LONDON, March 2, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – In a verdict with potentially far-reaching implications for multi-faith schools across the country, a British Muslim girl won a long legal battle over wearing a full Islamic dress (Jilbab) at her school.

The Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday, March 2, that Shabina Begum, a 16-year-old Muslim student of Bangladeshi origin, was unlawfully denied from having the right to practice her religious beliefs, by the Denbigh High School in Luton, north of London.

“Today’s decision is a victory for all Muslims who wish to preserve their identity and values despite prejudice and bigotry,” Begum was quoted by Agence France Presse (AFP) as saying outside the court.

The court battle has started after Begum stopped attending her school, which has 80% Muslim students, following a school decision in September 2002 that she could not wear the ankle-long dress.

The school claimed that the dress is considered a safety risk, stressing that the Muslim student had a plenty of other choices of clothes to wear.

Islamic dress codes, especially hijab, has taken central stage in several European countries, especially after France banned it in state-run schools and public institutions.

The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) lambasted the French move as “discriminatory”.

Begum said that she has witnessed a great deal of bigotry from the media, politicians and legal officials in Britain since the September 11 attacks, according to Reuters.

“This bigotry resulted from my choice to wear a piece of cloth ... It is amazing that in the so-called free world I have to fight to wear this Islamic dress.

“Our belief in our faith is the one thing that makes sense in a world gone mad. A world where Muslim women, from Uzbekistan to Turkey, are feeling the brunt of policies guided by western governments,” Begum added.

The school decision to deprive Begum from wearing the Islamic dress was a violation of the Human Rights Act, the court said in its verdict.

“The school undoubtedly did exclude the claimant. They told her, in effect: ‘Go away, and do not come back unless you are wearing proper school uniform,” presiding judge Lord Justice Henry Brooke said.

“The school failed to appreciate that by its action it was infringing on the claimant's Article 9 right to manifest her religion,” said Judge Scott Baker.

The court verdict was strongly welcomed by the Muslim institutions in Britain.

“This is a very important ruling on the issue of personal freedoms. The British Muslim community is a diverse community in terms of the interpretation and understanding of their faith and its practice,” the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) Secretary-General Iqbal Sacranie was quoted by the BBC News Online as saying.

“Within this broad spectrum those that believe and choose to wear the Jilbab and consider it to be part of their faith requirement for modest attire should be respected.”

The Burleigh Community College in Loughborough, a multicultural, multi-faith secular school, has made a special provision for students to wear their own traditional dress, provided that it is in the school colors, much to benefit Muslim girls who want to wear a traditional Islamic dress.

“Muslim girls are allowed to wear either skirts or jilbab with scarf," said John Smith, the school's principal.

There are nearly two million Muslims living in the UK.