France to Ban Muslim Students from wearing Abaya in State Schools

• France’s 2004 ban on hijabs in state schools was followed by a 2010 prohibition on full-face veils in public, prohibiting the expression of freedom of religion for the five million-strong Muslim community.
• Education Minister Gabriel Attal stated that identifying students’ religion upon entering a classroom shouldn’t be possible. This year, he banned abayas in schools for ‘violating strict secular education laws.’

In 2004, France enacted a ban on the hijab within its state schools. Following this, in 2010, the country prohibited the wearing of full-face veils in public, prompting strong reactions within France’s Muslim community of five million.

“When you walk into a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the pupils’ religion just by looking at them,” said Education Minister Gabriel Attal on France’s TF1 TV. He further declared, “I have decided that the abaya could no longer be worn in schools,” claiming that the abaya was a violation of France’s stringent secular educational laws.

This decision comes after the garment’s growing prevalence within educational institutions.

The abaya is a loose-fitting, full-length robe worn by Muslim women to abide by the laws of Allah as outlined in the Quran.

“…….Let them draw their veils over their chests, and not reveal their ˹hidden˺ adornments except to their husbands, their fathers……”

24:31

The constriction of freedom for Muslims to express their faith is apparent here. “Secularism means the freedom to emancipate oneself through school,” said Mr. Attal in his TF1 interview. He said that the abaya represents “a religious gesture, aimed at testing the resistance of the republic toward the secular sanctuary that school must constitute.”