Five Muslim Girls

On April 15, 2007, five young Muslim girls were barred from competing in a World Tae Kwon Do Federation tournament after they refused to remove their hijab’s (head covering). The girls, ages ranging from 8 to 13, were all Muslims of Lebanese descent and members of the Ultimate Tae Kwon Do Club in Montreal, Quebec. The girls were told they could not compete in the Raymond Mourad provincial tournament in Longueuil, unless they removed their hijab’s, which was deemed a safety risk that violated competition rules. The details of the story are provided at this link.

A good friend of mine asked me to comment on this story. I’m not exactly sure why my friend asked me to comment. Since this event took place in my home country, was I supposed to comment as a Canadian? Or was I supposed to comment since I am a member of a martial arts association (albeit not the association identified in the story)? I decided to comment based on the fact that I am a member of the human race, and this story kinda tugs at my heart (as I am guessing my friend thought it would).

But first, let’s get a little background here:

First, let’s define what we mean by “hijab”. A quick Google search provides several definitions for the word “hijab”. In western countries, “hijab” refers to a scarf worn by Muslim women to cover the head, leaving the face exposed. In Canada, one can have a driver’s license picture taken while wearing the hijab because it does not conceal the facial identity of the wearer.
In certain Muslim countries, “hijab” does not refer to an article of clothing, rather it refers to a modest dress code for both men and women, although the specific meaning can vary from place to place.

In contrast, a “niqab” is a face veil worn by some Muslim women along with a hijab. A niquab may cover the lower face, or the entire face, excepting the eyes. In some countries, Saudi Arabia for example, the complete facial covering is also known as a “burqa”.

Second, this story is very familiar to another story that made the rounds on the Canadian news circuit. In February, an 11-year old girl was expelled from an amateur soccer game for wearing a hijab. This event also took place in Quebec. Officials in the Quebec Soccer Fedaration, the Quebec Soccer Association and FIFA, the international soccer federation upheld the decision of the referee (who is also Muslim), to not allow the girl to play. This despite the fact that FIFA rules do not ban religious or non-religious head scarves, provided they do not present a danger to players.

Third, according articles in National Post and the Globe and Mail, this was the first year that the five young Muslim girls at the tae kwon do competition were told they couldn’t participate in the event because of their hijab’s. The girls were present at the last year’s tournament and faced no challenges to competing while wearing the traditional clothing underneath their sparring headgear. Raymond Mourad, the tournament organizer, wanted to let the girls compete again this year and alert them of the apparent change in tournament rules for forthcoming tournaments, but his pleas went unheard.

Fourth, I contacted my own martial arts organization, the World Tang Soo Do Association to ask if a similar situation had been experienced at a tournament. As far as I’ve been told, nobody has been expelled from a WTSDA tournament for wearing religious headwear. The Tang Soo Do Black Belt Manual and the Championship Official Rule Book both have rules for the official dobohk (uniform) and/or dress uniform (blue jacket and pants). It specifies the permitted markings, patches, flags, trim on the uniform, as well as the head, foot, hand, mouth and groin protection for sparring competitions. The rules state that contestants “must not wear any articles which may incur injury or endanger opponents (no jewelry)”. No specific references are made either allowing or prohibiting religious headwear.

Given that background, here’s how I feel about the story. The referee’s in both the February and April events said that they made their rulings based on safety for the competitor. The argument presented in each case what that a hijab may potentially pose a threat to a competitor’s safety, say if accidently grabbed, it may present a choking hazard. After doing a bit of online research I’ve discovered that women from Indonesia, Iran, Egypt and other Muslim countries who routinely participate in international tae kwon do competitions have not been banned from competition for wearing a hijab. In Muslim countries women who participate in sports, wear specially designed hijab’s with Velcro, and other quick-release attachments that reduce the risk of injury. Muslim women who participate in martial arts, wear the hijab underneath the traditional head guard worn for sparring competitions and thus generally out of reach. Which begs the question if a hijab poses any more of a choking hazard compared to the traditional competition headgear?

My personal feeling is: I think it’s cool that Muslim women have the opportunity to compete in martial arts tournaments and other team sports, which I feel is an empowering way of expressing one’s self. I am willing to bet that we will see more young Muslim girls competing in sports, and as long as they wear a hijab designed for sport competitions, they should be allowed to compete.
And as long as we’re talking “safety” here: let’s be real. Martial arts sparring competitions generally involve two people attempting to kick and punch each other to earn points. Granted, there is a lot of control involved and the rules generally call for no-contact or very light contact. But still, there’s a lot of hands, feet, knees and elbows flying around in your basic sparring competition, and even in you basic soccer match. Sports are intrinsically risky and it’s impossible to engineer out all the risk involved. The true value of any sport is that it teaches the practitioner how to manage risky situations. The practitioner learns how to play with safety in mind, how to accept a win and a loss with good grace, and how to unite in the spirit of competition and good-sportsmanship.

In my opinion the ruling made against the Muslim girls in February and April, have little to do with safety. It had more to do with the Quebec provincial elections and the current backlash against “reasonable accommodation” and political correctness. These events are a few in a long list of cases where the Quebec population questioned how far they had to bend in order to satisfy the reasonable accommodation of a select few:

Item: Should men be banned from pre-natal classes in order to not offend Sikh, Hindu and Muslim class members?

Item: Should the windows at a community gym be obscured so that the young men at an Orthodox synagogue across the street are prevented from seeing young women in workout clothes?

Item: Should a large wooden crucifix be removed from the Quebec national assembly?

Item: Should a woman be fired from her job at a corrections facility because she wears a hijab?

These are complex issues, and I can’t rightly say I have an answer for each one. These issues are part of the general Canadian debate, and are apparently garnering international attention. We discuss these issues across the nation, and argue based on fact, experience and emotion. As always I’m curious to hear your opinions. Please feel free to post your questions comments and responses below, starting on your opinions on the five Muslim tae kwon do competitors. (FYI, the World Tae Kwon Do Federation has responded to the April 15th ruling. You can read the result by clicking this link),I would like to post your comments in a follow up ‘blog.