Cairo, June 24: Leading scholars have reacted sharply to the controversial remarks made by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the wearing of burqas by Muslim women.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is “not qualified” to judge Muslim women’s dress code, said Muslim clerics in Cairo, reacting to his branding of full-body veils as a sign of servitude.
“This man is not qualified to tell Muslim women what they should or should not wear,” said Mustafa Al Shaka, a member of the Islamic Research Centre, an influential arm of Al Azhar – the Sunni world’s prestigious institution.
” First he [Sarkozy] does not believe in Islam, which is a heavenly religion that holds women in high regard. Another reason is that he belongs to a culture, which is unfair to women,” Al Shaka told Gulf News.
“One example, Islam gives women the right to keep her family’s name after marriage, which is not the case in the West.”
Sarkozy said on Monday that the burqa, a full-body covering, was “not welcome” in his country.
“The burqa is not a religious sign, it’s a sign of servitude,” Sarkozy told both houses of parliament. He added the burqa, largely donned in Afghanistan, is a violation of women’s “dignity and freedom”.
A group of French lawmakers have called for a ban on the burqa and Sarkozy asked them to “open a debate” on the issue.
More common in France is the niqab, a full-face veil with slits for the eyes. “Neither the burqa or the niqab is ordered by Islam,” said Al Shaka, who is also a noted Muslim scholar.
“They are local costumes, but Muslim women should not be forced to remove them. It’s a matter of personal freedom.”
There was no official comment from Al Azhar on Sarkozy’s remarks. However, Egypt’s Ministry of Waqfs (Religious Endowments) has recently started a campaign against wearing the niqab in this predominantly Muslim country. The campaign entails nationwide courses to discourage niqab-wearers.
In Saudi Arabia, a number of leading Saudi scholars reacted cautiously.
Shaikh Fayez Al Mutlaq, a prominent religious scholar, is of the view that it is permissible for a Muslim woman living in a country, where there is a ban on wearing the burqa, not to wear it.
“It would suffice for her to wear the hijab (Islamic dress covering all parts of the body except face and two hands).
He told if a Muslim woman wants to travel to such a country, which imposes a ban on wearing the burqa, for educational or treatment purposes, then she should respect the regulations of the country by simply wearing the hijab.
Dr Sulaiman Al Twaijri, member of the academic faculty at Makkah’s Ummul Qura University, said that the Islamic dress (the hijab) has become a topic of controversy and debate among Islamic scholars not only in different countries but also among those in a single country.
“There are some scholars who rule that wearing Islamic dress covering face and hands is obligatory for women. On the other hand, there are others who say covering the whole body except the face and hands is permissible.
“There is a third group who are adamant women should cover all parts of her body except the eyes,” he said while drawing attention to the ruling made by world-renowned Islamic scholar Shaikh Yousuf Al Qaderi that it is undesirable for Muslim women to wear the burqa in the modern age.
Body to study burqa
Meanwhile, France’s parliament has announced the creation of a commission to study the wearing of Islamic face-covering, body-length burqas and niqabs in France.
Bernard Accoyer said that the commission would include members of all four major political parties in the National Assembly.
-Agencies