The niqab debate rumbles on in Egypt. Yesterday, an Islamist MP called for the resignation of Mohammed Tantawi, the government-appointed Sheikh of al-Azhar, after he told a female student to remove her face veil (original story in Arabic here).

Tantawi, who said he plans to issue a formal ban on wearing face veils at al-Azhar university's premises, has also been criticised by Sheikh Ali Abu al-Hasan, former head of the Fatwa Council at the Islamic Studies Institute in Cairo. "No official has the right to order a young lady to remove a form of dress that was sanctioned by none other than Umar ibn al-Khattab, except for the purposes of identification for security reasons," he said. "The niqab is not in contravention of the sharia or Egyptian law."

The Qur'an requires Muslims to dress modestly, but how to apply that in practice is a matter of opinion and, in many places, local custom. Tantawi was right to say the niqab is not obligatory but it is difficult to see how he can make a sharia-based case for banning it. Women should be free to choose.

Students opposing a ban protested at several Egyptian universities yesterday.

The government has previously cited security reasons for banning the niqab at universities: higher education minister Hani Hilal said that 15 young men had been caught sneaking into female universities wearing the niqab as a disguise last year.

But one female demonstrator outside Cairo university yesterday 
told the German Press Agency: "The security reasons given by the minister are not the real reasons. They are targeting the niqab."

This is undoubtedly true. The government's main worry is the spread of Wahhabi/Salafi ideas, and the spread of the niqab in Egypt is one manifestation of that. But eradicating the niqab in order to prevent religious extremism is no more effective thaneradicating pigs in order to prevent swine flu, and it can just as easily backfire on the government.

Meanwhile, the Bikya Masr blog suggests that Tantawi's stance is giving legitimacy to Islamophobic elements in Europe who are trying to ban the niqab and/or burka.

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 8 October 2009.