Egypt may ban niqabs in state institutions and public places

CAIRO, Egypt – A pro-government alliance of Egyptian lawmakers has unveiled a controversial plan for drafting a law banning the niqab or the full-face veil in the predominantly Muslim country.

CAIRO, Egypt – A pro-government alliance of Egyptian lawmakers has unveiled a controversial plan for drafting a law banning the niqab or the full-face veil in the predominantly Muslim country.

The Egypt Support Coalition, which claims to comprise some 250 members at the 595-strong legislature, has said that the law will prohibit Muslim women from donning the head-to-toe attire in state institutions and public places.

The bid comes months after Egyptโ€™s main public academic institution, Cairo University, barred its female teachers from wearing the niqab inside lecture halls.

In January, a court upheld the universityโ€™s ban.

Parliamentarians in the Egypt Support Coalition, which is loyal to President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, have said the push for a ban on the niqab is pursued on religious and security grounds.

โ€œThe niqab is not an Islamic duty,โ€ said Amna Nuseir, an MP in the alliance and a professor of Islamic creed at the Islamic Al Azhar University.

โ€œThis costume is part of Judaism and spread in the Arabian Peninsula before Islam,โ€ she told Gulf News.

โ€œWhen Islam came, it did not impose the niqab. Islam enjoins decent dressing,โ€ she said, citing verses from the Quran urging men and women to avoid ogling at each other.

Nuseir is a vociferous opponent of the niqab. โ€œI have said for more than 20 years that the niqab is not obligatory in Islam and have been harshly criticised for this view.โ€

Nuseir added that she will participate in drafting the relevant law before it is presented to the legislature.

She is not worried about facing fresh criticism. โ€œI have been waiting for long years for this bold law,โ€ she said.

โ€œWe seek to spread moderate Islam. Wearing the niqab in public has raised concerns in the Egyptian streets in view of the hard circumstances the country is undergoing.โ€

Egypt has seen an upsurge in militant attacks since the armyโ€™s 2013 overthrow of Islamist president Mohammad Mursi.

Alaa Abdul Moneim, a spokesman for the Egypt Support Coalition, defended the allianceโ€™s anti-niqab move.

โ€œOne has the right to learn about the identity of the person sitting next to him or walking in the street,โ€ he said. โ€œWe are seeking to prohibit the appearance of masked faces in public,โ€ Abdul Moneim added in press remarks.

No specific date has been set for presenting the draft to parliament. However, some voices have already been raised balking at the suggested ban.

โ€œWhat is bad about seeing Islam and Judaism, which are two heavily religions, agree on wearing the veil?โ€ Abdul Moneim Fouad, a professor at Al Azhar University, said, implying his backing for the full-face veil.

โ€œBanning the niqab will be a flagrant violation of personal freedom,โ€ he told private satellite station Al Aโ€™sema.

โ€œParliament has to enact laws aimed at bringing morals back to the street and stop [people] showing up in revealing dresses in public rather than banning the niqab.โ€

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Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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