Hijab Conference

HIJAB: a woman's right to choose

Conference hosted by Mayor of London Ken Livingstone

Monday 12th July 2004 (10.00-6.00pm)

The greater London Authority

City Hall, Queens Walk, London SE1 2AA

Assembly for the Protection of Hijab ‘Pro-Hijab’ and all those associated therewith would like to note their sincere thanks and profound appreciation to all our speakers, guests, delegates and the Greater London Authority (GLA) staff for the remarkable efforts that went in to making this landmark conference a reality.

The Conference was attended by more than 300 delegates, representing
102 organisations from 15 countries around the world, France, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Turkey, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, USA, Morocco, Egypt and the UK. Among those organisations, 3 were European and 2 international.

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, His Eminence Sheikh Yusuf

Al-Qaradawi, Professor Tareq Ramadan (College of Geneva), Sarah Joseph(EMEL Magazine), Anas Altikriti (Muslim Association of Britain), Milena Buyum (National Assembly Against Racism), Dr Alan Riley,( Centre for European Policy Studies), Councillor Gurcharan Singh, Victoria Vandersteen

(Association of Muslim Women in Belgium), Mr Hans Vocking (Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community), Ms Dorsaf (Women Association in France), Ms Ruby Mahera (London Muslim Centre), Katy (Reach out Berlin in Germany), Hajj Ahmad Thomson (Association of Muslim Lawyers), Halah Khumisi(Women Section/Federation of Muslim Organisations in Europe), Gulden Sonmez (Organisation of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People in Turkey- Mazlumdar), Mr Steven Grosz (Layla Shahin lawyer in front of European Court Of Human Rights) as well as the Chair of the Green Party, Hugo Charlton, all spoke wonderfully and presented our case eloquently.

The issue of the Hijab, the consequences of its ban in France and other
European countries, its significance to Muslim women, human rights implications and legal actions against restrictions on religious practices, the impact of the ban on our host city – London, and all other communities, and the way ahead for challenging the ban, have been discussed at great length
throughout the day.

Respected leading figures from the Muslim and faith communities in Britain and across Europe addressed these issues and many more.

The general agreement amongst the speakers and the interjections from
the delegates and guests have all reinforced the conclusion that Hijab
and religious freedom and people’s freedom to express their faith  openly and without fear of persecution, must be respected, and the aims of pro-Hijab are not only legitimate but necessary to ensure Muslim women and other faith groups do not become victimised and oppressed by ill-informed and ignorant bodies, both official and otherwise.

Religious freedom is supported by many sections of society, as was reflected here today, yet the European Court of Human Rights unjustly upheld the Hijab ban in Turkey. Pro-Hijab condemns this decision and promises to do all it can to ensure this decision is overturned. Our eminent guest of the day; Professor Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, stressed the fact that Hijab is anything but a religious insignia or symbol, and this as well as all the legal and intellectual arguments must be exhausted for our objectives to be realised.


The next steps of this campaign will occur on 2 levels; national and international.
On a national level, liaising Pro-Hijab committees will be formed. In
each country, the respective liaison committee will tackle the problem in the manner most appropriate to the prevailing context, with the support of Pro-Hijab internationally.
The first step for each liaison committee is to educate the media, politicians,
educators as well as the general public on the issue of the Hijab, and
religious freedom through seminars and work-shops and with the production of educational materials.

On the international level, Pro-Hijab wishes to call for the 4th of September, 2004 as an ‘International Hijab Solidarity Day’, to mark the return to school of French, British and European Muslim girls.

Core Pro-Hijab members will work to lobby the European Union to stop the Hijab ban spreading to other countries by holding a European Parliament Lobbying Day on the 22nd of September, 2004, where affiliates and supporters of Pro-Hijab will all be attending a meeting and seminar in The European Parliament on this critical issue.

This conference is simply the first step, and a spring-board from which
Pro-Hijab will commence its educational campaigns to bring greater
understanding of the Hijab and create greater harmony between different
religious communities.

Pro-Hijab wishes to register its welcome of the invitation extended
from the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone to His Eminence Sheikh Yusuf
Al-Qaradawi, to address the European Social Forum in October 2004,
where the issue of Hijab and its banning in some parts of Western Europe,
will be one of the main themes of the forum.

Finally, Pro-Hijab is a network of organisations committed to
protecting the right of Muslim women to wear Hijab and the freedom of religion for
all people of faith. The issue of the Hijab ban must be kept alive for
as long as it persists and Pro-Hijab is committed to this task on
behalf of all Muslim women in the world.

Pro-Hijab wishes to thank the GLA and the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone for hosting this historic conference, as well as His Eminence Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, and for their support thereof and contribution thereto. Pro-Hijab expresses its gratitude and appreciation to all our guest speakers of the day, as well as supporting organisations, delegates and bodies, with whom we look forward to further cooperation and coordination in the near future.

Assembly for the Protection of Hijab (Pro-Hijab)
Monday 12th of July, 2004