The Addis Ababa Islamic Affairs Supreme Council is calling for the immediate lifting of a ban, prohibiting Muslim students wearing the niqab—a face-covering garment in school.
Niqab is the full face veil worn by Muslim women in public.
Ethiopia in September 2023 passed a law regulating dress codes in schools, allowing students the option of covering their hair while in school compounds but made it clear that they cannot cover their faces with the niqab.
This had caused an uproar among Muslims in Ethiopia who constitute 35 percent of the country’s population.
The East African nation is a Christian-majority country with a tradition of tolerance for other faiths including Islam whose early adherents had sought refuge in Ethiopia when persecuted in Arabia as Prophet Mohammed began his proselytizing.
The country by then known to the Arab world as Abbysinia entered Islamic folklores as a haven of the Muslim faith despite its position as the main bastion of Christendom in Africa.
Today some Muslims in Ethiopia feel aggrieved especially by this niqab ban in schools.
So far the government had ignored calls for the ban on niqab in schools to be lifted despite some negotiations with Muslim leaders to this effect.
The Addis Ababa Education Bureau seemed to be sticking to its guns after some female Muslim students were recently suspended from four secondary schools in Addis Ababa for wearing religious attire.
In a letter seen by APA on Wednesday, the council urged the authorities to allow the schoolgirls in question to resume classes, citing what it called the lack of a legal basis for the restriction on them.
The incident has drawn considerable public attention, prompting the council to call for a swift resolution of the controversy which is fueling religious tensions.
The letter addressed to Addis Ababa Education Bureau, reported that Muslim female students in certain schools had faced “pressure and harassment” due to their choice of attire.
The council stated that an agreement had initially been reached with some schools, allowing the affected students to return to class.
However, it claimed that some schools later violated the agreement, ”even preventing students from entering with masks.”
Labeling the incident as the actions of “some irresponsible officials,” the council questioned the legal grounds cited by school authorities, asserting that “attire-based restrictions lack legal backing.”
The council warned that such an approach “disrupts students’ education and creates a psychological pressure” framing it as an attempt to foster “tension between the Muslim community and the government.”
The educatiom ministry has not commented.
MG/as/APA