Source: www.islamic-world.net
Azhar Imam Orders Niqab off, Wants Ban
October 06, 2009 - 08:34
CAIRO – The head of Al-Azhar, the highest seat of learning in the Sunni world,
has ordered a school girl to remove her niqab during a visit to an Al-Azhar
school, saying he would seek an official ban for the face veil in schools,
Al-Masri Al-Youm newspaper reported on Monday, October 5.
“Why are you wearing the niqab while sitting in the class with your female
colleagues?” Al-Azhar Grand Imam Sheikh Mohamed Sayyed Tantawi asked the 8th
grader.
The young girl was shocked with the question coming from the country’s top
scholar.
A teacher intervened to explain.
“She takes off her niqab inside the class, but she only put it on when you and
your entourage came in.”
But Sheikh Tantawi was not satisfied and insisted that the young girl takes off
the face cover.
“The niqab is a tradition and has nothing to do with Islam.”
After the girl complied he insisted she should not wear it any more.
“I tell you again that the niqab has nothing to do with Islam and it is only a
mere custom. I understand the religion better than you and your parents.”
Most Muslim women in Egypt wear the hijab, which is an obligatory code of dress
in Islam, but an increase in women putting on the niqab has apparently alarmed
the government.
The ministry of religious endowments has recently distributed booklets in
mosques against the practice.
The majority of Muslim scholars believe that a woman is not obliged to cover
her face or hands.
They believe that it is up to every woman to decide whether to take on the
face-cover or not.
Ban
The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar imam vowed to issue a ban against the face-veil in
all schools linked to Al-Azhar.
“I intend to issue a regulation to ban the niqab in Al-Azhar schools,” he said.
“No student or teacher will be allowed into the school wearing the niqab.”
Established in 359 AH (971 CE), Al-Azhar mosque drew scholars from across the
Muslim world and grew into a university, predating similar developments at
Oxford University in London by more than a century.
Al-Azhar, which means the "most flourishing and resplendent," was named after
Fatima Al-Zahraa, daughter of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The first courses at Al-Azhar were given in 975 CE and the first college was
built 13 years later.
Al-Azhar first admitted women students in 1961, albeit in separate classes.
Also in 1961, subjects in engineering and medicine were added to classes on
Shari`ah, the Noble Qur’an and the intricacies of Arabic language.
Sheikh Tantawi’s remarks coincided with those of Higher Education Minister Hani
Hilal who has banned the face-veil in student hostels.
“Face-veiled students are free to do what they want outside the hostels but
there is no room for the niqab inside the women-only hostels,” he said earlier
this week.
Many students demonstrated against the minister’s statements and the Egyptian
Initiative for Personal Rights plans to take him to court.
“The minister’s decision violates the principles of privacy, personal freedom
and freedom of faith, which are guaranteed by the constitution.”
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