Publish date4 Mar 2015 - 11:46
Story Code : 184562

Ghanaian Muslims Welcome Hijab Directive

A directive signed by the Ghanaian President John Mahama to protect Muslims’ right to don hijab has brought joy to the country Muslim population, seeing it as guaranteeing them freedom to practice their religion.
Ghanaian Muslims Welcome Hijab Directive

"It's like our prayers have finally been heard," Kausar Mohammed, a nursing student, told The Anadolu Agency on Monday, March 2.

"It's good because it will help us practice our faith," she added.

Mahama’s promise was given during his annual state-of-the-nation address last Thursday.

In the speech, the President reiterated his commitment to Article 21 of the constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion and the freedom to express religious beliefs.

"It is wrong under our constitution for Muslim students to be compelled to attend church services, or for Christian students to be compelled to attend Muslim congregational prayers," he explained.

"It is also wrong to prevent Muslim women from wearing the hijab or [Catholic] nuns from wearing their habits to work or school," Mahama added.

"Heads of institution must note this for strict compliance," he warned. "Appropriate sanctions will be taken against any head of institution who acts contrary to constitutional provisions."

His promise followed reports that many female Muslim high-school students-and female Muslims working in the public sector-had been forced to take off their veils.

Similar procedures were taken in missionary schools and nurse-training colleges.

Ending humiliation for many Muslims, the presidential directive was a relief to many Ghanaian Muslims.

"Growing up wearing a veil everywhere you go and then going to a tertiary institution and there's a law that you have to remove the veil-you feel like you've been cheated," Kausar told AA.

"Everybody is used to you wearing the veil; then, people see you one morning going to work with your hair uncovered," she added bitterly.

"You feel like you are naked because your uniform is short and you're not dressed like a Muslim lady," she lamented.

Relief

Praise and welcome were echoed by many Ghanaian Muslims as well.

"I have received a [phone] text that it is OK for us to wear the veil," Sadia Isaaka, a student nurse at the government-run Ridge Hospital in Accra, told AA jubilantly.

Isaaka said she was barred from donning the Islamic headscarf to hospital adter her supervisor said that her hijab was "not part of nursing ethics."

"Once I wore the veil to work and our supervisor said she didn't ever want to see it again," she recalled.

"She said it in front of people. I felt really bad, but I didn't have a choice," she recalled. "Being a Muslim, you can't dress in your uniform with your veil. As soon as you enter the ward you have to take the veil off."

The directive has won applauds from Muhammed Andani Husseini, president of Ghana's Muslim Students Association, saying it ends prejudice Muslims face in universities, schools and work.

"I am very happy. It means we have our future in our hand and the law is in our favour," he told AA.

"We hope all Ghanaians will understand that this issue [anti-Muslim discrimination] is real and that we must confront it as a people," he said.

"Muslim students in about 70 percent of senior high schools are forced to attend church services," Husseini noted.

"Every morning, you are forced to attend church service. If you fail, you are fined a maximum of 20 Ghanaian cedi [roughly $6]," he fumed.

"If you're in school to acquire knowledge, do you have to go to church to acquire this knowledge?" Husseini asked.

Despite of the huge Muslim percentage, he lamented that educational institutions in the country did not provide places of worship for Muslim students.

"Some students have a place of worship, but they are not permitted to erect a building. So they worship under the scotching sun, and when it rains it becomes difficult for them to observe their daily prayers," he said.

According to CIA factbook, Ghana is home to a Muslim population estimated by 17.6% of the country’s 25 million.

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations.
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