Muslim students at NSW public school allowed to refuse to shake hands with women
Male Muslim students at a NSW public school are officially allowed to refuse to shake hands with women, due to religious beliefs.
One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson has slammed the controversial policy at Hurstville Boys Campus, while former Australian of the Year Dick Smith labelled the move as “wrong”.
“I can’t believe this is happening in Australia,” Ms Hanson said.
The controversial policy has the backing of the Education Department, but Mr Smith says the tradition is “un-Australian”.
“These young boys are being taught the wrong thing from the start, we have equality here,” Mr Smith said.
“They should be taught to be tolerant, especially when it comes to females, not to say ‘Oh you’re not allowed to touch one’.
“That’s completely un-Australian if anything is.”
According to Islamic Hadith, it is “better for you to be stabbed in the head with an iron needle than to touch the hand of a woman who is not permissible to you”.
Islamic leaders have weighed in on the controversial policy, saying it was up to the individual to make a choice.
“There are many Muslim women who will not shake the hand of men… So it’s not sexism,” Keysar Trad, from the Islamic Councils Federation, said.
A similar policy at a school in Switzerland was outlawed by their courts last year.
The Education Department is backing the ban and refused to answer questions from 7 News about how many schools have policies based on Islamic Hadiths.
Parents at the public school appeared divided by the new policy, with some saying “it doesn’t harm anybody” and others labelling it as “disrespectful”.
