Unveiling Controversy of Head Coverings in Cairo
New head covering development unveiled in Cairo. The nation’s top Islamic cleric recently stated students and teachers would not be permitted to wear face veils (niqabs) in classrooms and dorms.
AP reported that this was a part of a government effort to curb radical practices. “The decision by the Sheikh of al-Azhar, Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, came days after he said the niqab, or face veil, “has nothing to do with Islam.” … While most Egyptian women wear headscarves, few wear the niqab, which is common in Saudi Arabia, where the conservative form of Wahhabi Islam is practiced.”
BBC reported the complexity of the situation questioning whether the niqab is required by the Koran or is it “the dangerous manifestation of extremist Islam that so concerns the Egyptian government? Well, the verse in question translates along these lines: “O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and the women of the believers to draw their cloaks all over their bodies.” You see, it is rather vague and open to interpretation.”
Tantawi has since been threatened along with the entire Egyptian government. The controversy continues to unravel bringing into question - how when religion expands as Islam currently is the boundaries between custom and tradition morph.
It is clear that lines need to be drawn, but whose place or responsibility is it to say what is a true interpretation or what is just a tool of persecution?
