Where ‘Sheikh chic’ is fundamental issue

Press, 20 September 1985, Page 17

Where ‘Sheikh chic’ is fundamental issue

ROBIN LUSTIG

reports from Cairo on

fears of a Muslim fundamentalist resurgence.

When the young ladies of Cairo enter Mrs May Khouri’s fabric shop on Kasr el Nil Street, they spend as much time in front of the mirror as any young woman might in London, Paris, or New York. Just because they are buying the head covering they have to wear if they wish to be considered devout Muslims does not mean they do not still wish to look attractive. “No-one who comes into my shop buys something to cover her head without trying it on first,” says Mrs Khouri. “They always ask if it suits them and matches their dress before deciding to buy.” There is an irony here; Muslim women cover their heads so as not to encourage immoral thoughts in men. Yet the very material they use is now becoming a fashion in itself. Egyptian television recently broadcast a fashion show in which the models displayed all the latest designs in what coiid almost be termed “Sheikh Chic/'

“Not all the women who decide to cover their heads do so for religious reasons,” says Mrs Khouri. “Some change to traditional Islamic dress when they get married. Others, like many students, come under pressure from their friends.

“One girl came in here the other day because her father decided her hair was too beautiful and that she should keep it covered. But I know of other people who changed when they went to Mecca on the annual pilgrimage. An experience like that has a deep effect on people, but it doesn’t always last for long.” The undeniable increase in the number of Egyptian women who now wear traditional Islamic dress — covered hair, long skirt down to the ankles, and long sleeves — has led to fears that a Muslim Fundamentalist resurgence is about to sweep Egypt. It has always been regarded as ong. of the most moderate of Arab Nations.

“Egypt has never been a nation of fanatics,” says a prominent opposition journalist, Mohammed Sayed Ahmed, “but just because something has not happened in the past does not mean it may not happen in the future. I believe this phenomenon is inevitably going to continue and that it has serious implications for the future of Egypt-” Everyone agrees that Egypt is not Iran, nor is President Hosni Mubarak a Shah. Indeed, most of the Fundamentalists insist that they are not interested in overthrowing the regime, merely in ensuring the introduction of Sharia, the 1300-rtear-old Islamic legal code set out’* in the Koran.

Sheikh Hafez Salama, a Fundamentalist leader who was released from prison last month so that he could fly to Mecca for the annual haj pilgrimage, has no interest in taking over the presidency, according to his voluble lawyer, Abdul Halim Ramadan.

“He is nearly 80 years old. He is not interested in such things,” says Ramadan. “All he wants is the application of Sharia, with the same president, the same parliament, the same members. We need to arrange things between ourselves and God. People shout about freedom all the time, but they just want to break all the rules.”

If Sharia' were to be applied strictly, women would no longer

have the freedom to choose whether or not to cover their heads. Ramadan defends the policy by asking: “Do women in your country have the freedom to walk naked in the streets? There are more human rights guaranteed in the Koran than in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, but no-one has the right to cause offence to others.”

It is extremely hard to judge how much support leaders such as Sheikh Salama really have. No Muslim can say he is against Sharia — it would be like a Christian saying he did not accept the Ten Commandments — but Egyptians are traditionally easygoing and are likely to find plenty of ways round the more orthodox interpretations of Islamic law should it ever become necessary.

“These people are just as good as anyone else at splitting hairs dr counting angels on the heads of, pins,” says a Western diplomat/’

“When the People’s Assembly reconvenes after the summer, they will no doubt continue their discussions and the subject will carry on along its stately way. I doubt that there will be much revolutionary fervour — for one thing, this Government is a lot less repressive than many others in the area.” This low-key analysis, which is shared by most Western diplomats in Egypt, was badly shaken last month, when an Israeli diplomat, Albert Atrakchi, was shot dead in a Cairo street while driving to work. Although it was not clear whether the group calling itself “Egypt’s Revolution,” which claimed responsibility for the killing, is linked with the Fundamentalist movement, the possibility can certainly not be ruled out.

Behind the growth of the Muslim Fundamentalist movement is a sense that Egypt’s present political and social structure is no longer adequate to deal with the country’s

burgeoning problems. “When Mubarak first took over after Sadat’s assassination in 1981, he had a soothing effect,” says Mohammed Sayed Ahmed. “Now the anaesthetic is wearing off. “Mubarak is seen as a weak president, a lesser evil. There have already been a number of concessions to the Fundamentalists and we are starting to find the growth of a state within a state.

“A friend of mine recently wanted to enrol his daughter at a private school. They first asked that his wife should come along, and when they saw that her head was not covered, they immediately turned them down.

“At another school, when the wife covered her head, she was asked to name the nine wives of the prophet Mohammed. She stopped after four, and again they turned her daughter down.” Copyright — London Observer Service.