Saudi Arabia bans abaya within the examination halls: Details

On sixteenth December 2022, the Saudi Education and Training Evaluation Commission (ETEC) introduced that feminine college students in Saudi Arabia will now not be allowed to put on the abaya in examination halls. It is notable that abaya is an Arabic time period for an extended, free outer garment.

In Muslim-majority areas reminiscent of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the vast majority of the Middle East, girls usually use an abaya or cloak. The ETEC has instructed the scholars to put on their prescribed uniforms whereas trying the examinations.

According to the Ministry of Education and ETEC, which accredits academic and coaching methods, feminine college students are required to put on faculty uniforms inside examination rooms to adjust to public decency legal guidelines within the nation. ETEC tweeted, “It is necessary to adhere to the attire that conforms to the regulation of preserving public decency in the examination venues, bearing in mind that it is forbidden to wear the abaya at the time of the examination.”

مرحباً:
يتوجب الإلتزام بالزي المتوافق مع لائحة المحافظة على الذوق العام في مقرات الاختبارات، مع العلم أنه يُمنع ارتداء العباءة وقت أداء الاختبار.
بالتوفيق.

— العناية بالمستفيدين (@EtecCare) December 16, 2022

Abaya was earlier legally enforced in Saudi Arabia. But in 2018, Saudi Arabia introduced that it’s going to not be a compulsion anymore. Mohammad Bin Salman, the crown prince of the dominion, introduced the choice because the nation’s recognition of girls’s rights continues to develop, with main successes together with the choice to allow girls to take part in mixed-gender public sporting occasions and the liberty to drive efficient this summer season.

In an interview with CBS tv in 2018, Mohammad Bin Salman mentioned, “The laws are very clear and stipulated in the laws of sharia (Islamic law): that women wear decent, respectful clothing, like men. This, however, does not particularly specify a black abaya or a black head cover. The decision is entirely left for women to decide what type of decent and respectful attire she chooses to wear.”

It is notable that this resolution to ban the abaya in Saudi Arabia has come at a time when Islamists in India are combating a court docket battle to get permission for Muslim lady college students to put on a hijab on academic premises regardless of the establishments having a prescribed uniform gown code. Agitation for this shook Karnataka at first of 2022 after which the matter reached the court docket of legislation. Muslim political leaders like Asaduddin Owaisi of AIMIM additionally carry on making statements about hijab every now and then. Owaisi had mentioned that he needs to see a girl carrying a hijab develop into the prime minister of the nation.