February 2, 2007--Fanaticism LXXIII--Veiled Threat

In Gaza, Fattah and Hamas are edging toward civil war; another version is underway in Lebanon between the Iranian-backed Shia Hezbollah and the western-leaning Sunni-dominated government; and of course we have what we unleashed in Iraq.

All the while, similar religious and factional struggles are building in Egypt. Submitting to pressure from the Bush administration to begin to “democratize,” in the first reasonably open election there a couple of years ago, the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood in effect won and this was so upsetting and threatening to the Mubarak regime that they overturned the results of the vote; and with the US now ending its hectoring of his authoritarian government, perhaps as the result of seeing how well things were working out for us in Palestine, Lebanon, and Iraq, a surrogate battle is now raging in Egypt over the hijab, the head scarf. (See NY Times article linked below.)

With at least 90 percent of women wearing it, the debate is not over whether or not Moslem women should wear it but rather about what kind of hijab should be worn—one that covers the head but not the face and is just shoulder length, which the government supports--or should women be required to wear what they wear in Saudi Arabia, our best-friend-in-the-Middle-East, where women must cover themselves with the all-black niqab, a veil that hides the entire head and face.

This is such a hot issue that when Egypt’s Culture Minister recently said that the hajib is “a step backward for Egyptian women” and that “women with their beautiful hair are like flowers and should not be covered up,” he unleashed a firestorm of criticism—seemingly ironically even from scores of members of Parliament from his own party. There was no equivalent condemnation of him when dozens of young actors were burned to death in a theater program run by his ministry.

This seeming irony reveals how the government has been attempting to co-opt some of the Muslim Brotherhood’s agenda. Realizing its great strength among Egyptians, especially among the impoverished majority, by backing the short, even stylish version of the najib, the Mubarak forces are is attempting to show their understanding for the culture of Islam.

But the wily Brotherhood folks are even managing to exploit this concession as an unacknowledged sign of weakness. As many young girls take to the government-sanctioned version of the veil, being sure to wear it with a full face of makeup and tight skirts and pants, seeing it as a fashion statement, the Muslim Brotherhood sees it as a step toward fuller observance of Muslim law and belief—their best evidence is that an increasing number of Egyptian women who begin with the head scarf are electing to put on the full niqab.

Thirty-five year old, Mirna Ahmed who wears an orange head scarf, orange makeup, and blue jeans rolled up to expose her leather boots is quoted by the Times as saying, the government’s changing the look of the veil attracted her to it in the first place, and as a result “I am sure I will observe hijab better in the future; at least I hope so.”