New campaign against face veil sparks controversy in Egypt
Mohamed Attiya, the founder of the "Ban the niqab" campaign, speaks to Al-Monitor about why he supports banning niqabs in state institutions despite the criticism the campaign has received.
CAIRO — A new campaign titled “Ban the niqab” was launched in Egypt earlier this month, calling for a ban on the full face veil in all state institutions, including universities, public hospitals, schools and government departments.
The campaign was strongly criticized by some Islamic clerics, who believe that wearing the niqab is a virtuous act by women and banning it is not permissible. Meanwhile, others argued that the campaign was not directed at Islam, saying that the niqab is merely a tradition unrelated to religion that should be removed.
In an interview with Al-Monitor, Mohamed Attiya, the campaign’s founder, said that the reason he launched the campaign was the volatile political climate in Egypt and the attempts made by the Muslim Brotherhood and its supporters to cause chaos and panic among Egyptians by carrying out terrorist attacks against state institutions. He believes the campaign will prevent terrorists from exploiting the niqab to conceal their identities to carry out attacks.
Attiya — who served as coordinator for “No to Islamist Parties,” a popular initiative launched last year to urge a boycott of Islamist parties — responded to those accusing the campaign of interfering with public freedoms guaranteed by the constitution, saying that the “campaign does not at all violate public freedoms. We respect the constitution that guarantees every person’s freedom to wear whatever they want. However, workplaces can determine the outfits they want their employees to wear during work. This is why we only want to ban the niqab in workplaces and not on the streets.”
