My parents are sending me to the UK next year to study English at university. I am happy about going but, since I am a Muslim, I don't know whether I should cover my hair in a western country. I know my parents want me to do so but some of my friends have said that people will laugh at me and think I am strange. I have friends who have studied abroad and did cover their hair. What do you think I should do?
Florence Robertson, education consultant, responds:
This is a question raised by many female Muslim students planning to study in a western country. Although this is a personal matter and one that you need to discuss with your parents, you also need to check the rules of the university you're planning to study at so that you understand the cultural environment you will be living in for the next few years. The issue of Muslim women covering their faces has been quite a controversial one in Britain and the rest of the world.
You haven't mentioned whether you cover your face or only your hair. Many universities have asked Muslim women not to cover their faces. This rule has become the norm in many universities because of safety concerns; some radicals who are in disguise are managing to slip into colleges. Covering a woman's hair, however, seems to be accepted.
If you do an internet search (try UK universities on Muslim veils) several articles come up. Many of them say universities are against Muslim women covering their faces. This issue has caused a lot of controversy in Britain.