Against the Niqab Ban: Defending Women’s Right to Choose Their Clothing, Whatever It May Be

Statement by the Revolutionary Socialists

Yesterday, the Supreme Administrative Court at the State Council rejected the appeal submitted by 80 niqab-wearing researchers at Cairo University. It upheld the ruling of the Administrative Court supporting the decision of the President of Cairo University to ban the niqab for faculty members. The State Commissioners Authority had recommended in its report to continue the niqab ban, claiming that it “affects the educational process and the speed of communication between the student and the faculty member.”

While the ruling is promoted as a measure to preserve the quality of university education and ensure the interests of students, it would have been more prudent to focus on the budget for higher education and developing the skills of faculty members by keeping them updated with the latest advancements in their fields, in addition to improving the material resources of universities, such as offices, laboratories, and classrooms equipped with advanced tools. These factors genuinely affect the educational process and the ability of faculty members to convey information, not their appearance or clothing.

The ruling signifies state control over bodies and is another blatant assault on personal freedoms, which we, the Revolutionary Socialists, reject in all its forms. The ruling turns the concerned faculty members into machines devoid of personal convictions, leaving them with no choice but to abandon their religious beliefs or lose their jobs and often their only source of livelihood amidst the worst social conditions in decades under the current regime.

What is happening now cannot be separated from the state’s repressive class behavior, even if it appears to defend enlightenment values in society and protect students’ interests, and even if many try to justify it as preserving “Egyptian societal values” from Wahhabi influence.

We should not forget that the current Egyptian state, which is waging a fierce war and launching campaigns of arrest, political repression, and persecution against Islamists and all opponents of every form and color, is the same one that destroyed all progressive student organizations of various forms after the coup. It now controls university life with an iron grip, restricting everything from academic topics permissible for study to student activities, including the appointment of nearly all university positions.

Alongside the suppression of political rights and freedoms, this regime also imposes repression on all personal rights, most notably the right of women to choose their clothing. We should also remember that this regime, which bans niqab-wearing faculty members, never misses an opportunity to exercise its authority over women’s clothing, such as prosecuting an actress for a dress she chose to wear. We must defend women’s right to choose their clothing, whatever it may be.

The regime, represented here by the President of Cairo University and the Supreme Administrative Court at the State Council, does not care about enlightenment values or the students’ interest in receiving proper education. It did not protect them before from the entry of thugs and security forces into Egyptian university campuses on every occasion where protests against current regime policies occurred to suppress students. It is the same regime that previously allowed the arrest of hundreds of students, dragging them to State Security headquarters and disappearing them for days and months without revealing their fate or even presenting them to the relevant prosecution offices. The regime only cares about its security and takes all repressive measures to maintain this security. In contrast, we must do everything we can to preserve our freedom. Defending the freedom of girls to wear the niqab – despite our complete disagreement with the concept of the niqab itself – is a defense of our collective freedom to believe and act.