Le cheikh d'Al-Azhar contre le niqab

[Al-khiyal]

L’Islam sunnite déclare la guerre à l’islamisme :
Le cheikh d'Al-Azhar contre le niqab

Mardi 6 Octobre 2009 -- L'imam de la prestigieuse mosquée cairote d'Al Azhar a ordonné à une collégienne d'ôter son niqab, se disant déterminé à interdire le port du voile intégral dans les lycées dépendant d'Al-Azhar, a rapporté lundi le quotidien indépendant Al-Masri Al-Yom. Le cheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantaoui effectuait samedi une tournée dans des lycées dépendant d'Al Azhar, pour s'assurer de l'application des mesures anti-grippe H1N1. Dans un lycée pour jeunes filles de Madinet Nasr, en banlieue du Caire, le cheikh "a été surpris (...) de voir l'une des collégiennes en niqab alors qu'elle était en cours", selon le journal. Il s'est alors "emporté" et lui a demandé d'enlever son voile, affirmant: "le niqab n'est qu'une tradition, il n'a pas de lien avec la religion ni de près ni de loin". L'adolescente a dû ôter le voile cachant son visage, même si l'une des enseignantes présentes a pris sa défense en affirmant que la jeune fille enlevait d'ordinaire son voile au sein de cet établissement non mixte et ne l'avait remis qu'en voyant arriver le cheikh. L'imam a réagi en demandant à la collégienne de ne plus jamais porter le niqab, affirmant en outre être déterminé à interdire officiellement à toute personne portant le niqab d'entrer dans les lycées dépendant d'Al-Azhar, d'après Al-Masri Al-Yom. Par ailleurs, toujours selon le journal, le ministre de l'Enseignement supérieur Hani Helal a décidé d'interdire l'accès des cités universitaires aux étudiantes portant le niqab. Une grande majorité d'Egyptiennes musulmanes portent le hijab, un foulard cachant les cheveux et le cou mais laissant le visage à découvert. Le nombre d'Egyptiennes arborant le niqab est toutefois en augmentation depuis quelques années. Le niqab, voile intégral complété par une étoffe ne laissant apparaître qu'une fente pour les yeux, s'est répandu dans les pays arabes sous l'influence de l'islam wahhabite en provenance d'Arabie saoudite.

[Al-khiyal]

Egypt's Al-Azhar university to ban niqab in women's classes

CAIRO, October 8, 2009 — Egypt's Al-Azhar University, the most prestigious centre of religious learning in the Sunni Muslim world, said on Thursday it will ban the face veil from female-only classrooms and residences. "The Supreme Council of Al-Azhar has decided to ban students and teachers from wearing the niqab inside female-only classrooms, that are taught by women only," a statement said. The ban extends to women's dormitories and to schools affiliated with the university, it said. The face-veil, or niqab, is worn by some devout Muslim women. Local press reported that Mohammed Tantawi, head of Al-Azhar, said last week that he intended to ban the practice in the university. The supreme council's statement added that Al-Azhar does not oppose the niqab, which it said only a minority of Muslim scholars consider an obligation, but it opposes "imprinting it on the minds of girls." The decision came after female students who wear the niqab were banned from the women's dormitory of the state-run Cairo University. Most Muslim women in Egypt wear the hijab, which covers the hair, but the niqab is becoming more popular on the streets of Cairo. The government has shown concern over the trend. The religious endowments ministry issued booklets against the practice, saying the niqab is not Islamic, and the health ministry wants to ban it among doctors and nurses. In the Middle East, the niqab is associated with Salafism, an ultra-conservative school of thought practiced mostly in Saudi Arabia. Most Salafis shun politics, but the creed has influenced Islamist militants such as Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden. From the Palestinian territories, a small Salafi group known as Jund Ansar Allah has called on Egyptians to strike out in reaction, according to a statement reported by the SITE Intelligence Group. "We call upon our mujahedeen brothers to start crushing the fortifications of the government of the pharaoh of this age (President Hosni Mubarak) and to strike with an iron hand all the agents and traitors." Al-Azhar has long enjoyed a reputation as Sunni Islam's eminent source of learning and edicts. Salafists, who actively promote their creed, sometimes funded by wealthy patrons in Saudi Arabia, are opposed to Al-Azhar's theological teachings.

[Al-khiyal]

Debate rages as Egypt bans niqab at schools, universities

Cairo, October 9, 2009 -- Egyptian authorities have stepped up a controversial campaign against the niqab (a full-face veil) with a ban on the garb at schools and the university affiliated to Al Azhar (Sunni Islams prestigious seat of learning) and the dormitories of Cairo University, the countrys largest public university. On Thursday, the Supreme Council of Al Azhar, which oversees Al Azhar institutions, agreed to bar female students and teachers wearing the niqab from entering girls-only classes and dorms. The ban came a few days after Mohammad Sayed Tantawi, Egypts top Muslim cleric, reproached a 12-year-old girl for donning the full-face veil at an Al Azhar school and said it is an un-Islamic costume. The niqab is not obligatory. It is had to do more to traditions than to Islam, Tantawi told Egyptian TV. There is no need for those young girls to wear it inside classrooms.

His decision triggered a wave of protests in this predominantly Muslim country, fuelled by a similar move barring niqab-wearers from staying at Cairo University dorms. Hundreds of angry Islamist students this week protested outside the university. As a citizen and a God-fearing Muslim, I have the full right to wear the niqab everywhere, said Soad Hassanein, a veiled university student. Instead of flexing their muscles on us, the authorities should order female students wearing revealing clothes to be decently dressed, she told Gulf News. Officials at Cairo University dorms said the move is made for security reasons. Allowing the niqab inside the dorms can disrupt security as anyone can exploit it as a disguise for terror acts, said an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for being unauthorised to talk to the media.

The ban has brought Sheikh Tantawi and Minister of Higher Education Hani Helal under fire. Lawyer Nabih al-Wahash filed a complaint with Egypts Chief Prosecutor against them. Meanwhile, Islamist MPs demanded both officials be sacked. Tantawi and Helal should have given an example in heeding pluralism accepting the Other and respecting freedoms, said Islamist MP Mohammad al-Beltagui. Their acts proved disappointing, however. The way Tantawi expressed his opposition to the niqab was offensive. Similarly, Minister Helals position against the niqab contradicts the principle of personal freedom, Beltagui told Gulf News. Instead of banning niqab-donning students from staying at university dorms, more steps can be taken to preserve security at such places without violating personal freedom.

The ban on the niqab has, nonetheless, drawn applause from some Muslim clerics. Those girls wearing the niqab misunderstand Islam, said Abdel Moati Bayoumi, a member of the Islamic Research Centre, the influential arm of Al Azhar. There is no clear text in the Holy Qur'an or in the Prophet Mohammad's hadith (traditions) recommending this costume, he added. While admitting that wearing the niqab is a matter of personal freedom, Hafez Abu Saeda, a human rights activist, said that girls are obliged to take it off if necessity arises. Educational institutions have the right to verify the identity of their female students in order to protect them, he added. Some delinquent people may be disguised in the niqab to illegally enter a dorm or an examination hall to commit unlawful acts.