During a recent staff meeting at work, an important issue came up.  More and more girls were not adhering to the dress code by rolling up sleeves, unbuttoning buttons, unpinning hijabs, and wearing makeup.  Us teachers were asked to put our heads together and figure out a way to make all these girls stop breaking the rules.  One or more teachers suggested calling parents and reminding them of the contract they signed at the start of the year, while other teachers thought it would be best to use their class-mates against them, and have their peers remind them not to break the dress code.

As this discussion went on, one of the male staff members raised his hand quietly and simply asked, “Why can’t they wear makeup?”  Immediately an administrator answered it was the school policy.  But he asked again, “But why not?” There was silence.  I thought to myself, What do you mean why not? They shouldn’t wear makeup.  The administrator explained to him all the Islamic values the school was trying to preserve while enforcing the dress code– modesty, not being shallow and vain or competitive, etc.  He then responded with, “Do they know that’s why?  Or do we just tell them, ‘You can’t wear makeup!’?”

Since that time in the staff meeting, the wheels in my head have been turning.  In our school, do we ever explain to the students the reasons for our rules?  Or do we just enforce them and tell them they have to do it?  Do we label our rules as school rules?  Or do we say they are Islamic rules?

I’ve noticed over the course of 9 weeks that the students treat our rules as school rules.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Our rules about cheating, lying, stealing, swearing, dress code, etc, are only restrictions placed on them between 8:30 and 3:30 between our four walls.  So when the bell rings, and school is out… so are the rules.

There are many instances of specific rules associated with specific places.  For example, in libraries the general rule is to not talk or to whisper.  Outside of a library people are as loud as they like.  In some work places, if you’re an employee, you aren’t allowed to wear certain colors of clothing.  But outside of work, people wear whatever they please.   Even at my work, I can’t wear jeans or hoodies.  But as soon as it’s the weekend, I’m right back in ‘em. If we don’t explain to students that the rules we enforce at school are general rules of Islam, and why it’s important to adhere to them, like other time and place specific rules, they’ll never carry our rules with them outside of the school.  What else should we expect of them?

Now the problem with students having this mentality of school rules being strictly school rules, is that when they leave school, they abandon all the morals and principles we try to instill in them.  Just the other day, first thing in the morning, I heard a girl swearing in the hallway while telling a story to her friends.  When I called her out on it, her excuse was, “Miss, school hasn’t even started yet!”  “So what?” I said.  “You’re a Muslim in and out of school, and Muslims don’t use language like that.”

What I’m thinking is Islamic schools need to reevaluate the way they not only enforce rules but also how they present rules to students.  Rules need to be clearly related back to Islam, and consequences and accountability need to be emphasized, not only with administration, but also with Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala on the Day of Judgment.

I know it may seem like a lot to ask for, but without this mentality in the administration, students can start to associate Islamic practices with school rules.  “Oh yea, prayer is something we do at school.”  ‘Hijab was something I wore when I went to Islamic school.”  “At school we can’t talk to boys.”  “I’m not supposed to cheat on tests in school.”, etc.