(YellowTimes.org) -- The European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday, June 29, decided to endorse a hijab ban after they rejected a case lodged by a Turkish student, Leyla Sahin, who had been prevented from studying at a Turkish university for insisting to wear hijab. The court cited that it had to take into consideration the impact that an individual wearing hijab could have on those who chose not to wear it, and claimed the ban on wearing hijab was based on principles of equality and secularity.

In effect, Leyla Sahin was denied the right to observe what she believes is demanded from her by God. The court has ruled that Muslim women can be denied freedom of religion. Yet another proof that the so-called human rights were only prepared to benefit the Western minded. Among Muslims, there is a feeling of anger and surprise caused by this unfair decision by the court. It is Islamophobic, and it is clearly a miscarriage of justice. Human Rights Watch has said it regretted the ruling, arguing that the headscarf ban violated the freedom of religion, expression, privacy and even the right to education.

Turkey has banned headscarves in schools, universities, public offices, and from government functions. The country was brutally secularised during the reign of Ataturk. He forced Turks to use surnames, adopted Latin script, banned headscarves and lifted the Islamic ban on alcohol. Still most Muslim women in Turkey continue to use some kind of head covering. Turkish Muslims had hoped that the rise to power of the Islamist Justice and Development Party would see the headscarf ban reversed, but even the Prime Minister's wife has been prevented from attending official functions because she covers her head.

France and Turkey have banned the Muslim headscarf under the pretext of protecting the secular state. If this really is a decision aimed to protect the secular state from the perceived threat of Islamic fundamentalism, then it will backfire. How is barring Muslim women from equal educational opportunity going to benefit these countries? It certainly isn't going to bridge the gap between Muslims and non-Muslims, and it will most certainly leave the Muslims feeling victimised and marginalised. This can and will only fuel extremism.

Where is the democracy in ignoring a large group that consists of millions of human beings? Where's the sense in denying Muslim women the right to wear the headscarf because some are being forced to use it? This is not addressing the real problem; instead it is depriving other women from their rights. This decision will have an opposite effect and not the one intended. It's obvious that the road ahead is not going to be easy for European Muslims.

This experience illustrates why Muslims need to become organized. Muslims rights to express their religious identity have been infringed. It is our duty to bring out change by exerting pressure in a civilised manner and taking a more active part in society, so that we can prevent such things from happening.

Muslim women wearing headscarves have long been targets for insults and attacks, but non-Muslim women have also been targeted because they look Muslim. Last year, The Council on American-Islamic Relations said it received 1,019 claims of physical and verbal attacks on Muslims, discrimination, and racial profiling by law enforcement. In Virginia, a Muslim woman who was wearing a veil was stabbed after being called a "terrorist." Moreover, there has been a huge Islamophobic increase on Internet chatrooms and forums. It's not at all uncommon to find racist comments about "sandniggers," "Pakis" and "towelheads."

Muslim women have launched a Europe-wide campaign to protect their right to wear the hijab headscarf. The international network Assembly for the Protection of Hijab, or Pro-Hijab, aims to reverse bans already brought in and prevent more abuses of democracy being imposed. The group has the support of a number of prominent groups such as the Muslim Association of Britain, National Assembly Against Racism, the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe and human rights group Liberty. It deserves all the support it gets.

[Mohammed Faisal Aslam is a 20-year-old student living in Norway. He's also the editor of Islamic-Awakening.com.]

Mohammed Faisal Aslam encourages your comments: post@Islamic-Awakening.com