Liberal Egyptians insult veiled women with: 'Hey, you tent!'

By Anne-Beatrice Clasmann Oct 20, 2006, 6:13 GMT

Cairo - The recent debate in Britain over the full face veil - niqab - worn by some Muslim women and the long-running controversy over whether or not teachers in French and German schools may wear a headscarf - hijab - have been moderate in tone compared with a similar conflict in Egypt.

On the streets of Cairo or Alexandria, the hijab draws no comment, but the niqab is often seen as cause for offence, whether a slit for the eyes is left or, in its more extreme form, a transparent black veil covers the whole face.

Former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw unleashed a heated debate recently when he said he asked Muslim women to remove their veils when they visited his constituency office to discuss issues.

Contact between different members of the community were 'made more difficult if people are wearing a veil. That's just a fact of life,' Straw said earlier this month.

In Cairo it was the administration of Helwand University that generated controversy by saying that women with black face veils were not welcome in the university hall of residence.

The reason given was that the niqab was potentially a security risk. In Saudi Arabia, where it is commonly worn, terrorists have on occasion taken advantage of being able to go about fully concealed behind robe and veil.

The university's decision sparked Islamist demonstrations on the campus.

And the conflict has spread. A moderate Muslim female academic and a conservative sheikh had such a row on a talk show over the topic that Sheikh Yusuf al-Badri pressed charges against Suad Saleh for 'insulting veiled women.'

It has long been known throughout Egypt that Saleh, former dean of the women's section in the Islamic Studies department of Cairo's prestigious al-Azhar University, rejects the niqab.

During the broadcast, Saleh said she was offended every time that she saw a woman with her face veiled, and she described as 'ignorant' clerics who stipulate wearing the niqab as a duty for Muslim women.

Saleh said that while wearing a headscarf was a duty for Muslim women, the facial veil was a Bedouin tradition and had nothing to do with Islam.

The niqab is widespread in the Gulf states, but in Egypt 20 years ago fully veiled women were a rare sight.

Egyptians returning home after working in the Gulf and the general wave of piety that has swept virtually all Arab states in recent years have changed this.

These days the niqabi - or munaqabat - are now common whether in the poor or rich quarters of the Egyptian capital.

Although their numbers appear to be rising steadily, these women often face difficulties. In some professions they risk dismissal for wearing the veil.

And liberal Egyptians are inclined to be hostile when encountering them on the street wearing black gloves and heavy robes in 42-degree heat.

The most commonly heard insult directed at a woman in niqab is: 'Hey, you tent.'

Sara al-Meshad, a 24 year-old woman who spent her childhood in the United States and now lives in Alexandria, took up the niqab after finishing her studies at the American University in Cairo.

'Since then I have not been welcome there, because I apparently don't fit in,' says the young mother who works as a freelance journalist.

Meshad says she took up the veil 'to follow the example of the wives of the Prophet Mohammed.'

She does not regard wearing the veil as a religious duty.

'Opponents of the niqab maintain that as a veiled woman you cannot have contact with other people, but that's just not true,' Meshad says.

'When we are in public and I'm wearing the niqab, my son knows from my eyes whether or not I'm smiling.'