I refer to your report 'Serban' not integral part of Islam: Federal Court .

I was quite shocked at the ruling in the case which involved the expulsion of three Muslim boys from a school in Negeri Sembilan for wearing the turban. How can the school be possibly right? No doubt wearing the turban is not a vital requirement in Islam (although the Pashtun tribe in Afghanistan and Pakistan may disagree).

However, the emphasis of the whole case was wrong from day one. This is not a matter of whether wearing a turban is compulsory in Islam or not. It is about whether wearing the turban is a serious enough offence to deny children the right to an education.

In Islam, the first command from God to Muhammad was 'iqra' which means 'read'. Thus, this enforces the importance of education to all Muslims. To deny education to anyone whether it be a woman, a child, a blind man, a mute or virtually anyone is the greatest sin in Islam.

One does not deny that it is necessary to maintain order in the classroom for the transfer of knowledge to proceed in a smooth fashion. I have seen examples of students behaving badly such as beating their teachers up or threatening other students using a penknife. No doubt they deserved to be expelled.

But wearing a turban? Does wearing a turban interrupt with the proper functioning of the teaching and of the learning process? Does it disrupt the class and prevent other students from acquiring knowledge? Does it inhibit the effective functioning of the teacher?

These are the pertinent questions which should have been raised. We criticise our syariah (religious) courts for their failings but are our secular (non-Islamic) courts any less incompetent?