Muslim girl returns to class in compromise with school

First Amendment Center -- AP ^ | 10/16/03 | UNK

[MineralMan]

MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A Muslim girl banned from school for wearing a religious head covering rejoined her classmates yesterday, and Muskogee school officials took a new look at the district’s dress code.

Eleven-year-old Nashala Hearn will be allowed to wear a head scarf, called a hijab, while a school attorney reviews the Muskogee school district’s policies.

“I think this is a victory for Islam, as well as other religions,” Nashala’s father, Eyvine, said after dropping off his relieved sixth-grader around 11 a.m. “All praise due to Allah.”

School attorney D.D. Hayes said the district decided to compromise by allowing Nashala to return in a covering that shows her face.

“We’re going to look at the legal authority submitted in support of her position and try and determine if there’s any validity to their arguments that there’s a problem with our dress code,” Hayes said.

He said he had been deluged by so many e-mails from outside groups questioning the case he had to change his e-mail address.

One group that threatened legal action, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, called the school’s action a temporary solution.

“We’ll have to wait and see what the ultimate decision is on changing the dress-code policy,” said Ibrahim Hooper, the group’s communications director.

“We are also confident that school district administrators will ultimately decide in favor of changing the dress-code policy to accommodate all students’ religious practices, as mandated by the Constitution and Oklahoma law,” he said.

He cited the free-exercise clause of the First Amendment and the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act.

Nashala was suspended Oct. 1 by Benjamin Franklin Science Academy administrators for three days for violating the dress code, which bars hats, caps, bandanas or other headwear. She started wearing the head covering for the first time this year.

After returning from the first suspension still wearing the hijab, she was sent home for five more days.

Hayes said the head scarf that caused concern covered all but the girl’s eyes. A face-revealing head covering she had worn had gone unnoticed.

“Nobody noticed this head covering for the first month of school,” he said.

Other school districts across the country, including Tulsa, have adopted dress-code policies to include religious wear, medical necessity and for special occasions.

Hayes said a decision on whether to recommend policy changes to the school board will probably be made by the first of the year.

“If we conclude that we’re wrong, I’ll recommend we change it,” he said.

The girl’s father said Nashala had not wavered in her decision to wear the hijab, even if it ultimately meant attending another school

He said she was happy, however, to return to class.

[tkathy]

The headbarfs are awful.

[Calpernia]

>>>“I think this is a victory for Islam, as well as other religions,” Nashala’s father, Eyvine

I agree! Down with public school ZERO TOLERANCE and up with COMMON SENSE!

[Guillermo]

Hmm, I wasn't aware of that at all.

I thought that was one of Mohammeds pronouncements.

[Bikers4Bush]

I'd draw the line however on the whole covering the face part.

[Guillermo]

The Light

1. [24.31] And say to the believing women that they cast down their looks and guard their private parts and do not display their ornaments except what appears thereof, and let them wear their head-coverings over their bosoms, and not display their ornaments except to their husbands or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or the male servants not having need (of women), or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women; and let them not strike their feet so that what they hide of their ornaments may be known; and turn to Allah all of you, O believers! so that you may be successful.

[WackyKat]

Does no one understand what muslimes are doing? Well, since it's for the "widdle childwen" I guess it's ok to let islam infiltrate this country with our own first amendment.

The First Amendment applies to everyone, not just Christians

[KC_for_Freedom]

I agree! Down with public school ZERO TOLERANCE and up with COMMON SENSE!

At least this settles the issue of Jews wearing head cover. And I would say Christians need only adopt a requirement for some sort of symbol and then everyone can recognize their religion at school.

Then maybe we can have the ten commandments in the courthouse lobby. This could be big.

[WackyKat]

Christians are the majority, and as we all know, the majority must suffer in order to pander to minorities. Thank a liberal for that! (sarscasm)

The purpose of the Bill of Rights is to protect the rights of minorities from the majority who wish to oppress them.

And the "liberals" you're sarcastically thanking are the Founding Fathers.

[MineralMan]

"At least this settles the issue of Jews wearing head cover. And I would say Christians need only adopt a requirement for some sort of symbol and then everyone can recognize their religion at school. "

Trouble is that there's no biblical support for this, as there is for women covering their hair. There is a movement among some very conservative Christians to reinstitute head coverings. Some churches already do this, and use Paul's words in Corinthians as support.

Indeed, the RCC required women to cover whenever they were in church. I'm not sure if they still do, but they certainly used to.

Paul taught that a women should cover her head when praying. Since there is also a requirement in the New Testament that Christians pray all the time, then it's easy to extend that to women wearing head coverings at all times.

Religious requirements aren't simple...not at all. Our local school system used to require that all boys be clean-shaven. They had to end that requirement when a family of Hasidic Jews moved into town. The OT requirement that a man not "mar the corners of his beard" was all the reason needed to cause the overturn of this rule. Of course, that meant that all those high school boys could grow their scraggly beards.

Courts are very, very generous in their interpretation of First Amendment issues, but there does have to be some sort of scriptural or doctrinal requirement that can be cited for such things.

That means that the jewelry issue is likely to fail as long as the school bans all jewelry of any kind. Few schools are going to take such a hard position, so the courts keep ruling that religious jewelry is just fine, and can't be banned.

Still, some stupid school administrators will continue to try to do this nonsense, only to be slapped down by our courts.

[dennisw]

What a cave in.

[steve8714]

The yarmulke doesn't hinder ID'ing the wearer, unless a bald spot is part of the ID.
Christian churches may by custom require the covering of a woman's head in church (Catholics used to)but I know of none that require a schoolgirl of 11 to cover her head in school. Do you?

[petercooper]

if the policy is no hats, then no hats. it's pretty simple

[MineralMan]

"Christian churches may by custom require the covering of a woman's head in church (Catholics used to)but I know of none that require a schoolgirl of 11 to cover her head in school. Do you?"

Sure, the Mennonites.

[steve8714]

Do they send their girls to school with the "english"?
Do their caps hinder ID?

[dennisw]

if the policy is no hats, then no hats. it's pretty simple .................


Why do we bend for these yo yos who just reached the shores of Ameriac? What idiocy and will be reported as such in Muslim nations and as a triumph of Islam

[tubavil]

islam is NOT a religion but is a satanic terror cult bent on war with the rest of the world.

It deserves no freedoms and should be destroyed.

Thankfully the US is starting to get better at this.

Syria, Iran, saudi...you are next.

[nothingnew]

and not display their ornaments except to their husbands or their fathers, or the fathers of their husbands, or their sons, or the sons of their husbands, or their brothers, or their brothers' sons, or their sisters' sons, or their women, or those whom their right hands possess, or the male servants not having need (of women), or the children who have not attained knowledge of what is hidden of women;

Monty Python?.....bwahahahaha!

FMCDH

[tubavil]

Why do we bend for these yo yos who just reached the shores of Ameriac?

The saudi funded terror front group CAIR has more money for lawyers than an Oklahoma school district.

[talleyman]

LOL!

[Calpernia]

>>>And I would say Christians need only adopt a requirement for some sort of symbol and then everyone can recognize their religion at school.

The cross has been made an issue at some schools. Some resolved, some not. Then some schools got smart and just banned ALL jewelry. So the cross gets included but not singled out.

>>>Then maybe we can have the ten commandments in the courthouse lobby. This could be big.

I AGREE!