In Egypt, a New Battle Begins Over the Veil

By MICHAEL SLACKMAN
New York Times

CAIRO

FORGET about widespread poverty, dilapidated schools, chronic unemployment or public anger over police brutality. What brings Egyptian officials to their feet, what makes them shouting mad, what inspires the call for public hearings and a minister’s resignation?

Lately the answer has been: criticism of the hijab, the Islamic style of dressing in which a woman covers her head and neck beneath a scarf, and drapes her body in loose-fitting clothing to hide her figure.

When one of Egypt’s longest serving ministers called the hijab “regressive” recently, 130 members of Parliament called for his resignation.

Behind that challenge lies a long competition for the loyalties of Egyptians between the Muslim Brotherhood, which is technically banned but feels it benefits every time a woman puts on a veil, and the country’s authoritarian leaders, who fear the power of religious symbolism and have tried to co-opt it with less and less success.

Today the debate is less over whether women should adopt Islamic dress — as many as 90 percent of women cover at least their head — but over how veiled or modest they should be. It is a debate that cuts to issues tugging at the fabric of Egyptian society: What does it mean to be a good Muslim? What does it mean to be Egyptian? How can the governing party hold back the rising popularity of the Islamists?

(Continued here.)