By Sara Elghobashy
October 13, 2009
Last week, the Supreme Council of Al Azhar banned the niqab inside the classrooms of its university and schools a day after Grand Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi reprimanded a middle school girl for wearing it, saying it is a cultural rather than a religious practice. The ban has incited anger in Egypt, from the girls who attend Al Azhar to human rights organizations who believe it is a woman’s right to choose what she wears. At the same time, it has been welcomed by several people who have long thought the niqab was a symbol of oppression meant to completely obliterate a woman’s identity in public and enforce patriarchal practices that are not rooted in religion.
Though this is not the first time the niqab is up for discussion, it is the first time that a major Islamic institution has taken a stance on the issue. England and France, in addition to other Western countries, have been debating the niqab, which they incorrectly call the burqa, for some time now. So with this decision made by the beacon of Sunni Islamic thought, will Western nations finally get the justification they need to fully ban the niqab within their borders?
It seems that some are already jumping at the opportunity. One day after the news that Tantawi was considering banning the niqab, MPs from the anti-immigration Northern League party, to which Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi belongs, presented a bill to Parliament that would make wearing the niqab, which again they mistakenly called the burqa, illegal. The bill aims to amend a 1975 law, which outlaws anything that makes someone’s identification impossible.
The Northern League party now has the backing of the People of Freedom party (ha!), whose member Barbara Saltamartini said, “Banning the burqa cannot be considered anti-Muslim because wearing it is not obligatory in Islam. The Imam of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, the highest authority in Sunni Islam, has just stated unequivocally that Muslim women have the right to their own identity and that the burqa is not part of Muslim tradition...It would be absurd now if countries like Egypt ban this instrument of submission and we continue to avoid dealing with the question.”
But Italy is not the only country taking notes from Egypt. The Muslim Canadian Congress in Ottawa is also urging Parliament to ban the niqab in Canada as well. Representative Farzana Hassan says, “The burka has absolutely no place in Canada. In Canada we recognize the equality of men and women. We want to recognize gender equality as an absolute. The burka marginalizes women.” Hassan adds that she believes that many of the women who cover their face are forced to do so by family members.
No decision has been made by either Parliament yet, whether it be Italy or Canada, but their arguments certainly have been strengthened by Al Azhar’s actions. It will be interesting to watch how niqab debate resurfaces in other countries that have long been waiting to ban the full-face veil, like England and France. After all, they now have the decision of a major Islamic institution on their side.
Photo Credit: CRIS BOURONCLE/AFP/Getty Images
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