Why France Banned Muslim Students From Wearing Abaya Dress To School | READ MORE
Faith Ukanwa
Aug 28, 2023
Why France Banned Muslim Students From Wearing Abaya Dress To School | READ MORE
Female students will no longer be allowed to wear the loose-fitting abaya dress favoured by some Muslim women. The move comes almost 20 years after France banned headscarves from state schools.
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Children in French state schools will no longer be allowed to wear the abaya, a long loose-fitting dress worn by some Muslim women.
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The French education minister announced the ban on Sunday ahead of the school term starting at the start of September.
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France has a strict ban on religious symbols in state schools and has banned pupils from wearing headscarves since 2004.
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"When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn't be able to identify the pupils' religion just by looking at them," education minister Gabriel Attal told France's TF1 TV.
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"I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools."
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The abaya is usually defined as a loose over-garment, essentially a robe-like dress, frequently worn by women in parts the Arabian Peninsula, most of the Middle East and sometimes in North Africa.
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Arabic middle-eastern woman with traditional abaya dress in studio - Arabic muslim adult female portrait in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
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But the question of whether the abaya is a religious symbol is the subject of debate.
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Late last year, former education minister Pap Ndiaye identified the abaya as a garment that can "take on a possible religious character" even if it is not an explicitly religious symbol.
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The debate continued to escalate this year.
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France's Council of Muslim Worship said the abaya is "mistaken" by some as a Muslim religious sign.
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"Any item of clothing is not a religious sign in itself," the group said in a statement in June.
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"You only have to travel through Muslim-majority countries to realise that the citizens of these countries, of all faiths, are indistinguishable based on the clothes they wear," it added.
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In 2010, France banned full face veils in public, angering some in its five million-strong Muslim community.
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The country is governed by strong rules on secularity that mean no displays of religion in public institutions.
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In schools, the laws were originally aimed at removing any traditional Catholic influence from public education, but have been updated over time to include other religions.
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Jewish kippah, "oversized" crosses and other religious symbols are also banned from state schools.
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— Faith Ukanwa