PARIS,
September 4 (IslamOnline.net) – The third day of school term went
smoothly Saturday, September 4, as Muslim students maintained
compliance with the hijab ban in a show of national unity over the two
French hostages in Iraq.
Upon
a field visit by IslamOnline.net correspondent, most of Muslim
students have removed hijab before entering schools.
Other
girls who refused to take it off were allowed into schools, with no
cases of expulsion, and school officials entering into a dialogue with
them.
Although
seventy students acted in defiance, all other French Muslim girls
showed compliance with the law, which prohibits the wearing of hijab
and all "conspicuous" religious insignia, official Ministry
of Education sources told IOL.
The
sources said 1,200 Muslim students were putting on hijab in the 2003
school year, against 240 this year.
Over
12 million pupils attending 60,000 primary and 11,000 secondary
schools are obliged to heed a "secularity law", approved by
Parliament in March, despite massive demonstrations and vows to
challenge it.
Many
in France's five-million-strong Muslim community – stressing that
hijab is an obligatory to wear under Shari'ah - feel they are being
victimized by the law.
Hostage
Ordeal
But
the hostage crisis in Iraq has hung ominously over plans by French
Muslims to protest the ban in the run-up to the new school year.
The
militants holding journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot
hostage are demanding that Paris repeal the hijab ban.
But
the blackmail has been fiercely condemned by French Muslim leaders -
including the most vocal critics of the law who urged calm for the
return to class.
"Many
have refused to ignite problems over the ban out of a sense of
national unity over the hostage crisis," said Ammar Lasfar, a
mosque imam in Leile city.
Lasfar
– one of the most influential Islamic figures in France - said the
hostage ordeal has shed light on the "nationalist mettle" of
Muslims in France, "who could now boast their citizenship could
not be compromised."
The
country's officially recognized Muslim umbrella group, the French
Council for the Muslim Faith (CFCF), has sent a delegation to Baghdad
to help secure the release of the two journalists, who went missing on
August 20.
The
delegation returned to Paris Saturday after their shuttle diplomacy,
hailed by French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin.
De
Villepin said he felt deep appreciation for Muslims over their efforts
to help secure the release of the two hostages, including public
appeals from Paris mosques and marches stressing the abduction is
"un-Islamic".
Fatiha
Ajbli, the representative of the UOIF, said during a meeting with de
Villepin after the abduction she and other veiled French Muslims were
ready to sacrifice themselves for the safety of their natives.
"We
are French citizens and our loyalty is unquestionable. We call on the
kidnappers to immediately release our fellow citizens, " she has
said, addressing de Villepin.
"French
Islam"
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As
most students complied with the law, some defied it
|
Mohamed
Bechari, one of the delegation, told IOL Friday the abductees are to
be released soon and final preparations are made for taking them to
Jordan after the release.
But
the situation remained unclear, with the reportedly kidnapping group,
calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq saying on its website it
awaits an edict from Al-Qaeda over the fate of the two French
journalists.
Still,
hopes are there for the release of the two men kidnapped, as Muslims
said the move would boost their position in a rigidly-secular French
society.
The
return to school, with compliance of a widely opposed law
"reflects a sense of seriousness and responsibility for saving
lives of French citizens," said the chairman of the Union of
French Islamic Organizations (UOIF), Althuhami Ibriz.
"The
French’s perception of Muslims could change, as the Paris government
now looks to the community with confidence as well," said Ibriz.
Students
said they were given a handout spelling out the new law and were
instructed to read it and be able to explain it.
Observers
said Muslims instead began adapting with the law, with several
community organizations setting up hot lines to advise or council
young girls in a quandary over the law.
Sofia
Rahem said her association, GFaim2Savoir, lingo for "I'm Hungry
for Knowledge," has received "an enormous number" of
calls.
"They
are young girls in distress who don't know what to do with their
future," Rahem, a 23-year-old university student who wears a
hijab, has said.
