More fun with veils.
Abu Noor covered this story 1st and I unintentionally repeated it. I disagree with his openning op/ed so I will leave this up as an alternate take.
CAIRO — A Islamist lawmaker called on Wednesday for the head of the most prestigious centre of religious learning in the Sunni Muslim world to resign after he told a schoolgirl to remove the veil covering her face.
The demand to step down came as about two dozen students, wearing the face veil, known as a niqab, protested outside the state-run Cairo University, which has banned the veils from its residence hall.
Mohammed Tantawi, head of Al-Azhar University, told a schoolgirl to remove her niqab when he spotted her during a tour of an Al-Azhar affiliated school, the independent Al-Masry al-Youm newspaper reported this week.
He also said he intended to ban the niqab at Al-Azhar and made an unflattering remark about the girl’s appearance when she took off the veil, the newspaper said.
“And you look like this; what would you do if you were a bit pretty,” he reportedly asked, adding “I know more about religion than your parents.”
Al-Azhar spokesman Ahmed Tawfiq confirmed Tantawi had asked the girl to remove the niqab, but said he spoke to her in a kindly way.
He said Tantawi, who insists the niqab is not an Islamic practice, wanted to ban the niqab from Al-Azhar classrooms on religious grounds.
“The imam always bases his decision on religious grounds,” said Tawfiq.
Hamdi Hassan, an MP with the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition group, said “Tantawi cannot stay in his post; he hurt’s Al-Azhar every time he says something.
“I believe the niqab is not an obligation, but it is a benefit,” he added. “Why ban it from Al-Azhar? It’s a religious institution, not a belly dancing academy.”
Story continues…
CAIRO (Reuters) – Rokaya Mohamed, an elementary school teacher, would rather die than take off her face veil, or niqab, thrusting her to the forefront of a battle by government-backed clerics to limit Islamism in Egypt.
