New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday questioned the Muslim side as to how the hijab became necessary and compulsory for Muslim women when Namaz is not mandatory in Islam. The court cited the arguments of the Muslim side for this question, in which his lawyer said that it is not mandatory for the community to follow the five main principles of Islam (Namaz, Hajj, Roza, Zakat and Iman). 

A bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia asked this question to Mohammad Nizamuddin Pasha, counsel for petitioner Fatma Bushra while hearing the Karnataka hijab controversy. Pasha, in his arguments in the court, had said that there is no obligation in Islam to compel its followers to follow the five principles of Islam. To this, the court questioned, 'How can hijab be said to be compulsory for Muslim women if five main Islamic principles are not compulsorily followed by Muslims in the absence of temporary punishment.'

Pasha told the court that Prophet Muhammad had said that a woman's veil was more important to him. He said 'The Qur'an tells to follow the words of the Prophet. A Muslim girl believes in wearing a hijab while stepping out of the house. In such a situation, why does the government favour in admission to educational institutions on the basis of religion? How can she ban her entry in hijab?' In his plea, he also said that banning entry of Muslim girl students wearing hijab into educational institutions would mean targeting the same religious community when Sikh students wear turbans inside schools.

The court further observed that the five 'K's of Sikhism have been deemed necessary by laws and courts and the turban cannot be compared with the hijab.' Pasha argued that the 'five 'Ks' may have been rendered mandatory, but the turban is not considered essential. Sikhism is only 500 years old, but Islam is 1,400 years old. So if, in educational institutions, a 500-year-old religious practice is allowed, why ban a 1400-year-old practice?

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