Senate to debate and vote the bill this week.

New law would exacerbate the blatant religious, racial and gender discrimination already experienced by Muslim women in France.

French lawmakers must reject a discriminatory bill that would ban the wearing of “ostensibly religious” clothing and symbols during competitions in all French sports, Amnesty International said ahead of this week’s Senate debate and vote.

The ban which would apply to competitions organized by sports federations, their decentralized bodies, professional leagues and affiliated associations as well as swimming pools, is being debated today and tomorrow ahead of an expected vote.

Anna Błuś, Amnesty International’s Researcher on Gender Justice in Europe, said:

“At the Paris Olympics, France’s ban on French women athletes who wear headscarves from competing at the Games drew international outrage. Just six months on, French authorities are not only doubling down on the discriminatory hijab ban but are attempting to extend it to all sports.“Under the guise of implementing the notion of ‘secularism’, these laws in reality target and disproportionately impact the rights of Muslim women and girls who will be excluded from competing in all sports if they wear a hijab or any other religious clothing.“To equate the wearing of a headscarf with “an attack on secularism” is not only absurd but dangerous and would only serve to create division this proposed law purports to want to tackle. This law would exacerbate the blatant religious, racial and gender discrimination already experienced by Muslim women in France.“All women have the right to choose what to wear. The sports hijab bans in France are yet another measure underpinned by Islamophobia and a patriarchal attempt to control what Muslim women wear. This bill must be rejected”

“Laïcité”, or “secularism”, which is theoretically embedded in the French constitution to protect everyone’s religious freedom, has often been used as a pretext to block Muslim women’s access to public spaces in France. Over several years, the French authorities have enacted laws and policies to regulate Muslim women’s and girls’ clothing, in discriminatory ways. Sport federations have followed suit, imposing hijab bans in several sports. 

Damaging impact of hijab ban in French sport

In the run up to the 2024 Olympic Games, Amnesty published findings setting out the damaging impact of hijab bans in sports on women and girls in France and exposing how the bans contradict the clothing rules of international sport bodies.

The research looked at rules in 38 European countries and found that France is the only one that has imposed bans on religious headwear in sports. It found that preventing Muslim women and girls from fully and freely participating in sports can have devastating impacts on all aspects of their lives, including on their mental and physical health.  

In October 2024, United Nations experts condemned these bans as “disproportionate and discriminatory” and called for their reversal. But instead of addressing these pressing concerns, French authorities are now attempting to expand their restrictions to Muslim women’s participation in sports through this bill.

As well as banning religious clothing, the bill would also prohibit prayers from taking place in any sports facilities or grounds and introduce a requirement for sports educators to undergo “administrative investigations…prior to the issuance of the sports educator’s professional card”.

Haïfa Tlili, sociologist and co-founder of Basket Pour Toutes, told Amnesty International:

“There is no objective data to justify decisions that severely restrict the freedoms of Muslim female licence-holders who decide to wear sports headgear. It is therefore incorrect and unjustified to assert that the rules which exclude Muslim sportswomen and girls are necessary, appropriate and proportionate for the proper functioning of public service.”

Basketball player and another Basket Pour Toutes co-founder, Hélène Bâ, described how hijab bans force Muslim women to make an impossible choice.

“This new law would have appalling consequences for Muslim women and girls: humiliation, stigmatisation, trauma, withdrawal from sport, breakdown of social ties, loss of self-confidence, disappearance of women’s teams, endangerment of clubs.”

The explanatory note to the bill says that the “neutrality” requirement as interpreted in French law extends to employees and volunteers of sports federations, for instance coaches and referees and even “high level athletes”.

According to a report accompanying the bill, this legislation has been prompted by “growing attacks on secularism” and the need to address reports of “radicalization”, “communitarianism” and “Islamist separatism” in French sports. It argues that banning clothing such as sports hijabs would prevent the formation of “counter-societies”.

By placing the wearing of a headscarf on the spectrum of “attacks on secularism”, which range from “permissiveness” to “terrorism”, this legislation, if passed, would fuel racism and reinforce the growing hostile environment facing Muslims and those perceived to be Muslim in France. Indeed, framing headscarves as a security threat or singling them out as a symbol of women’s oppression is imbued with negative and discriminatory stereotypes that are endemic to the “othering” of Muslim women because of their religion.

Political disagreement on the merits of the bill

The proposal was submitted to the Senate on 5 March 2024 by Senator Michel Savin after being debated in the Standing Commission on Cultural, Educational, Communication and Sports Affairs, revealing deep disagreements between senators on the merits of the bill. A previous attempt to ban religious headwear in all sports at the national level was rejected by the Senate in February 2022.

Source: Amnesty International 

In a statement, it said the IZH had acted as a direct representative of Iran’s Shi’ite Muslim Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and sought to bring about an Islamic revolution in Germany to impose theocratic rule.

The IZH was not available for comment by phone on Wednesday morning, and its website was not accessible to the public.

Iran’s foreign ministry said it had summoned the German ambassador in Tehran on Wednesday in protest at the ban.

“Unfortunately what happened in Germany is an example of Islamophobia and is in opposition to the teachings of the Abrahamic faiths,” it said on X, referencing Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The ministry said the ban violated freedom of expression and promoted violence and extremism.

Asked about the summoning of the ambassador, a German foreign ministry source said that it was up to the Iranian side to take concrete steps towards improving ties between the two countries that have been downgraded in recent years.

The German interior ministry said 53 of the IZH’s premises had been searched early on Wednesday in eight German states by investigators acting on a court order.

