HIJAB HIJINX: COLUMNISTS DEBATE APPROPRIATE

UNCLAS KUWAIT 003094

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARPI, NEA/PPD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV KPAO KISL PREL KWMN KU
SUBJECT: HIJAB HIJINX: COLUMNISTS DEBATE APPROPRIATE
ISLAMIC DRESS


1. SUMMARY: In an interesting but likely coincidental
juxtaposition, two editorialists -- one a liberal Shi'a
former minister, the other a Sunni Islamist -- discussed
the issue of appropriate Islamic dress for females in their
regular July 9 columns. The liberal decries regulations in
some ministries, which place dress above education in
employee advancement. The Islamist sees hijab-wear as
threatened, and calls for an international defense of the
practice. The divergent views of the writers reveal the
debate the issue of proper Islamic dress invokes even in a
country such as Kuwait where Islamic practices are enforced
by law and Sharia is ensconced in the Constitution. END
SUMMARY.

"Protect And Support Our Muslim Sister"
--------------


2. Osama Al-Shaheen, a Kuwaiti Islamist, writes for Al-
Watan newspaper, an Arabic daily known for its large roster
of Islamist columnists. In his eyes, the hijab is under
siege, particularly in countries such as France, the U.S.,
and Great Britain, and Muslim leaders are failing to act.
"It is regrettable that the right of our Muslim sister to
wear the Islamic veil has not been protected or addressed
within the Arab world," he writes. Al-Shaheen cites as an
example the Mufti of Al-Azhar Mosque in Egypt, Shaykh
Mohammed Tantawi, who issued a religious edict declaring
that hijab regulation is a matter to be decided by the
"authorities in every state."


3. Al-Shaheen outlines a three-point plan to "protect and
support our Muslim sister in the Arab world and in the
entire world." First, he calls for individual action: using
the media, petitions, and the Internet, such as the site
www.prohijab.com, to urge hijab-banning governments to
withdraw such edicts. Second, he calls for coordinated
group efforts "to provide aid and protection to our Muslim
sisters," beginning with an information collection phase.
And last, Al-Shaheen suggests establishing a "Muslim Hijab
Funding Foundation," to finance all of these efforts, and
also pay private school tuition for hijab-wearers in
countries where public schools prohibit the practice.

"A B.A. Degree Or A Niqab?"
--------------


4. Columnist Ali Al-Baghli believes that rather than facing
worldwide persecution, the hijab, at least in Kuwait, is
the ticket to success. Writing in the liberal, pro-
government daily Al-Qabas, Al-Baghli, a Shi'a former oil
minister, relates an anecdote told to him by a friend
regarding the man's daughter, who does not wear the hijab.
The friend asked Al-Baghli what he considered more
important for a young lady to have in a job search: a
bachelor's degree or a niqab [full facial veil]? "The B.A.
of course," he responded. His friend replied, "You are
wrong again my friend."


5. Al-Baghli writes that his friend's daughter, after
graduating with a degree in journalism from Kuwait
University, was assigned to work in the Ministry of Awqaf
and Islamic Affairs. However, the Ministry refused to
accept her unless she wore the hijab. Female employees of
the Ministry, even those without the education of Al-
Baghli's friend's daughter, were hired simply because they
wore the hijab, and not on the basis of their educational
qualifications, Al-Baghli wrote. "Anywhere else in the
democratic world my daughter and her colleagues would have
been compensated for this discrimination," Al-Baghli quotes
his friend as saying. "But not here."

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