Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, the Grand Sheik of al-Azhar University in Cairo, the most important center of learning in the Sunni Islam world, has announced plans to ban women wearing the niqab, or face veil, from entering any of the university's schools.
News of the Grand Sheikh's plans emerged after a visit he made to a middle school last week. The
Associated Press says it was reported by the independent daily
Al-Masry Al-Youm that the visit was to inspect measures in place to stop the spread of swine flu, when he told a girl in one of the classes at the school to remove her
niqab.
Following his berating of the girl for wearing a garment that he said "has nothing to do with Islam and is only a custom" and after telling her that he knew more about religion than her parents the Grand Sheikh then announced that a ban would soon come in to effect banning girls who are wearing the niqab from entering al-Azhar property.
The property affected by the ban includes middle schools, high schools and dormitories at several universities in the Egyptian capital Cairo. Speaking anonymously to the
Associated Press, a security official has confirmed that verbal orders to enforce such a ban have already been issued.
Whilst most Egyptian women wear the headscarf there is concern in the country regarding the increasing number who have taken to wearing the niqab, with many scholars arguing the garment is a remnant of tribal, nomadic, desert-dwelling societies that predate Islam.
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Traditional Islamic dress for women.
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According to
BusinessDay Sunni Muslim scholars agree on the requirement for a woman to "cover her hair and her body with loose fitting clothes", but most see no requirement for women to cover their faces.
Saudi Arabia is the country in which the wearing of the niqab is most common, the country being home to ultra-conservative Muslims known as Wahhabis.
BusinessDay describes such ultra-conservative Muslims as Salafis and whilst Wahhabis can also be
Salafis they are not strictly speaking the same.
Scholars at al-Azhar are said to support Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi and his proposal to ban the niqab, one being quoted as saying, "Taliban forces women to wear the niqab... The phenomena is spreading".
However, previous attempts at prohibiting the wearing of the niqab in Egypt have been unsuccessful, with the country's Supreme Court ruling a ban unconstitutional after a case was brought by a researcher who wanted to wear the garment in the library at the American University in Cairo, but was not allowed to do so. The court did add that in the interests of security, women in the niqab should lift their veils and confirm their identities to female guards when entering a building.
Women have already begun protesting against the ban and they are supported by those who may sometimes be on opposite sides when it comes to the rights of females within Islam.
Sheik Safwat Hijazi, a scholar and preacher, has spoken of suing anyone who stops his wife or daughter from wearing the niqab as they go about their daily lives, whilst Hossam Bahgat, of the
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, asserts that what may appear to be a move to counter extremism may end up being discriminatory.
Egyptian Minister of Higher Education Hani Hilal has reportedly also announced a ban on women entering university halls of residence if they are wearing the niqab and the Ministry of Religious Endowments has apparently begun distributing literature in mosques decrying the practice.
