CAIRO – Britain became the latest European country to join the furor over burka, an outfit covering the whole body from head to toe, after a college banned a Muslim student from entering the class over the wearing.
“We do require all students of Burnley College to have their faces visible when at the college,” principal John Smith told the Telegraph Saturday, October 24.
“We are determined to maintain the highest standards of teaching and learning in Burnley College.
“It is not possible to maintain this essential full communication of the face of any student is not fully visible,” he said.
Shawana Bilqes was barred by the college from enrolling for the Access course for an HE Diploma.
The 18-year-old Muslim student was sent a letter by the college rejecting her enrollment.
“I tried to compromise but they wouldn't,” Bilqes said.
“The college sent me a letter to say I could continue with my course if I stopped wearing the veil.”
The college defended its decision to ban the Muslim girl.
“Where individuals are able to comply with these reasonable requirements, which apply to all students equally, we would be very pleased to admit them to Burnley College,” Smith said.
“Where individuals decline to comply, then I am afraid that we cannot accommodate them.”
The majority of Muslim scholars believe that a woman is not obliged to cover her face or hands.
They say that it is up to every woman to decide whether to take on the face-cover or not.
* Personal choice
The Muslim student defended her right to wear burka on campus.
“It is my choice to wear the veil,” Bilqes said.
“I live around the corner from the college in an area where there are so many practicing Muslims.”
Burka has been making headlines in the West since France’s Communist MP Andre Gerin proposed a parliamentary probe into what he describes as the rising number of Muslims wearing the outfit.
The call was followed by a proposal by Italy’s far-right Northern League party to prosecute women wearing burka.
Earlier in 2006, the leader of Britain’s House of Commons, Jack Straw, caused a controversy when he suggested that Muslim women should abandon wearing the face-veil because it was a "visible statement of separation and difference".
Straw’s call sparked outcry across the European country and across the Muslim world.
“We are in the 21st Century and we get people from all walks of life,” Bilqes said.
“I'm in the police cadets as well and yet it's not a problem wearing the veil there.”
Source: IslamOnline
“We do require all students of Burnley College to have their faces visible when at the college,” principal John Smith told the Telegraph Saturday, October 24.
“We are determined to maintain the highest standards of teaching and learning in Burnley College.
“It is not possible to maintain this essential full communication of the face of any student is not fully visible,” he said.
Shawana Bilqes was barred by the college from enrolling for the Access course for an HE Diploma.
The 18-year-old Muslim student was sent a letter by the college rejecting her enrollment.
“I tried to compromise but they wouldn't,” Bilqes said.
“The college sent me a letter to say I could continue with my course if I stopped wearing the veil.”
The college defended its decision to ban the Muslim girl.
“Where individuals are able to comply with these reasonable requirements, which apply to all students equally, we would be very pleased to admit them to Burnley College,” Smith said.
“Where individuals decline to comply, then I am afraid that we cannot accommodate them.”
The majority of Muslim scholars believe that a woman is not obliged to cover her face or hands.
They say that it is up to every woman to decide whether to take on the face-cover or not.
* Personal choice
The Muslim student defended her right to wear burka on campus.
“It is my choice to wear the veil,” Bilqes said.
“I live around the corner from the college in an area where there are so many practicing Muslims.”
Burka has been making headlines in the West since France’s Communist MP Andre Gerin proposed a parliamentary probe into what he describes as the rising number of Muslims wearing the outfit.
The call was followed by a proposal by Italy’s far-right Northern League party to prosecute women wearing burka.
Earlier in 2006, the leader of Britain’s House of Commons, Jack Straw, caused a controversy when he suggested that Muslim women should abandon wearing the face-veil because it was a "visible statement of separation and difference".
Straw’s call sparked outcry across the European country and across the Muslim world.
“We are in the 21st Century and we get people from all walks of life,” Bilqes said.
“I'm in the police cadets as well and yet it's not a problem wearing the veil there.”
Source: IslamOnline
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