On the streets, in the restaurants or at the cinema it is very common to see many women wearing a hijad - the Muslim headscarf. The niqab, instead, although more and more often seen, in the poor and reach quarters as well, is translated as a cause of offence.
The niqab might be worn with a slit for the eyes, or, even more extreme, as a black vail covering the whole face.
The niqab is often seen as a risk of security, because in Saudi Arabia terrorists could take advantage and hide behind the robe and vail.
The Helwand University and the prestigious al-Azhar University in Cairo forbidden the presence of women wearing niqab in the university campus, spaking Islamist demonstrations. The University administrative motivated that the niqab had nothing to do with the Muslim duty, like the hijad, and it actually is a Bedouin tradition.
Although widespread in the Gulf states , in Cairo the niqab was seldom seen 20 years ago, but it was widely introduced by the Egyptians returning in Cairo from their work in the Gulf.
Egyptians returning home after working in the Gulf and the general wave of piety that has swept virtually all Arab states in recent years have changed this.
The women wearing a niqab are often facing difficulties on the streets, where liberals insult them, also when looking for a job.
