In October 2009, Tantawy launched a campaign against the niqab (the full-face veil which covers the entire body except for the eyes, increasingly worn by women in Egypt) by personally removing the niqab of a teenage girl (after she failed to remove it) at a secondary school affiliated to Al-Azhar University, which he was touring in Cairo's Madinet Nasr suburb, much to the shock of all concerned. He had asked the teenage girl to remove her veil saying: "The niqab is a tradition, it has no connection with religion." He then instructed the girl never to wear the niqab again and promised to issue a fatwa against its use in schools, saying he was determined to officially ban any person wearing the niqab from entering schools dependent on Al-Azhar University.Egypt purges niqab from schools and colleges , Telegraph.co.uk, dated 5:44 pm BST 5 October 2009Lawmaker wants Tantawi to step down over veil ban , arab news, dated Thursday 8 October 2009 (18 Shawwal 1430)
