France Bans Abaya in Schools, Sparking Religious Dress Debate

This decision will come into effect from the start of the school year on September 4. "I have decided that the abaya will be prohibited in schools and public buildings. I have decided that the abaya can no longer be worn in schools," Attal said on Sunday to TF1. For the Minister of National Education, it is unacceptable to identify the religion of students when entering a classroom. "When you enter a classroom, you should not be able to identify the religion of the students just by looking at them," he said, adding that he would give clear rules at the national level to school principals before the start of the next school year.

For months, the wearing of the abaya in French schools has fueled lively political debates. While right-wing parties are calling for its ban, left-wing parties have expressed concern about the rights of Muslim women and girls. "Secularism is the freedom to emancipate oneself through school," said Gabriel Attal. According to him, the abaya is "a religious gesture, intended to test the resistance of the Republic to the secular sanctuary that the school must constitute".

The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) does not share this view. "If you go to certain stores, you find abayas. It’s a long and ample dress at the same time. It has nothing to do (with religion)," CFCM vice-president Abdallah Zekri told BFM, assuring that the "abaya" is not "a religious garment" but "a form of fashion". In a statement published in June, the Muslim organization had denounced the fact that the abaya is "wrongly presented by some as a Muslim religious sign" and specified that this tunic is not one.