dress codes, as suggested by a Muslim member of parliament ( Siam Rath,günstig brautkleider , 28, 29 January 1988). The hijab crisis in Yala is a fruit of such petrification of social reality.
Sociological reasoning, in contrast, is based upon the sociological character of a given society. It is sensitive to differences among peoples in the society and therefore amenable to critical appraisal of both the bureaucrats who sometimes blindly follow petrified regulations and the foundation on which such regulations rest. Chalardchai Ramitanon's piece and that of the secretary-general of the Shaikh-ul-Islam reflect this kind of reasoning. Unlike bureaucratic reasoning, wherein rules and regulations are of utmost importance, sociological reasoning can and must include local voices on the issues. In the hijab crisis, voices of the young Muslim women at Yala Teachers' Training College who chose to brave the controversy indicate that at the fundamental level the incompatibility between these two kinds of politics point to the problems of legitimation:
In the past, the relationship between the teachers and myself was good, but when I put on my hijab, they stopped talking to me. They said: "If you want to dress like this, then go to live in your own country. This is not your country. This is Thailand with the Thai dress code. Go to where you belong!"
When asked whether family pressures were present, another answered:
There are some The first day I put on my hijab, my brother warned me not to do it because they might think that I am radical. . . . Then he asked whether I was worried that my action would jeopardize the position [of] my other brother who is a soldier in the Thai army because he happened to be my guarantor when I was admitted to the College. I did not know what to do. That night I could only cry. Then I told my mother that if I were expelled from the college, do not feel sad. If I follow their regulations and graduate with a bachelor's degree, are you certain that Allah Almighty would have blessed me when I had not lived in accordance with His Way? . . . I cannot knowingly follow them and ignore Allah's Truth. 7
One of the Muslim girls who, in her hijab, attended a rally in front of Government House in Bangkok in support of the Yala Muslim students, spelled out the case from a Muslim point of view. She said:
Thanks be to Allah for giving us a chance to participate in this protest. It is clear what a Muslim should do in this case. The kafir [nonbelievers] refused to let the Muslims practice their religious duties. They are not opposing us but we regard them as opposing Allah. (All three quotes from IGP,brautkleider xxl , 1 April 1988:50)