The headscarf battle is not worth all the uproar it has caused: it is merely a personal opinion of a few individuals, and it is not binding for the state or for the society.
What good does it really bring to the society if women decide to take off the headscarf, which is worn in different forms by the vast majority of Egyptian women?
Some women choose to wear it for religious reasons, others for social motives unrelated to religion, while other good women choose not to wear it at all. However, insulting those who wear it is unacceptable and only represents the personal opinion of those, who disguise themselves as liberals, while in fact they are fascists.
The Egyptian society has always rejected the imposition of the headscarf by force, whether by thugs that control certain neighborhoods, or by religious groups seeking power.
Insulting the majority that chooses to wear the headscarf and the minority that chooses not to is tantamount to insulting the whole Egypt. Let us not forget when the Muslim Brotherhood criticized certain Egyptian artists for what they were wearing, prompting even the most conservative and the veiled to stand with them against the Brotherhood.
The more important question is: Why did the headscarf spread as a manifestation of a so-called Islamic awakening, while corruption and hypocrisy also came with it? And why did religious values, such as justice, equality, freedom and human dignity not result from that awakening?
Some scholars say the headscarf is only preferred in Islam, while others say it is obligatory, being an overt manifestation of Islam. But there are other more important, deeper religious matters, such as the personal relationship between human beings and God. So why do we concentrate on the exterior? Had we concentrated on the interior, we would have now been as advanced as Japan, Korea, Malaysia and other countries that have committed to real values, religious or non-religious. We should focus on the true Islamic values, calling for justice and equality.
Let us then pay more attention to the substance, because the headscarf is not the whole religion.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
