Tantawi vs. the niqab, ctd.

Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, the dean of al-Azhar University, is getting some pushback on his plan to ban the niqab from his university.

Al-Jazeera talked to Sheikh Ali Abu al-Hasan, another Sunni scholar in Cairo, who offered this criticism:

"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 [face veil] is not in contravention of the sharia or Egyptian law."

Other scholars support the plan: Abd ul-Hamid al-Atrash says the niqab is dangerous because it's "abused by people intent on causing trouble."

One of the supporters is Abdul Mouti Bayoumi (the scholar who recently urged the death penalty for anyone who imports virginity-faking devices.) He described the niqab as a tool of oppression.

"We all agree that niqab is not a religious requirement," Bayoumi said. "Taliban forces women to wear the niqab ... . The phenomena is spreading" and it has to be confronted.

Hisham, commenting on our earlier niqab post, argues that the niqab isn't an "innovation" in Islam.

Look into the history of Islam and you will find it is not an innovation. reactionary Islam? I'm as moderate as they get, but I respect someone's right to wear the Niqab, which is sanctioned in the religion. cmon!

It's hard to argue that a woman who truly wants to wear the niqab should be banned from wearing it -- that is, if we're ignoring the issue of security; the niqab certainly presents some novel security concerns.

On the other hand, it's often hard to tell if a woman truly wants to wear it. Some women have been raised to think the niqab is a requirement of their faith; their families expect them to wear it. There's a certain degree of compulsion involved. If women didn't think Islam required the niqab, would they still wear it?

Tantawi says the niqab isn't required by the Qur'an. (He's right: There's not a single verse in the Qur'an that demands it, at least not one that I can remember.) If he really wants to end (or at least diminish) this practice, he needs to educate the public. If he can convince Egyptians that the niqab isn't required, then maybe some of the women who feel compelled to wear it will stop.

You rarely change people's behavior by banning them from doing something. You have more success by teaching them that they don't have to do it.

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