When the State Regulates What Women Wear on Their Heads: Lessons from Revelation, Sunnah and History
Azerbaijan, a country where 96 percent of the people are Muslim, slapped a ban on hijabs in schools through a legal amendment, all in the name of secularism. A teacher, Zahra Hasanova, got barred from teaching because she wore a hijab, and it set off protests and students crying at the school gates. The government says it’s just a uniform rule for dress standards, but the policy is seen as clashing with the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.
Al-Qur’an makes it clear there’s no compulsion in religion (QS. Al-Baqarah: 256) and diversity is part of God’s way (QS. Al-Maidah: 48). Prophet Muhammad ﷺ showed tolerance by letting a Christian delegation from Najran worship inside Masjid Nabawi. That principle got reinforced by the Madinah Charter, which guaranteed religious freedom for all groups.
History records how French colonizers in Algeria forced women to remove their hijabs as part of a civilizing mission-a kind of oppression that’s now repeating itself in the form of uniform rules. Journalist Polad Aslanov went on hunger strike in prison as protest, reflecting the Prophet’s saying about changing wrongdoing according to your ability.
President Ilham Aliyev told others not to meddle in Azerbaijan’s way of life, yet his own country is meddling in the personal choices of its citizens. Zahra Hasanova insists the hijab is her personal choice, which fits with God’s words in QS. Al-Kahf: 29. This case is a reminder that religious freedom needs to be guarded all the time.
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