Secularism

Hijabs in Holland

A Dutch Muslim woman applied for a job at the Islamic College in Amsterdam as an Arabic teacher. Having been born in Tunisia where the wearing of the hijab is banned she expained that she’d rather not take up the practice in the Netherlands as she would not feel comfortable doing so.

Can you can guess what happened next?

Samira Haddad, 32, a Dutch Muslim woman, is taking legal action against The Islamic College in Amsterdam after it refused to employ her because she did not want to cover her head.

Her insistence on her legal right not to wear a headscarf, or hijab, is a contrast to the campaign fought by Muslim groups across Europe for the right to wear one.