Cairo: Egypt’s biggest public university has banned female students, wearing the niqab, from replacing the full-face veil with surgical masks inside examinations halls, reported local media on Tuesday.
Officials at Cairo University said that replacing the niqab with the facemasks violates a recent ruling by the Administrative Court, which upheld a ban on wearing the full veil inside examination halls.
The controversy over the niqab in this predominantly Muslim country erupted last October when Mohammad Tantawi, the Grand Sheikh of Al Azhar, which is the Sunni Muslim world's leading seat of learning, banned wearing the niqab in female-only classes and dormitories.
The top Muslim cleric said that the costume is not an Islamic duty. A few days later, Minister of Higher Education Hani Hilal followed suit, citing security reasons. He explained that several men were caught putting on the niqab to enter university hostels.
Later, Hilal barred niqab-donning students from taking their exams unless they remove the veil. He also ordered that niqab-wearing female lecturers should not be allowed into classes. The ban has sparked protests and prompted students and Islamists to go to court to revoke it.
“Our university is committed to enforcing the court ban on the niqab inside examination halls,” said Adel Zayed, the vice president of Cairo University.
“This ban is meant to serve the students’ interests as some examinees exploit the full veil for cheating.”
Mid-year examinations started at Egyptian universities this week. Girls, who refused to remove their niqab or surgical masks, were barred from taking their examinations, said news reports. They filed complaints with police over the ban, added the media.
Girls are, however, allowed to put on the niqab on the campus and at lecture halls.
