Preacher attacks calls for women to unveil

In response to recent calls for a protest encouraging women to remove their veils, preacher Wagdy Ghoneim called those involved in the move “infidels,” privately-owned Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper reported on Friday.

The Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated preacher said during an appearance on Brotherhood-owned “Rabea” channel that calls to abandon the veil are part of a scheme to liberalize Egypt and divert it from its Islamic identity.

According to Al-Masry Al-Youm, Ghoneim said non-veiled women are “sinners” and that those who encourage other women to take off the veil are “infidels fighting Islam.”

The call was first initiated by writer Sherif al-Shobashy, who said he believes “most Egyptian women wear the veil without conviction,” adding that “seven out of 10 girls don’t believe in the veil they’re wearing.”

Shobashy, who has made several television appearances to speak about the call for a demonstration in Tahrir Square, claimed “girls wear the veil because they’re either scared or being forced to by their families and the society they live in.”

Shobashy referred to those who opposed him as, “the ones who don’t know Islam,” asserting that he “is not against religion.”

The calls for demonstration have been met by objections from several Islamist groups, including Al-Azhar. During Friday prayers at Al-Azhar mosque, the Imam said the veil is “crucial,” because it’s “a sign of chastity and protects the integrity of society.”

“Veiled women have the right to be religious and to cover themselves, and others have the right to do the opposite. We shall all meet in the afterlife,” he added.

Despite the strong reactions, the deputy head of the Salafist Nour Party, Nader Bakkar, denied any calls by his party for a million man march against those calling for abandoning the veil.

Meanwhile, the deputy head of the Salafi Dawa movement, Yasser Borhamy, released a statement on Friday saying that “destruction is not restricted to bombs,” adding that “calls to destroy minds, hearts and chastity through the movement to encourage removing the veil are more dangerous.”

“These demonstrations aim to destroy the heritage of the nation and violate its values,” the statement added.

Borhamy also referred to another recent incident, in which a group of Education Ministry officials in Giza burned several books on Islamic thought that were confiscated from school libraries last week. In widely circulated photos, ministry officials are seen standing in a schoolyard burning books while holding the Egyptian flag.

The books included, The role of women in Islamic civilization, The importance of prayers in Islam, Islamic civilizations: Lessons learned and Educational concepts for the young, among others. Press reports said that ministry officials believe the books were authored by members of the Muslim Brotherhood and aim to spread their doctrine.

Borhamy’s statement attacked “those who burn Islamic books that remind people of the afterlife and scientific miracles mentioned in the Quran with the excuse that they are trying to fight the Brotherhood, while they are really fighting Islam.”