Hijab not essential in Islam: Kerala Governor Arif Khan

New Delhi, Feb 12: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has said the hijab is not intrinsic to the practice of Islam, amid a raging controversy over the ban on hijab in some education institutions in Karnataka.

"Hijab is not part of Islam. This word has been mentioned 7 times in the Quran, but not in the context of the dress code. The controversy around hijab is part of a conspiracy to hamper the education of Muslim women," Arif Mohammed said.

"You are free to wear anything anywhere but when you join an organization, then you should follow its rules and its dress code. If you do not agree with the rules, then you are free to go to some other institution. I suggest students go back to classrooms," he said.

"The argument that Sikhs are allowed to wear turbans while Muslim women are being permitted to wear hijab in some schools & colleges is absurd. Turban is an integral part of Sikhism, but there is no mention of hijab in Quran in the context of women's dress," he further said.

The Kerala Governor's reaction came a day after he said there were instances of women refusing to wear the the hijab when one traces the history of Islam.

Though he did not elaborate, Khan on Friday narrated the story of a young woman, said to be a relative of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), to prove his point.

"I will tell you just one quote... A young girl, who was brought up in the household of the Prophet himself... she was the niece of the wife of the Holy Prophet. She was proverbially beautiful...," he said.

"This is what history says... read it," Khan told reporters. Quoting the story, he said when the woman's husband was the then Governor of Kufa in medieval times, she was chided for not wearing a hijab. What she said was that God had made her beautiful and the almighty had placed his stamp of beauty on her. "She said I want people to see my beauty and see the grace of God in my beauty... And be thankful to God... This is how the women of the first generation (of Islam) behaved. That's all I want to say," Khan said.

The controversy erupted towards the end of December when a few women students in hijabs were denied entry into a government pre-university college in Udupi in Karnataka.

To counter this, some Hindu students turned up wearing saffron scarves.