“I just want to play,” said Armstrong (Photo courtesy: St. Petersburg Times)

CAIRO , September 15 (IslamOnline.net) – The University of South Florida has ruled that one of her Muslim athletes is entitled to wear hijab during basketball competitions.

After a meeting between university officials and representatives from the Florida office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-FL), the university allowed Andrea Armstrong to wear the Muslim headscarf during the basketball activities and to reinstate her athletic scholarship.

The University also agreed to work with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to allow 22-year-old Armstrong to wear hijab during her team's matches in the new basketball season, CAIR said Wednesday, September 15, in a statement a copy of which was sent to IslamOnline.net.

"We thank the University of South Florida (USF) for its swift and decisive action in resolving this issue," CAIR-FL Communications Director Ahmad Bedier said.

Armstrong, who recently reverted to Islam, complained that she was forced to quit her basketball team and deprived of athletic scholarship after she insisted on wearing hijab during the basketball games.

"An athlete should not be asked to choose between engaging in healthy sporting activities and her deeply-held religious beliefs," said Bedier.

He further said Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) used to urge to teach children activities such as swimming, archery and horseback riding.

‘Just to Play’

Andrea, a co-captain of her basketball team, said her coach Jose Fernandez forced her to leave the team after she told him she would wear long pants, long-sleeve shirts and a hijab during the basketball activities.

“I just want to play,” the Muslim player told the St. Petersburg Times Saturday, September 11.

“I've been doing this since third grade. This is my life,” she added.

Armstrong said Fernandez told her the clothing would make teammates uncomfortable and also said Islam oppressed women.

She also said he telephoned her parents in Oregon and told them she had joined a “cult”.

Armstrong said she was raised Catholic, but began exploring other Christian churches in college. None moved her, she said.

At USF, she began asking questions of Muslim students and visited a nearby mosque. In June, she recited the Shahadah (Testimony of Faith) to officially declare herself a Muslim.

“It's pure to me ... it's just beautiful,” Armstrong told the paper. “Each day, I look forward to learning more and growing.”

Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations – unlike the symbolic Christian crucifixes or Jewish Kappas.

Hijab has taken central stage recently in several European countries, which banned it in state-run schools and public institutions.

France has triggered the controversy by adopting a bill banning hijab and religious insignia in public schools.

The US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the French move is "discriminatory".