World News: French Court Upholds Abaya Ban in Schools
by Claire Miller
On September 4th of 2023, The Council of State, France’s top-ranking administrative court, upheld the barring of wearing an abaya, a full-length robe worn by Muslim women, for children in public schools. In attempt to remain a secular nation, French jurisdiction ruled that the ban was not a “serious and obviously illegal infringement of a fundamental freedom.” This was a loss for the many critics who called the ban discriminatory and filed a petition to revoke the barring.
In 2004, French courts voted to ban “ostentatious” symbols of religious pertinence in middle and high schools, such as Muslim head scarves, Catholic crosses, or Jewish skullcaps. The recent incident only serves to continue France’s long-standing version of secularism. But, being coined as “a discriminatory measure that unfairly polices the clothing of Muslim girls”, from the critics’ eye, the decision is not without controversy. As the French Court of Muslim Faith, or CFCM, stated, “the abaya is not a religious symbol. The garment is hard to distinguish,” said the council, in turn meaning a Muslim student could be barred from wearing an item that a non-Muslim would not.
At the same time, the garment is becoming increasingly popular in public schools, lending itself to France’s deepening political divide, where right-wing parties are demanding prohibition and leftist parties are voicing concern for the equity of Muslim women and girls.
Despite this, France Education Minister Gabriel Attal stated to France’s TF1 TV, “When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them,” adding that he “has decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools.”
The ban on abayas has meant personal hardship for Muslim Women. In an interview with Anadolu, Maria De Cartena, a French Muslim student, stated that removing her religious garment, “felt like removing a part of herself”.
The controversial move will continue to spark backlash against the French government, which has been criticized in recent years for targeting Muslims with statements and policies that impose prejudice on the community, including raids on mosques and charitable foundations, and an "anti-separatism" law.
While this occurrence is not local to our community, it’s important to take note of social issues occurring globally. Understanding the abaya ban in French schools gives us a differing perspective on religious freedom. Within our school, religious expression is an allowed practice that offers our community the choice to display religious garments or not. Given France’s version of secularism, we see a stark comparison between our public-school’s rules regarding religious expression versus France’s. As we look to better understand our world, it pays dividend to compare our community’s differences to domestic and abroad social issues. As we become more informed, we are better adept to interpret and act on our community’s happenings and the global affairs alike.
