Georgia State student Nabila Khan was asked by a professor to remove her niqab in compliance with Georgia’s Anti-mask laws. Photo | The Signal

GEORGIA – A Muslim student at Georgia State University was told by her professor that she couldn’t return to class with a Niqab.  

During the first week of the fall semester, Nabila Khan was asked by one of her teachers to stay after class. The teacher told her that if she continued to conceal her face, she couldn’t return. 

Khan refused, claiming such an act violated her right to freely exercise her religious beliefs.

Khan did an interview with The Signal, which can be read here

The teacher referenced a 60-year-old “Anti-Mask” law in Georgia, created by legislators back then to diminish the Ku Klux Klan. 

Georgia’s anti-mask law states any “device which conceals the identity of the wearer” is only allowed when used for physical protection or on certain holidays.

But when Khan told the teacher she was contacting school officials and a lawyer, her teacher backpedaled, deferring the official decision to Georgia State’s administration.

Administrators quickly told Khan she could come to class with in her Niqab.

“The university is public property, and we permit face veils as religious accommodation. There is nothing in the code of conduct that specifically addresses face covering,”  said University spokeswoman Andrea Jones.

Edward Mitchell, chapter president for Georgia’s Council for American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), said he’s glad that university officials quickly directed the teacher to allow the niqab, but he understands that “here in Georgia, [a niqab] can make for a very unusual sight.”

Khan told The Signal that there’s a misconception about women in niqab being powerless, but she noted it’s her choice to wear it. 

“I wear it to work. I wear it to school. Many people have this misconception that, as Muslim women, we’re oppressed or forced to wear it. But to me it’s more about having a choice. My parents never told me I had to wear it, and sometimes they ask, ‘Are you sure you want to wear it?’”