Egypt Court Backs Niqab Ban on Cairo University Staff

A top Egyptian court has ruled in favour of banning female academic staff at Cairo University from wearing the Muslim face veil, known as the niqab, lawyer Ahmed Mahran said. The decision taken by the Supreme Administrative Court rejected appeals against a 2016 lower court verdict banning the niqab on grounds that it impeded interaction between students and teachers.
Most Muslim women in Egypt wear the headscarf, or hijab, which covers the hair but not the face. The niqab is largely worn by women of ultra-conservative backgrounds. The ban was introduced in 2015 by a previous head of Cairo University, two years after the 2013 military ouster of Islamist president Muhammad Mursi.