Face-covering veils not allowed in public places
The Egyptian parliament is drafting a law banning women from wearing the niqab veil. The full-face veil is forced on the female followers of Islam and typically covers all of the wearer’s face other than their eyes. The Egyptian parliament has drafted a bill that may lead to a ban on the full face veil, the niqab, at all public institutions, including government buildings, public transport and government-supported hospitals.
MP Amna Nosseir, professor of comparative jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University, who has backed the ban, said that wearing the veil is not a requirement of Islam and in fact has non-Islamic origins. She has argued that it is a Jewish tradition which appeared in the Arabian Peninsula prior to Islam and that a variety of Quran passages contradict its use. Instead, she has advocated that the Quran calls for modest clothing and covered hair, but does not require facial covering.
A number of restrictions have been placed on wearing the niqab in Egypt in recent years. In February, Cairo University banned nurses and doctors from wearing it in medical schools and in teaching hospitals, arguing the ban would: “protect patients’ rights and interests.”
In September of last year, the university also banned academic staff from wearing the niqab in classrooms in response to complaints from students that it was too difficult for niqab wearers to communicate effectively with students.
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Yara al-Wazir writing for the Al-Arabiya strongly criticised the ban:
While the use of niqab is contested within the Muslim world, no government should have the right to impede on the freedom of a woman wanting to wear an item of clothing. Banning the face veil is not going to liberate women. On the contrary, it is a method of control that limits a woman’s ability to contribute to the society.
This ban would exclude those who wear these veils and keep them away from going around their normal lives. Regardless of whether members of parliament agree or not, women who independently choose to wear the veil do so because it makes them feel comfortable in a country where 99.3 percent of women are sexually harassed.
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