DOHA, 20 December 2003 — Yussef Al-Qardawi, a prominent scholar in Qatar, urged Muslims yesterday to petition French President Jacques Chirac to “reverse his decision” backing a ban on the headscarf in French state schools. He made the appeal during his Friday sermon.
On Wednesday, Chirac announced his support for a ban on “conspicuous” religious insignia in schools despite opposition from French religious groups. Qardawi expressed surprise that “France, a nation of liberty, revolution and human rights is attacking the hijab,” saying that the headscarf “is not symbolic like the kippa or the cross, but a means for Muslims to get closer to God.”
The law is due to come into effect by the start of the next school year in September 2004.
“Secularists” fear that the Islamic garb is an outward sign of a refusal to assimilate fully into French society.
