Wednesday, August 18, 2004

The book burners/censors of the Islamic Al-Azhar University in Cairo are at it again, and again, and again. Having recently banned the book by Nawal Saadawi (The Fall of the Imam), the medieval-minded (and government puppet) clerics have recently tried to enforce the powers of "judicial inspection," which would allow them to inspect any bookstore in Egypt and confiscate any book and prosecute any bookstore owner if they sell books that are not approved by Al-Azhar book burners. And now, they have established a (binding) opinion which will ban the new book by liberal thinker Jamal Al-Banna (titled Mas'uliyyat Fashal Ad-Dawlah Al-Islamiyyah) because he argues that a hat is suitable to "legally" cover a Muslim woman's hair. The author was also accused of other moral violations.