Rocketsjudoka, did you really believe that they would allow her to compete without hijab? If so, you must be one hell of an optimist.
While the hijab is not explicitly mentioned in the Qur'an, there is direction for men and women to dress moderately. So while it is cultural, it is routed in religious text. Surat An-Nur, I think.
Do they get disqualified? Or is it just to protect against injury? If it's to protect against injury, only the hijab bearer would be at risk? As for the rules and customs of the game, the Olympics have been around for quite some time, but Judo has been around since 64'. It being a newer addition, and the advances in religious and cultural tolerance, wouldn't it be acceptable to allow Muslims to wear their hijab? What other religions have optional/semi-mandated (depending on interpretation) clothing? The only one I can think of off the top of my head is Judaism and the yamaka/kippah. I honestly don't even know what Judo is. I have never heard of it, probably will never watch it (I don't care for most Olympic sports).
robbie380, There are plenty of Muslims who believe that no special cover is necessary. The concept of dress code is not detailed except veeeeeery broadly in the Quran (which is common to all Muslims), rather the dress code is discussed in Hadith (each sect have their own hadith). So since the dress code is derived from hadith, it means that for example sunnis/shiites/sufis will have different views about hijab, while those who take the very common approach of "Quran mandatory, everything else is recommended" will not necessarily abide by the dress code except to understand the spirit of it. For example, the dress code states that the clothing should not draw attention - so a veil does not fit the dress code criteria if you are, for example, in the French countryside. After all, dress code is a subjective and relative concept when it contains references to "decency" and "attraction". Also, the other part of "hijab" is rarely mentioned - the part where men are ordered to "lower their gaze" when in the presence of women.
Frankly I don't think she should be allowed to compete with it. I do think that the Olympic committee should have informed her before the Olympic committee threatened to ban Saudi Arabia if they didn't send female athletes. It was no secret that they competed with hijab to that point. I also wonder if some Saudis and some Olympic organizers have other motives which ignores the fact that she is now the center of a controversy she probably doesn't and will probably make the rest of her life back in Saudi Arabia more unbearable.
It is messed up. Sort of funny that Saudi is our great ally in the Middle East of the USA, Germany and other Western countries. -- never a peep about anti-democratic movements there or their gunning down of innocent protesters for democracy in Bahrain.
Are you talking about the Saudis? I don't know the Saudi Olympic organization well enough to say whether that was optimistic or not but I had heard through Judo circles that she was going to be allowed to compete without the Hijab.
I haven't encountered a situation of somoene wearing a Hijab or other head covering while competing but as a ref my understanding would be this. If she was allowed to compete the Hijab is off limits as far as grabbing like hair. If an opponent were to intentionally grab another opponents hair for the purposes of throwing that would be a disqualification. If someone were to inadvertantly grab the hair that would depend on how serious of the grab, such as if they had the gi collar at the sametime and how long they held on. That might mean either no penalty or a minor penalty. FYI minor penalties are cumulative and 4 minor penalties result in a disqualification. The problem that I see with the Hijab is that it is tucked down into the collar so there is a distinct possibility of unintentionally grabbing it while reaching for a collar grip, also it coming loose and ending up strangling a player or causing an opponent to not have a secure grip. I don't know if this was ever brought up but one potential compromise might be something that covers the players hair but won't likely come loose, like a swim cap. When someone is bleeding from a cut to the head you can tape them up and have seen some cases where the top of a whole player's head is taped. In that case the tape is essentially form fitting so little possibility of it coming loose and affecting play.
What would be awesome is if she shaved her head and went "there, no hair to cover, nothing to grab" lol
I can understand the safety and fairplay arguments. If accidentally grabbing the hijab could count against her opponent, she may end up with an advantage. But, I think the Olympics has some responsibility to make accomodations for religious and cultural requirements. Since the point of the hijab is to cover the hair for modesty, I have to think they can come up with some way to satisfy the Islamic requirement for modesty with some headgear that doesn't risk entanglement.
On second thought after reading the thread I would like to change my vote from don't know to : she is free to withdraw if she doesn't want to remove the hijab. I guess some sort of other head covering could be allowed, but there is eventually a limit to accomodation.
All the comments referring to a slippery slope don't make sense to me. There don't seem to be any other potential LEGITIMATE requests that could be taken into consideration here. What other additional garment could be people attempt to have allowed? There are two ways to look at this: 1) It's not that big of a deal, let's be tolerant. 2) The rules are the rules, they weren't intentionally made to exclude people. It would be like a devout, hijab-wearing Muslim going to an all-nude beach and then insisting she keep her clothes on (not the greatest analogy since clothing is OPTIONAL at an nude beach, but say it was an ONLY nude beach for analogical sake...)
If it didn't interfere with the sport like this does, then I'd say she should be able to wear it- after all isn't the Olympics about celebrating diversity in the first place? Right or wrong, fair or not, the hijab is part of Saudi culture. I'd say the same thing if an athlete wanted to wear a yarmulke, kilt, or penis gourd. However, if this does in fact interfere with the sport, she shouldn't be allowed.
The Olympics need to do this Blood Sport style where each uniquely ethnic participant wears the clothes of his/her culture (or what Americans think are the clothes of their culture).
Huh? Is it fair to her that her country uses religion to subjugate her? That's not my fault, it's theirs. If you want to be fair to her then let her be a part of the modern world. Time to grow up Saudis.