In addition to the Hamburg-based IZH, which includes one of the oldest mosques in Germany known for its turquoise exterior, subsidiaries in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin were also banned, with four Shi’ite mosques to be closed, said the ministry.

The interior ministry said evidence from an earlier search of 55 properties conducted in November provided the basis for Wednesday’s ban of the IZH, known in German as Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg.

“Today, we banned the Islamisches Zentrum Hamburg, which promotes an Islamist-extremist, totalitarian ideology in Germany,” said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

“This Islamist ideology is opposed to human dignity, women’s rights, an independent judiciary and our democratic government.”

She said she wanted to make clear “this ban absolutely does not apply to the peaceful practice of the Shi’ite religion”.

A 2020 report on Islamic life in Germany said there were about 5.5 million Muslims in Germany’s 83 million population.

The interior ministry also accused the IZH of promoting antisemitism and the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which is also banned in Germany and classified as a terrorist organization by the European Union.

Source: Reuters

Dr. Zekeriya Altug from the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB), one of Germany’s largest Muslim groups, said Germans are showing strong interest in the event. “By opening our doors to the public, we want to show that we are transparent, we are open to dialogue, and we are also part of this society,” he told the media during a tour of Cologne’s Central Mosque.

An estimated 100,000 visitors participated in the events across the country, which took place on a public holiday, the Day of German Unity.

Germany’s mosques began annual open houses in 1997 and have carried forth the tradition ever since. Technically, though, most mosques in Germany are open year round to the public upon appointment. Mosques have been opening their doors to the German public for 20 years.

On a day celebrating German unity, many Muslims have reason to wonder if “German unity” applies to them in light of recent federal election results. The third strongest party in the Bundestag will be the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party which has rejected the Islamic faith as part of German cultural identity. October 3 is the country’s national holiday and, for many Germans, just a day to sleep in or earn some extra cash at work. For mosques around the country, however, it’s the day of their national open house: neighbors can take a tour, satisfy their curiosity about Islam and local Muslims and – of course – eat.

Muslims have become the center of many heated debates over public safety, women’s rights and even loyalty to the German state in recent years. Hence, dispelling misconceptions is one of their priorities. However, they emphasize that this work is nonpartisan, just like their cooperation with local religious groups and charities.

Just a few blocks away from that mosque and theology school in northeastern Cologne is the site of a nail bomb attack perpetrated by the neo-Nazi National Socialist Underground (NSU). It was a hit on the Turkish community and an attack on social cohesion and multiculturalism in Cologne.

The wounds of the attack lie much deeper than the shrapnel that left over 20 injured in June 2004. The terrorist attack on Keupstrasse was one of a dozen the NSU carried out between 2000 and 2007. Yet, despite the attackers’ identities being known to police in the late 1990s, it wasn’t until a botched robbery brought the right-wing terror cell to light in 2011 that officials cleared members of the Turkish community of suspicion.

The case has raised questions about right-wing sympathizers among police and a how large the blind spot to right-wing extremism in Germany is.

And, with the rise of a party like the AfD – one whose leaders have made racist and Islamophobic comments, as well as relativized the Holocaust and have been known to use Nazi rhetoric – critics worry that a far-right party in parliament could embolden the country’s radical right-wing scene…

This year, there have nearly 20 attacks on Muslims and nearly 400 incidents of “Islamophobic crimes,” ranging from hate speech, threats and damage to property, according to a governmental inquiry from the Left party. As it’s the first year officials have assessed the crime rate against Muslims, no previous data for comparison has been analyzed.

Meanwhile, the AfD’s rhetoric surrounding Islam has also raised concerns. In addition to dismissing the religion – one practiced by over 4 million people in Germany – as being a part of German society, the AfD also wants to prohibit minarets and the call to prayer. “The AfD sees a great danger to our state, our society and our set of values through the spread of Islam and the presence of over 5 million Muslims, whose numbers are increasing,” the AfD said in its party platform, which states that Muslims who obey the law and are “integrated” are “valued members of society.” The far-right party denies all accusations of Islamophobic or racist rhetoric…

Source: Deutsche Welle

Volume 7, No. 1

The seventh issue of the academic journal was published: The Journal of Rotterdam Islamic and Social Sciences (JRISS) Vol. 7, No. 1, 2016. It focuses on themes such as philosophy, epistemology, study of religion and comparative studies while taking a critical-analytical approach to the most important contemporary theoretical issues and questions. scholars from all over the world are invited to submit their articles to JRISS.

Content:

– Islamic Methodology Concerning Student-teacher Relationships For Sustainable Development: The Qur’anic Musa-khidr Experience;

Dr. Adebayo, Rafiu Ibrahim & Prof. Quadri, Yasir Anjola

– Limited Legislative Power Of The Ulu Al-amr (State Legislative Organ) In Islamic Law;

Ahmed Akgunduz

– Women’s Rights In Islam In Relation To Divorce;

Samreen Ansari & Sana Kousar

– The Theory Of Jurisprudence In Islam

– Reinterpreting Mihaq al-Madinah: A Study Of Some Contemporary Scholars;

Mohammad Dawood Sofi And Dr Tauseef Ahmad Parray

– The Belief In Angels In The Islamic Faith According To Said Nursî’s Study In Risale-i Nur;

Dr. Jusuf Salih

– The Scientific Ideas In Bediuzzaman Said Nursi’s Risale-i Nur;

Qaisar Mohammad

– Islamic Banking And Shari‘ah Scholars In Nigeria;

Kareem Muritala Kewuyemi

More information at:  www.jriss.nl