper.

Related Topics:  Muslims in the United Kingdom, Radical Islam receive the latest by email: subscribe to daniel pipes' free mailing list