You don't have to wear that thing

A Muslim woman in Holland has won the right not to wear hijab (the headscarf). Well, that's good news.

A Times article describes the fight with an Islamic school board that she took to a Dutch equal opportunities tribunal.

Samira Haddad, 32, won her case against the Islamic College of Amsterdam,
which insists that all Muslim women wear the hijab. The secondary school
rejected her for a job after she said in an interview that she did not wear it.

The country’s Equality Commission ruled in Ms Haddad’s favour, saying that
the college had illegally discriminated against her on the ground of her
religion and that it could not legally compel Muslim women to wear headscarves.

....

A member of the school board explained at the time: “If Miss Haddad were to
declare she was no longer a Muslim, then she could in principle come and work
for us.”

Another case where Muslim women are under pressure to wear hijab...

Personally, I don't think Islam need be a threat. But I have a deep, deep suspicion of all forms of fundamentalism. (As my mother-in-law would say "All extremes are pathological") Fundamentalists seem to have grabbed all of the "moral authority" and are quick to condemn or ostracise if you don't fall in line. And pressuring women to wear the headscarf isn't the end of the line.

I have a friend who's Muslim, but pretty secular, she doesn't wear hijab, drinks (moderately), eats pork, etc, but she describes herself as a Muslim, so that's good enough for me. I mentioned this once to a more "strict" Muslim who said "She's not a Muslim!!"

Yet, after the 7/7 bombs this same person wouldn't condemn those who condoned or excused terror - "We can't be divided, it's unite and fight."

Right... have a little drink, don't wear a headscarf and you're condemnable, excuse terrorism as a likely and reasonable reaction to "Western imperlialism" and hey, it's all part of the big tent of Islam.