Stop the Ban on Veil in France

To:  French President Jacques Chirac

Dear Mr. President, Jacques Chirac,

The Islamic nation has received with great disappointment the news of favoring the ban of the Muslim veil (Hijab) from French schools.

Unlike the common notion that Hijab is an Islamic symbol, reality is that Hijab is not a symbol nor an option, but rather an obligation on all Muslim consenting female adults. Hijab is meant "to cover the Muslim woman’s hair, neck, throat and the upper part of her chest." Ordering a Muslim to take off her Hijab is in other words ordering her to let aside one of the religious obligations that are in the core of her religious beliefs. Such an act would only result in a wide dissatisfaction across the Muslim world that constitutes around 2 billion people as well as strengthening and feeding extremism & fundamentalism.

The passing of such a law will be considered an attack on the percepts of Islam and on the foundation of liberty upon which the French system is based. Moreover, such a law would be deemed defiant of a resolution issued in 1989 by the French state council, which tops France’s judicial hierarchy, stating that Hijab did not run counter to secularism unless it was dressed to deliberately offend the other.

Secularism is a concept which the French government has complete freedom to apply or amend, but Hijab is a matter of personal freedom and banning it would be incongruent with article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The headscarf does not and will not interfere with the secularism of French schools.

The over 5 million Muslims living in France have been and will continue to be a big driving force behind the success and prosperity of the French society and economy. Respecting the rights of this minority group is a huge incentive for them to strive to give and do more.

Before your speech on December 17th 2003, the French government was among the favourites for the people of the Arab and Islamic world due to its wise and brave position from the war on Iraq as well as its support of the Palestinian cause. We hope for this admiration to continue by allowing the Muslims of France to exert their rights fully and live up to their religious obligations freely.

Please withdraw the bill that is intended to be put before the French National Assembly in February 2004 to ban Hijab in French public schools. Please refrain from passing such a law.

Thanks for Your time & consideration.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Stop the Ban on Veil in France Petition to French President Jacques Chirac was created by and written by Sherif Saleh (sherifs@hotmail.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.