BBC Monday, 5 October 2009 14:07 UK |
Egypt cleric 'to ban full veils' |
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Egypt's highest
Muslim authority has said he will issue a religious edict against the growing
trend for full women's veils, known as the niqab.
Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi,
dean of al-Azhar university, called full-face veiling a custom that has
nothing to do with the Islamic faith.
Although most Muslim
women in Egypt wear the Islamic headscarf, increasing numbers are adopting
the niqab as well.
The practice is widely
associated with more radical trends of Islam.
The niqab question
reportedly arose when Sheikh Tantawi was visiting a girls' school in Cairo at
the weekend and asked one of the students to remove her niqab.
The Egyptian newspaper
al-Masri al-Yom quoted him expressing surprise at the girl's attire and
telling her it was merely a tradition, with no connection to religion or the
Koran. |
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