France has right to ban headscarf, insists Tantawi

By: Sultan Ahmed

CAIRO, Egypt: Muhammed Sayed Tantawi, the sheikh of Al-Azhar, said Tuesday France had the right to ban Islamic headscarves in state schools, as it is non-Muslim country.

He stated this ahead of talks with French Minister for Interior affairs Nicolas Sarkozy. “The veil is a divine obligation for a Muslim woman... No Muslim, whether ruler or ruled, can oppose it.”

But the obligation applied “if the woman lives in a Muslim country. If she lives in a non-Muslim country, like France, whose officials want to adopt laws opposed to the veil, it is their right,” Tantawi added.

“I repeat: It is their right and I cannot oppose it.”

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