Freedom of Religion Put to the Test

The Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences origianally banned all head covering that obscured the face, with the exception of medical reasons, for safety and security of the students and staff. However, changes were made to the ban. Now, all head coverings that obscure the face are banned, with the exception of medical and religious reasons. The community of Muslims at the College were concerned because the ban meant that women couldn’t wear their traditional niqab.

Muslims believe in something called an awrah which is the parts of the human body that should not be exposed in public and depending on where you are from, a woman’s awrah can include every part of her body including her face. It is considered sinful to expose a person’s awrah. It’s a lot like America’s laws that prohibit indecent exposure, except it is deeply connected with Islamic religious life.

Ibrahim Hooper, communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, filed a third-party complaint. He wrote to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and invoked Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employers from discriminating based on religion. Hooper knew the college wasn’t directly discriminating against Muslims but that the policy would end up discriminating against Muslim students and employees in the long run.

Aisha Bajwa, president of the Muslim Students Association at the college, said the the original policy was "unjustified and unconstitutional." She does not wear the niqab but she still feels strongly about the right to wear one. She also pointed out wearing student IDs at all times is enough to identify students and keep them safe.

Some people feel, on the other hand, that the niqab and other coverings are a threat to security and safety and that is why bans on them are allowed to go through.

I agree very strongly with the school’s final decision and with Ibrahim and Aisha. Religion cannot be prohibited by law in this country. It’s in the first ammendment of our Constitution. There are other ways of keeping things secure than banning religious practices. It is so unbelievably wrong in the U.S. to restrict religion. Don’t allow it to happen.



Article sources:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/01/08/massachusetts.security.policy/index.html?iref=allsearch

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niq%C4%81b


Picture Source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/beliefs/niqab_1.shtml