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Al-Azhar plans to ban face veil
An Egyptian daily reports that the country's top Muslim cleric is planning to ban female students from wearing the face veil from schools run by al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's most prestigious institute of learning. The independent daily Al-Masry Al-Youm said in a report on Monday that Sayyed Tantawi would soon order the ban implemented in all of al-Azhar's institutions. A security official also said they had verbal orders to prevent students wearing the face-covering veil, known as the niqab, from entering al-Azhar schools, and dormitories of three Cairo universities for security reasons. Sunni Muslim scholars are divided on whether a woman must cover her face, with the majority saying it is not an obligation, but all mainstream scholars agree a woman must cover her hair and body with loose fitting clothes. In the Middle East, the niqab has come to be associated with Salafism, a brand of ultra-conservative Islam practiced mostly in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Posted by: Fred 2009-10-06 |
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