Mick Hartley

A letter in the Times today from Dr Taj Hargey, Provost of the Oxford Institute for British Islam:

Sir, France’s decision to prohibit Muslim girls from wearing a cultural symbol of supremacist Islamic fundamentalism should be applauded (“French pupils banned from wearing Muslim abaya dresses”, Aug 28). Radicalised Muslims in Europe peddle the myth that male-devised dress codes for women and girls are religiously mandatory. Nothing could be further from the truth. Aside from calling for public modesty for both men and women, there is no Quranic authority for any specific female garb. Indeed, the hijab (headscarf), the niqab (facemask), the abaya (black robe), the chador (Iranian head gear) and all other masculine-dictated clothing have no legitimacy in Islam’s transcendent text. Muslims in the West should accelerate genuine integration into the mainstream instead of foolishly following the female dress imposed by misogynistic mullahs that serves only to accentuate the pernicious “them and us” divide in society.

I featured Dr Hargey in June last year:

Taj Hargey has long been a lone voice for a progressive liberal interpretation of Islam in the UK. He's gone on record in his opposition to the face veil, calling it an archaic tribal rag, rejects Sharia, welcomes gays, and was a lone Muslim voice in support of the beleaguered Batley teacher. And now, as he outlines in the Jewish Chronicle (and what other leading Islamic figure would consider writing for the Jewish Chronicle?), he's involved in the setting up of the Oxford Institute for British Islam of which he's now provost, which aims to counter the extremists and promote a "reform" vision of Islam fit for a modern Britain….