Huge controversy erupts over Muslim garment worn in French schools + video

The wearing of abayas in schools has sparked a major political dispute, with the education minister calling on school administrators to enforce secularism more strictly. Left-wing and right-wing politicians are at loggerheads over the wearing of the Muslim garment.

Students wearing Muslim clothing at school, particularly the abaya, has become increasingly common recently, sparking fierce controversies in France. Two schools in Lyon have registered a total of 170 cases of Muslim students wearing this typical long-sleeved, cloak-like garment covering the whole body. The issue prompted right-wing politician Gilbert Collard to take to Twitter, writing that it was time to open everyone's eyes as radical Islam is prevailing in schools; the pressure is so great that teachers are afraid to speak on camera.

The above footage shows that female Muslim students fold back their headscarves before entering the school building, as the French law 2004-228 of 15 March 2004 prohibits the wearing of symbols or clothing that openly display religious beliefs in French public education establishments, including secondary schools, primary and upper primary schools. As opposed to the headscarf, however, schools tolerate the wearing of the traditional long Muslim dress, the abaya. Speaking to the television crew, one girl said that 16-18 out of the 30 students in her class wear abayas, drawing disapproval from  some teachers. Without revealing their faces or their names, some teachers said that the students wearing abayas,  deliberately or unintentionally, put a lot of pressure on the whole institution.

BFMTV highlights in its report that currently, no central regulation exists in France determining whether or not the abaya is an item of religious clothing. A ministerial circular letter issued in 2022 leaves it up to school authorities to decide whether it is treated as such.

The television crew counted nearly two hundred abayas in the two schools they visited in Lyon. The school district promised to work out a school dress code by the start of the school year in September and get all the parents to sign the rules.

Writer  Florence Bergeaud-Blackler also commented on the issue on Twitter. It's noteworthy that the release of her book on the Muslim Brotherhood was postponed at the last minute by the Sorbonne University. The author was placed under police protection following the publication of the book in January after receiving several death threats.

In her post, Bergeaud-Blackler wrote that it is common not only in France but also in Belgium that some upper primary school girls do not wear clothes showing their bare arms even in the hottest weather. Covering the body in this way is an Islamic norm, not a habit, she pointed out.

It is therefore a question whether a school principal has the right to prohibit the wearing of the abaya inside an education establishment. As the number of students wearing abayas in schools in France has skyrocketed this year, Education Minister Pap Ndiaye convened a meeting of school district heads in early June to discuss the issue. According to Le Figaro newspaper, the minister called on the leaders of these institutions to be more rigorous about enforcing secularism. Pap Ndiaye said that attacks on secularism in educational institutions had increased and that a circular letter had been issued asking all institutions to strictly comply with its provisions.

The ministerial letter, dated 9 November, sets out a few guidelines, but above all, calls for the strict enforcement of the 2004 law in schools, the minister said, stressing the need to inform the students' families and to protect and train school staff, as well as to rely on a disciplinary council in the institutions if too much pressure is perceived in an educational establishment or in a town.

 As far as the wearing of the abaya is concerned, the notice circulated to all schools by the ministry is clearly the guiding principle, the heads of institutions must decide whether it is religious attire and whether it violates the principle of secularism.

A body of six hundred people assists in this by giving advice by phone or even travel to a given school if they are faced with a problematic case. If the school's discussions with the family do not lead to appropriate outcomes, sanctions may even be imposed. Pap Ndiaye stated that by applying the provisions of the circular, they are working to mitigate attacks against secularism in French schools, emphasising that it is not only about wearing religious clothing and symbols. According to the minister, awareness-raising is also necessary, because the students must be convinced that secularism is good for them and serves their well-being.

The daily Le Parisien also reported on the issue, to which the parliamentary group leader of the party La France Insoumise (France unbowed) responded by accusing the newspaper of Islamophobia. In his post, the politician drew attention to the fact that while the country is going through an unprecedented social crisis, the head of state is attacking freedoms, and that while the country is suffering from an extreme drought and food crisis, Le Parisien is dealing with Muslim women's clothing.

The left-wing politician's comment in turn provoked strong reactions in the ranks of the right. Jordan Bardella, head of the National Rally (RN) party, ironically noted that the name Islamist France would be more appropriate for the left-wing party that defends the abaya. According to Bardella, there were nearly a thousand attacks against secularism in French schools in two months. The NUPES left-wing coalition, which stands by the tanets of the Islamists and defends their political and religious demands, poses a threat to the values ​​of the Republic and to secularism.

According to the right-wing politician, the abaya should be banned and legislation should be passed to suspend the payment of family allowances and school grants in cases where it is proven that the principle of secularism has been violated.

The National Rally party highlighted in its Twitter post that the number of attacks against secularism in schools has skyrocketed and that institutions are under unprecedented Islamist pressure. The party would ensure respect for secularism and the authority of the state by controlling immigration, suspending family allowances in case of repeated disturbances of order, and by supporting schools.

The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) also responded to the heated debate, stating that the abaya is not considered a religious garment.

In CFCM's opinion, more serious topics are disproportionately under covered by the media, such as school bullying, which has even led to suicide. The Muslim council points out that in the Muslim tradition, no piece of clothing is considered a religious symbol, citing as an example that the religion of the inhabitants of a Muslim-majority country cannot be determined by their clothing. CFCM also points out that abaya means dress or jacket in Arabic, which many people mistakenly identify as Muslim religious clothing.

They added: with the exception of a few rare cases, Muslims in France comply with the March 2004 law on the wearing of religious symbols, moreover, the Holy Koran, which encourages believers to be modest and avoid vanity, does not make any recommendation as to the wearing of any specific clothing. In any case, Charlotte d'Ornellas, a staff member of the French conservative portal Valeurs actuelles, pointed out in the CNews program that, whether Islamic or not, the abaya can in no way be considered French clothing.

Cover image: Women in Europe wearing Muslim attire (Source: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix/Ritzau Scanpix via AFP)