THE outcome of Shabina Begum's case in the Court of Appeal on her right to wear a jilbab instead of the agreed school uniform is a victory not for Islam but the proverbial ass that lurks in English law.

How can Islam benefit when a teenage schoolgirl uses non-Muslim courts to overturn a uniform agreed by a school in consultation with parents, teachers and the scholars and leaders of the local Muslim community?

By upholding Shabina's case the court failed to require her to justify how her preferred dress code was more Islamic than the uniform stipulated by her school, or to demonstrate that the uniform was in any way un-Islamic, and therefore inappropriate.

There is no requirement in the Sharia - Islamic law - for Muslims to wear clothes peculiar to certain Gulf Arabs. All citizens and residents of a state where the Sharia applied would be required to dress modestly.

In the case of women this is generally taken to mean covering all but the face, hands, feet, and part, if not all, of their hair, which is precisely what the agreed uniform allowed.

Dr Roderic Vassie,

Belle Vue Cottages, York.

Updated: 09:35 Friday, March 04, 2005