by Peter Kenyon
In Egypt, the senior cleric at one of the Muslim world’s pre-eminent centers of Sunni Islamic teaching has banned female students and teachers from wearing the niqab — the full-face veil — in classrooms and dormitories.
The Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, says the niqab has nothing to do with Islam and is a sign of radicalism. Other Egyptian universities have taken similar positions, prompting civil rights activists to complain that the ban violates students’ rights.
Many Islamic scholars believe that full-face coverings are not a religious requirement, but the modern expression of tribal customs and traditions that predate Islam. Such coverings are common in conservative states such as Saudi Arabia and Yemen, though not in Egypt.
But the sheik’s pronouncement is seen as a reminder of the country’s difficult position as it tries to push back against the growth of conservative Islam across the region.
Student Hela Omar, 19, is petite, slender, dark-eyed and otherwise indescribable because of her loose robes and the cloth covering her face from the bridge of her nose down below her jaw. She understands that the niqab is not an Egyptian tradition, but she doesn’t understand why Tantawi and some government ministers seem to see it as a sign of allegiance to radical Islam.
“Anything that covers the body is something that people should respect. I’ve lived in other countries like Yemen, and the niqab is normal there. So I don’t understand why people here think it’s extremist, or think it’s too Islamist to wear. I just think it’s a matter of modesty,” Omar says.
Tantawi’s announcement of the ban was clouded by reports that he spoke harshly to a young niqab-wearing student, embarrassing her in front of her middle-school class.
He denied speaking abusively to the girl and later clarified that he doesn’t object to the niqab in public settings where men and women mix. He said the ban applies only to Al-Azhar’s classrooms and dorms, which are already segregated.
(Submitted by reader)