IN THEORY: Should jails change hijab policy?

An Anaheim woman who says her Muslim beliefs require her to cover her head in public has sued the Orange County Sheriff’s Department after jail officials forced her to remove her head scarf when she was in jail for about eight hours. The ACLU attorney representing her said jail officials ordered Souhair Khatib to remove the hijab because it could be used to choke someone. Do you think jail officials should change their policy and allow for head coverings for Muslims?

There is no question the Orange County Sheriff’s Department should change its policy to allow a practicing Muslim woman to maintain her religious convictions by wearing the hijab.

This is a very sensitive and delicate attire for all Muslim women who practice it. To make a Muslim woman unveil in public or in front of men is like stripping her of all her clothes — it is inhuman , and I will use the word, barbaric.

If a scarf has become a lethal weapon to choke someone then we must conclude that a T-shirt, shoe string, undergarments, even one’s own hands are also threatening means.

Imam Sayed Moustafa Al-Qazwini

Islamic Educational Center Of Orange County

Costa Mesa

I think she, after inspecting her head covering for security reasons, should have been allowed to wear her head covering. I would have expected a Jewish man in the same place who wore a yarmulke, to be given permission to wear it in jail, for similar reasons of faith. As I write this response, it is exactly six years after 9/11.

The response to her apparel of her head covering from the sheriff’s department would have been different before 9/11 six years ago. We must break from our habits of mind, heart, and tongue developed over the last six years when it comes to cases like this. Was the sheriff’s response based upon the frustration of our times in the wake of the war in Iraq, or a legitimate response? One must reappraise a woman covering her head as religious discipline, rather than be a suspected terrorist already incarcerated in jail!

A reappraisal of what happened in Anaheim will give credence to a different script to be written for any Islamic women that is arrested in the future, to be permitted to wear the head covering in jail.

Rabbi Marc Rubenstein

Temple Isaiah

Newport Beach

If a Muslim woman is incarcerated for a suspected crime, and if the hijab is long enough to be able to be used to injure herself or others, it should be able to be withheld without prejudice to her rights.

Of course, she should be separated from males, and treated in every way with respect and dignity. It is always appropriate for those in charge to ask themselves: Is this action that is affecting one’s religious belief or tradition really necessary to protect the safety of others? Where possible, a compromise should be attempted, such as a head cloth that would cover the hair, but not wrap around the shoulders. Today, in Western society, many hijabs are designed to fit snugly about the face and chin and would be unable to be used in any negative way. Wherever possible, consideration for one’s faith is appropriate. When objections become obstreperous, It might be wise to call upon an Islamic leader to act as an arbitrator.

Tom Thorkelson

Director Of Interfaith Relations For Orange County

The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints