(NJ.com) Female Muslim police officers will no longer be barred from wearing a hijab as part of their uniform, Newark officials announced Thursday.
“To be able to recognize people’s religion, how they practice it, and allow them to do that safely and appropriately on their work site, speaks volumes to where we’re going as a department,” Mayor Ras Baraka told reporters at a press conference announcing the policy change.
A hijab or headscarf is a traditional head covering worn by Muslim women as a sign of modesty.
“It is part of her religious requirement for the woman to wear it — as long as she’s out of her home, in public, she’s required to wear a head covering,” Daud Haqq, an imam at the NIA Masjid & Community Center and the president of the Imams Council of Newark, told NJ Advance Media. “To give it up is like giving up part of your religion.”
