Muslim females still bracing for challenges in the Netherlands

By Khaled Shawkat, IOL Correspondent

ROTTERDAM, September 27 (IslamOnline.net) – Setting a good example for Muslim females in the West, two hijab-clad students were honored by a Dutch faculty for their excellence and dedication.

Wafaa bin Maymoun, of Moroccan origin, finished her college studies in three years – rather than the normal four - and removed the hurdle of language in a record eight months' time, said Nelli Boudkheyoum of the higher school of secondary education teachers.

Maymoun showed a lot of hard work with distinction, attracting the attention of her teachers and the school administrators.

Maymoun said her wearing hijab was out of a "purely religious and personal conviction, not for political opposition reasons as some in the Arab world and the European Union propagate," said Boudkheyoum.

"As girls and women were given the right to wear tight trousers or short skirts, the same right should be secured for those seeking to cover their heads or put on loose clothes," Maymoun told IslamOnline.net.

Asked if the hijab obstructed her road to success or integration into this secular society, Wafaa's answer was mixed.

"The Netherlands still respects religious and cultural pluralism and its authorities shy away from provoking the faithful or limit their freedom to practice their religions," she said.

"But there are still some people showing discrimination and protest over the Islamic dress especially during the last two years," she added, noting the extent for this has not yet been disturbing.

"I am a Muslim Dutch citizen respecting others' freedom or not allowing myself to stick my nose in their business, and the rule should be applied to me as well," she said defiantly.

Few days ago, a number of Muslim women took to the streets of Helmond city, southeast of the Netherlands, to protest a decision by the city's municipality to withhold an annual grant for a government-aided social organization, allocated for women-only swimming classes.

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Tansem Ozoghlou, of a Turkish origin, finished her studies with graduation also in a record time and admiration of the school's staffers.

The Muslims in Holland - one million out of the country's 16 millions - have established over the past 30 years hundreds of religious, social and cultural organizations, many of which receive grants from the Dutch authorities.

But many of hijab-clad women were catapulted into success in many political, scientific and social fields, the most prominent of whom is Fatma Al-Ateq, former interior minister's advisor and a current member of parliament.

In 2002, the Muslim minority celebrated their first hijab-wearing lawyer Jamila Arselan.

But Muslims are still bracing for other challenges here.  

On July 1, five Dutch people, ageing between 16 and 23, were arrested on charges of setting an Islamic school on fire in Eindhoven, south east of the Netherlands.

Former Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende’s far-right coalition collapsed in 2002, with the move mainly blamed on the squabbles created by his party which is infamous for its xenophobia platform and anti-Muslim stances.