France’s highest administrative court rules in favour of a school ban imposed on abayas worn by Muslim women

France’s highest administrative court has upheld a school ban on traditional over-garments worn by some Muslim women, known as abayas. The court ruled the ban as legal, rejecting claims of discrimination and stating it would not incite hatred against the Muslim community.

The French government had announced the ban on abayas in schools last month, citing violations of secularism in education. Headscarves worn by Muslim individuals had already been banned on the grounds that they represented a display of religious affiliation.

An association representing the Muslim community filed a motion with the State Council, France’s highest court for complaints, challenging the ban on abayas and the qamis, its male equivalent. The association argued that the ban was discriminatory and could incite hatred against Muslims.

However, the State Council rejected these arguments after examining the motion. It stated that wearing the abaya “follows the logic of religious affirmation” and that the decision was based on French law, which prohibits the display of visible signs of religious affiliation in schools.

The council asserted that the government’s ban did not cause “serious or obviously illegal harm to the respect for personal lives, freedom of religion, the right to education, the well-being of children, or the principle of non-discrimination.”

Earlier in the week, French schools sent dozens of girls home for refusing to remove their abayas. Education Minister Gabriel Attal revealed that nearly 300 girls showed up wearing abayas, defying the dress ban. While most agreed to change out of the attire, 67 girls refused and were sent home. They were given a letter addressing their families, stating that “secularism is not a constraint; it is a liberty.” The minister mentioned that there would be a “new dialogue” if they arrived at school again wearing the dress.

French President Emmanuel Macron defended the measure, emphasizing that there is a “minority” in France that “hijacks a religion and challenges the republic and secularism.” He cited the murder of teacher Samuel Paty three years ago for showing caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed during a civics education class as one of the “worst consequences” of this challenge to secularism. Macron asserted that the government cannot act as if the terrorist attack on Paty had not occurred.