Christian Girl Harassed for Refusing Hijab — “They Looked at Me as if I Were Naked”
On her first day at a public high school in the Egyptian province of Minya, Maryam walked in like every girl in the West does—with her hair uncovered. Unlike in the West, she was immediately confronted by the school principal, who scolded her before the other students: “You can’t come with your hair like that,” the principal barked. “It’s shameful! You must come tomorrow wearing a head scarf.”
Maryam was taken aback. “I told her that I’m Christian and not required to wear the hijab,” she later recalled, “but she insisted that this was the rule, and that I was causing fitna [sedition] by refusing.”
When Maryam returned to school the next morning still bare-headed, the atmosphere was hostile. “Everyone was shocked and looked at me as if I were naked,” said the determined teen. “Some girls giggled; others whispered insults like kafira [infidel]. One of the teachers told me, ‘You Christians always want to show off your bodies.’”
The harassment did not end there. Other teachers began to single her out in class, calling her “arrogant” and “rebellious.” Several Muslim classmates refused to sit beside her. “It was as if I had committed a crime,” Maryam said. “They treated me like I was dirty — just because I didn’t cover my hair.”
Even outside school, the pressure intensified. Some of Maryam’s relatives — themselves weary of constant discrimination — urged her to comply “for your own safety.” But she refused to bend. “I feel like I’m getting into a fight defending my freedom,” she said. “I want to be myself. I’m not Muslim. Why should I wear the hijab?”
Maryam dreams of attending university “with my hair spread over my shoulders, without anyone looking at me as if I’ve done something wrong.” But in Egypt today, this “dream” requires courage bordering on defiance.
Though the hijab is not legally mandated in Egypt, Islamic norms dominate public life, especially in provincial towns. Officially, Egypt’s constitution promises “freedom of religion,” yet the state’s education system —overseen by a powerful Islamic stronghold in the Ministry of Education— enforces a de facto Islamic culture in public schools. Coptic girls are often told to cover their hair; Christian boys are mocked for not memorizing Koran verses as part of Arabic language courses; and Christian teachers risk dismissal if they complain.
FULL ARTICLE AT: https://uk.mail.yahoo.com/d/folders/1/messages/AEBUBmqkm8b6yPZrOQ8zbw4uXrQ
No comments:
Post a Comment