Report on Visit to Ansarudeen and Fatimatu Bint Rasul Islamic Schools
Muslimah Mentorship Network (Mmn) held a Mentorship program at Ansarudeen Islamic school in Darkuman on the 27th of October 2019 under the subject ‘ Hijab an identity’.
Young Muslim girls were educated about the Hijab,the rights regarding the Hijab and what the constitution says about their religion.
The program commenced by the Moderator Saudey Kokroko at exactly 9:30am with an opening prayer from one of the girls named Ayesha, the Moderator then engaged with the 26 girls present for 25 minutes in the hope of buying time for our main speaker who was running late, she engaged in various topics including interacting with the girls on what they understood with regard to the subject at hand.
They were advised the Hijab is an Identity, It identifies us as Muslims and brings us closer to Allah.
The Moderator improvised by appointing an interim speaker who was ready and willing to fill in.
The first speaker, Rabiatu Paterah advised the young girls to study very hard to reach the top, be assertive and bold so that they can stand up for their rights, defend and talk for themselves.
She also advised the girls to set goals for themselves and aim higher than their surroundings.
The second speaker, Bilkis Nuhu Kokroko also engaged with the girls by finding out each of their career aspirations.
The third speaker Zainab Alhassan touched on the constitution, their rights and individuals to contact when they are told to remove their hijab.
She advised them not to discriminate on those who don’t wear the Hijab, but rather be encouraging and accommodating towards them.
The mentors later broke into groups and had a one-on-one interaction with the students, where the students voiced out the challenges they faced and were given the right advice to help solve their problems.
Closing prayer was said by Rabiatu Ahmed Otoo at 11:30am. The team thanked the headmaster present and left to join the second team at Fatimatu Bint Rasul.
Observations:
One girl in SHS was experiencing a lot of discrimination with regards to her hijab in school and pleaded with us for help.
Names of Mentors Present
Bilkis Nuhu Kokroko
Saudey Kokroko
Mariam Lawal
Huda Abdul Manan
Zainab Alhassan
Asiya Osman
Rabiatu Paterah
Rabiatu Ahmed Otoo
Muslimah Mentorship Network (Mmn) held a mentorship program at Fatimatu Bint Rasul Islamic school in Darkuman on the 27th of October 2019 under the subject ‘ Hijab an identity’.
A madrasa student led the prayers.
Bushira Mohammed: Spoke about the Muslimah Mentorship Network, the goal and introduced the speaker Hikma Iddrisu.
Supervisory role: Feruzah W.Salisu
Volunteer mentors:
1. Wedad Ibrahim
2. Alima Abdul-Karimu
3. Mariam Kaleem-Ahmed
4. Hudda Abdul Manan
Speaker: Hikma Iddrisu
The Speaker introduced the topic
My Hijab, My Identity
What is my right?
22 young muslim females were present ( 3 of the student are in secondary school)
Mallam supervising: Mallam Fauzan
Ms. Iddrisu begun by asking the mentees
a question, which was their awareness of the recent #hijabisanidentiy peaceful walk?
Did they know the reason why there was a peaceful walk?
Two students ( Rukaya and Zalia) spoke about the reason being to promote the wearing of hijab.
About half of the student knew of the walk.
Another student (Fadila) was able to identify the reason was to bring awareness to the discrimination of muslim girls and also create awareness on why muslim wear the hijab.
Which our speaker further explains the purpose of the walk and why it was important.
She also asked the student if they knew what discrimination was?
“`The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex“`
Which it was realized that student couldn’t fully comprehend what it was.
Sis Feruzah gave scenarios and also volunteer mentors added their voices to further solidify what discrimination is.
She further reiterated by asking questions like
Does the hijab hurt anyone?
She made the comparison to shed more light on discrimination by providing the scenario of a nun allowed to wear the “habit” but the muslim is not allowed to wear the hijab
Then Our Speaker Delve into the Topic of the Constitution. If they knew what the constitution was.
“A constitution is a set of rules used to govern the country” (Zuleiha one of the student answered).
Our Speaker spoke about how
Every country has their own constitution and every institution has by laws but their by laws should not take precedence over that out Countries constitution.
Then our speaker spoke of Article 21(C)
Every person is entitled to the religion of your choice and is allowed to manifest that through the constitution.
Thus if anyone tells you to take off your hijab they are infringing on your right..
The students were then asked if they understood the term infringe, which Zalia responded as Abusing your right .
Our speaker emphasized that no one is above the law in the country .
She explained that the constitute protect you to wear the hijab, When someone tells you to take of your hijab then that person is bullying.
Supervisor and mentors further reiterated the importance of the constitution.
Additionally the student were reminded that the rules and regulation of the country gives you the right to dress as muslim or behave as a Muslim.
Student were also educated that Ghana is not a Christian country nor a Muslim
But rather our Country is a secular country because it embraces all religion.
At the end student were encouraged to know the 3 provisions in the constitution that protects their right to wear the hijab.
Aticle 12, 17 and 21. They were encouraged to learn it and respectfully tell any abuser that they knew their right as Ghanaians, a helpline was also giving to the student to call if they were forced to take off their hijab.
Moderator, at the end broke the student and volunteer mentors into their breakout sessions where students were
1. Asked why they wear the hijab. Then mentors explained to them why muslim women wear the hijab, the 7 provisions in the Quran that encourages the wearing of the hijab. By bringing students understanding on why they wear it, some are better able to understand why they have made the choice to wear it.
2. Students were educated to understand that, the power of the constitution and how they can use the constitution to defend themselves.
3. Additionally, students were further educated on the specific provision in the constitution that allows them to dress as Muslims. Article 12, 17 and 21.
4. Hajia Bash and Hajia Bilkis number were provided on why they should wear the hijab
5. Mentees were further encourage to be confident and stand up for their rights in a respectful manner.
Closing prayers were offered by a mentee.
We thanked the headmaster and Mallam for inviting us.
Notes:
During breakout session student spoke about the discrimination they face as well.
Not being allowed to wear the hijab in school.
3 schools: The Cedar School, Accra High School and North Ridge Lyceum ( My breakout mentoring session)
Student talked about the stereotypes they face being called aggressive or being told they were not good enough.
We also need to address the forcing of worship in school.
