EGYPT: Senior Egyptian cleric clarifies controversial remarks on banning of the veil

Record ID: 560519

  • Title: EGYPT: Senior Egyptian cleric clarifies controversial remarks on banning of the veil
  • Date: 9th October 2009
  • Summary: CAIRO, EGYPT (OCTOBER 8, 2009) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF AL-AZHAR HEADQUARTERS SIGN OUTSIDE GRAND IMAM OF AL-AZHAR SHEIK MOHAMMED HASSAN AL-TANTAWI GREETING ATTENDEES OF MEETING OF HIGH COUNCIL OF AL-AZHAR AL-TANTAWI SITTING WITH MINISTER OF RELIGIOUS ENDOWMENTS, HAMDI ZAQZOUQ AND THE CHANCELLOR OF AL-AZHAR DR. AHMED AL-TAYYEB (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GRAND IMAM OF AL-AZHAR SHEIK MOHAMMED HASSAN AL-TANTAWI, SAYING: "Thirdly, the High Council of Al-Azhar is not against women using the niqab [veil] in her private life, in connection with her going out in the streets or to work and shopping, but the High Council of Al-Azhar is against the use of that right when it is not in the appropriate place." CUTAWAY OF AL-TAYYEB AND ZAQZOUQ (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GRAND IMAM OF AL-AZHAR SHEIK MOHAMMED HASSAN AL-TANTAWI, SAYING: "Fourth, amongst the matters that every rational person understands is that a woman uses the niqab for fear that men will see her and it is not logical that the woman would use the niqab if she is in a place that is exclusively for women. Because approving the use of it by women in the presence of women is a kind of excess that Islam does not accept." PAN OF THE COUNCIL (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) GRAND IMAM OF AL-AZHAR SHEIK MOHAMMED HASSAN AL-TANTAWI, SAYING: "And to the female students wanting to wear the niqab, they can use it at home, in the street, in the institutes, in the public places that they frequent. The only forbidden thing is to use it inside the classroom that is exclusive to girls and in which the teachers are women." WIDE OF AL-TANTAWI AND OTHER MEMBERS OF COUNCIL EXTERIOR OF AL-AZHAR HEADQUARTERS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) WOMAN WEARING NIQAB, SAYING: "There is a minority that abuses the use of the niqab, that have abused it. In what way? They used it in dirty acts, but that doesn't mean that all the veiled women are dirty. There are women wearing the niqab who understand it very well and who use it very well." WOMAN WEARING NIQAB AND ANOTHER WORKER TAKING VACUUM CLEANER INTO THE AL-AZHAR HEADQUARTERS
  • Embargoed: 24th October 2009 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Egypt
  • Country: Egypt
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAEZO0SITQ8Y7MGVYDAODMND6VI
  • Story Text: One of Egypt's highest religious authorities has said the veil need only be banned in all-girl classrooms.
    One of Egypt's highest religious authorities on Thursday (October 8) denied reports that he wanted to ban the niqab (a veil that covers a woman's face), saying that Al-Azhar, the Islamic learning institution he heads, is only opposed to its use in all-female environments.
    Sheikh Mohammed Hassan Al-Tantawi, who is government-appointed, was reported by an Egyptian opposition newspaper to have insisted a girl take off the niqab as he was touring an Al-Azhar school, and to have said that he intends to ban it entirely in Al-Azhar.
    Al-Tantawi reportedly believes the niqab is not part of Islamic heritage, but a social custom.
    Yesterday, the spokesman for Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's most prestigious centre of learning, was reported to have said that Al-Tantawi plans to ban the niqab from classrooms.
    At a news conference on Thursday, however, Al-Tantawi said Al-Azhar was not opposed to the niqab's use in most circumstances.
    "Thirdly, the High Council of Al-Azhar is not against women using the niqab [veil] in her private life, in connection with her going out in the streets or to work and shopping, but the High Council of Al-Azhar is against the use of that right when it is not in the appropriate places," he said.
    Egyptian opposition MPs from the Muslim Brotherhood have called for Al-Tantawi's resignation over the controversy, and over reports in the Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper that he insulted the appearance of the girl who was forced to remove her veil.
    Al-Tantawi who did not take questions from reporters and did not address his reported comments to the girl, said that it was illogical for women to wear the veil in front of other women.
    "Fourth, amongst the matters that every rational person understands is that a woman uses the niqab for fear that men will see her and it is not logical that the woman would use the niqab if she is in a place that is exclusively for women. Because approving the use of it by women in the presence of women is a kind of excess that Islam does not accept," he said.
    The only place the niqab would be banned, he said, was in all-female environments at al-Azhar.
    "And to the female students wanting to wear the niqab, they can use it at home, in the street, in the institutes, in the public places that they frequent. The only forbidden thing is to use it inside the classroom that is exclusive to girls and in which the teachers are women," he said.
    While a majority of Muslim women in Egypt wear the hijab, or Islamic headscarf, the full veil covering the face is worn only by a minority of conservative Muslims.
    One veiled woman who works in Al-Azhar as a cleaner said that the niqab had earned a bad reputation as a result of reports that some people have taken advantage of the anonymity it provides to commit illicit acts. Some reports have suggested that men have worn the veil to enter all-female environments, or to steal or cheat in university exams.
    "There is a minority that abuses the use of the niqab, that have abused it. In what way? They used it in dirty acts, but that doesn't mean that all the veiled women are dirty. There are women wearing the niqab who understand it very well and who use it very well," she said.
    The niqab, which is associated with the conservative Wahhabi school of Sunni Islam prevalent in the Gulf, became more prevalent in Egypt after the return of migrants to Saudi Arabia following the end of the Gulf War in 1991.
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