The Muslim Student Association of Nigeria recently filed a suit against the Lagos State Government over the use of Hijab in primary and secondary schools.
Justice Modupe Onyeabo of a Lagos High Court in Ikeja, has set September 26 to deliver judgment on the case.
Two Muslim students of Aturashe Junior High School, Surulere, Lagos, filed the suit through their fathers. They claim the restriction of the use of Hijab at the school violates their fundamental rights, calling it wrongful and unconstitutional.
According to Channels TV, the date was fixed after counsel to the students Gani Adetola-Kaseem (SAN) and the Lagos State Solicitor-General Lawal Pedro (SAN) argued and adopted their written submissions.
In his arguments in court on Friday, Adetola-Kaseem stated that the essence of wearing Hijab by Muslim females is to prevent them from tempting the opposite sex or being tempted by them.
He insisted that it is mandatory for all Muslim girls who have attained puberty to participate fully in the practice of Islam, which includes the dressing mode, worship and fasting.
And from the Islamic point of view, womanhood is determined not by biological age or marriage but by the time the person attain puberty.
Adetola-Kaseem urged to grant the application because the position of the Lagos State Government, violates the religious rights of the applicants and the court’s duty to protect them.
The counsel to the government said that wearing of uniforms in public primary and secondary schools is for identification of students from different schools in Lagos, as well as to encourage a sense of unity, discipline, organisation and orderliness amongst the schools.