Egypt, Elsewedy review progress on Ain Sokhna phosphate complex    US employment cost index 3.6% up in year to June 2025    Egypt welcomes Canada, Malta's decision to recognise Palestinian state    Pakistan says successfully concluded 'landmark trade deal' with US    Sterling set for sharpest monthly drop since 2022    Egypt, Brazil sign deal to boost pharmaceutical cooperation    Modon Holding posts AED 2.1bn net profit in H1 2025    Egypt's Electricity Ministry says new power cable for Giza area operational    Egypt's Al-Sisi, Italian defence minister discuss Gaza, security cooperation    Egypt's FM discusses Gaza, Nile dam with US senators    Aid airdrops intensify as famine deepens in Gaza amid mounting international criticism    Egypt exports first high-tech potato seeds to Uzbekistan after opening market    Health minister showcases AI's impact on healthcare at Huawei Cloud Summit    On anti-trafficking day, Egypt's PM calls fight a 'moral and humanitarian duty'    Egypt strengthens healthcare partnerships to enhance maternity, multiple sclerosis, and stroke care    Egypt keeps Gaza aid flowing, total tops 533,000 tons: minister    Indian Embassy to launch cultural festival in Assiut, film fest in Cairo    Egyptian aid convoy heads toward Gaza as humanitarian crisis deepens    Culture minister launches national plan to revive film industry, modernise cinematic assets    I won't trade my identity to please market: Douzi    Sisi sends letter to Nigerian president affirming strategic ties    Two militants killed in foiled plot to revive 'Hasm' operations: Interior ministry    Egypt, Somalia discuss closer environmental cooperation    Egypt's EHA, Huawei discuss enhanced digital health    Foreign, housing ministers discuss Egypt's role in African development push    Egypt reveals heritage e-training portal    Three ancient rock-cut tombs discovered in Aswan    Sisi launches new support initiative for families of war, terrorism victims    Egypt expands e-ticketing to 110 heritage sites, adds self-service kiosks at Saqqara    Egypt's Irrigation Minister urges scientific cooperation to tackle water scarcity    Palm Hills Squash Open debuts with 48 international stars, $250,000 prize pool    On Sport to broadcast Pan Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies in Egypt    Golf Festival in Cairo to mark Arab Golf Federation's 50th anniversary    Germany among EU's priciest labour markets – official data    Paris Olympic gold '24 medals hit record value    A minute of silence for Egyptian sports    Russia says it's in sync with US, China, Pakistan on Taliban    It's a bit frustrating to draw at home: Real Madrid keeper after Villarreal game    Shoukry reviews with Guterres Egypt's efforts to achieve SDGs, promote human rights    Sudan says countries must cooperate on vaccines    Johnson & Johnson: Second shot boosts antibodies and protection against COVID-19    Egypt to tax bloggers, YouTubers    Egypt's FM asserts importance of stability in Libya, holding elections as scheduled    We mustn't lose touch: Muller after Bayern win in Bundesliga    Egypt records 36 new deaths from Covid-19, highest since mid June    Egypt sells $3 bln US-dollar dominated eurobonds    Gamal Hanafy's ceramic exhibition at Gezira Arts Centre is a must go    Italian Institute Director Davide Scalmani presents activities of the Cairo Institute for ITALIANA.IT platform    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Niqab row rekindled on Egypt's campus
Published in The Egyptian Gazette on 07 - 06 - 2010

Packed into a small hall inside Cairo University's Faculty of Arabic Language and Literature and guarded by security personnel, Muslim girls covered from head to toe began to cry, slap their cheeks in grief, asking to be allowed to attend the exam, which had just started.
After several rounds of phone calls between the guards and their superiors, the guards asked a female policewoman for assistance. In turn, she asked the girls to remove their niqabs (full-face veils), checked their IDs and finally let them enter the examination hall.
"We suffer like this on every exam day, despite the fact that we have court rulings that allow us into the exam hall wearing the niqab," said Nagguia Abdel Wahab, a third-year student.
She and many others were shocked on Sunday when a Cairo administrative court upheld a decision by heads of the Government-run universities to ban veiled students from attending the exams with the niqab on.
“How can this happen? We have court rulings enabling us to attend the exams. This is judicial chaos,” said Radwa Sameh, another veiled student.
She added that they were not hurting anyone by wearing the niqab. "We are adhering to the Islamic Shari'a (Law) and follow the example of the wives of the Prophet Mohamed," Sameh said.
The Faculty of Arabic Language and Literature has at least 200 students wearing the niqab. This fact led the late Sheikh of Al-Azhar, the Minister of Waqfs, and Egypt's Grand Mufti to publish in conjunction a booklet explaining that the niqab was not part of Islamic Shari'a, stressing that it was a tradition.
One thousand copies of this booklet were distributed to the university students.
Nizar Ghorab, a lawyer for 70 veiled students at the faculty, said that Sunday's ruling, to ban students who wear the niqab from attending their exams, was unlawful, because it ignored a previous ruling by the Higher Administrative Court that allowed them to attend exams with the niqab on.
"The problem is that, the universities want each student who wears the niqab to get a ruling from the Higher Administrative Court. This is nothing but red tape," Ghorab said.
He has appealed the ruling again. "The surprising thing is that the court, which banned the niqab in examination halls on Sunday, is the same court, which ruled to allow it in February and April," he expressed in wonderment.
Hani Helal, Egypt's Minister of Higher Education, denied that the niqab-wearing students were banned from the university campus.
"All we wanted was that these girls should attend their exams with their faces bare, in our attempt to fight cheating using the niqab. We then eased this and let them. However, they should uncover their faces when the proctors ask for it," Helal told a parliamentary panel on Sunday.
This case, and that of a religious edict banning the niqab in girls' school dormitories, has bounced back and forth between various courts since the Minister of Higher Education imposed the ban last October, which resulted in appeals by 55 students.
The Government said it enforced the ban in part because students, both male and female, were sitting exams disguised as other candidates by wearing a face veil.


Clic here to read the story from its source.