The new school year starts today in France. Anyone who wears an abaya is no longer allowed to attend classes. But the argument about the religious meaning of the long robe continues.
“It’s about the abaya, but also about French, about mathematics, about physical education: All of these topics concern us today at the start of school,” emphasized France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in the morning when visiting a school in Brittany. The aim was probably to calm down the debate about the abaya ban a bit.
With Education Minister Gabriel Attal, who was traveling with Borne, things sounded different: “When it comes to secularism in schools, we shouldn’t be hesitant,” said Attal.
While France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne tried to calm down the debate about the abaya ban, Education Minister Gabriel Attal once again explained why this was important.
“Abayas are now part of the picture in some schools”
Just over a week ago, Attal announced that from today onwards, students in public schools will no longer be allowed to wear abayas or qamis. In a press conference on “rentrée”, the start of school after the long holidays, the Minister of Education explained the step again.
“In recent months there have been significantly more violations of the principle of secularism in our schools – especially through the wearing of religious clothing such as abayas,” said Attal.
These were now part of the picture in some schools. “We must and will oppose this,” added Borne. The abaya has no place in school, nor do other religious symbols.
Central principle of the French state
Laicism is a central principle of the French state. To put it very simply, secularism means that the state behaves neutrally towards religions and thus guarantees freedom of religion. In return, religious symbols must not dominate public space.
Since 2004, France has had a law prohibiting students from wearing clothing or signs that overtly show their religious affiliation. These include kippahs, conspicuously large crosses or the headscarf.
In France, it is forbidden to wear clothing or signs that overtly indicate a religious affiliation in schools. These include kippahs, conspicuously large crosses or the headscarf.
Does the abaya have religious significance?
For Abdallah Zekri, however, abayas do not fall within the scope of the 2004 law. Zekri is vice president of the Islamic association CFCM. “For me, the abaya is not a piece of clothing with religious significance,” said Zekri on the BFM TV channel.
One could “philosophize” about it, admitted the French State Secretary for Urban Policy, Sabrina Agresti-Roubache, on the radio station “FranceInfo”. In practice, however, the abaya is often used as a substitute for the headscarf for many schoolgirls.
“When a young girl arrives at school wearing a headscarf and an abaya and then has to remove the headscarf, the abaya shows that she belongs to a certain religious group,” Agresti-Roubache said. “And she wants to show that with the abaya. We have to ban this phenomenon.”
More and more abayas in schools
In the past two school years, there has been a marked increase in “offences against secularism” in schools, many of them related to clothing. This is reported by the AFP news agency and refers to figures from the French government. The debate specifically about abayas arose at the end of last year. Many teachers had noticed that more and more students were wearing the long robes and didn’t know how to deal with it.
“I realized what a difficult situation the fact that there was no clear regulation on the abayas put you in,” Education Minister Attal wrote in an email to French school principals on Friday, from which the AFP and several quote media. There was also a memo with guidelines for the application of the new rule. Anyone who comes to school with an abaya or a qamis today cannot take part in the lessons, but is first invited to an interview.
“Creates Clarity”
Students who still refuse to follow the new rule will face disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion from school. Minister Attal emphasized that before a possible punishment, however, an intensive dialogue – also with the parents – had to take place. In a letter to parents and students, Attal emphasized that secularism is not directed against any particular religion – the rules are the same for everyone.
Carole Zerbib thinks that the minister’s announcement creates clarity – and that’s a good thing. She is the headmistress and told the television channel “France 2”: “Thanks to this rule, we are no longer so alone. Until now, as headmasters, we had to decide whether the students’ clothing had a religious character or not.” This was assessed differently depending on the school, so that the students were treated differently.
Lawsuit from Muslim organization
Some scientists who deal with the topic of laicism see it differently. Because if the state has to be neutral towards religions, then it is not the state’s task to define which articles of clothing have a religious meaning, they argue.
On Friday, the organization “Action for the Rights of Muslims” appealed to the Council of State, France’s highest administrative court. From the organization’s point of view, the abaya and qamis ban is a stigmatization of Muslim schoolgirls. She wants this measure to be suspended.
For the time being, however, the ban applies. The debate about the abaya is a new chapter in the long discussion about the relationship between Islam and secularism. It will definitely not be the last.