Yes, that’s why you see so many Jewish women wearing face veils. But labeling something “Jewish” in Egypt is likely to get more people to oppose it; that could be Amna Nosseir’s strategy. In reality, the niqab and burqa arise from the assumption underlying the idea that a woman must cover her hair. Muhammad did indeed only mandate that a woman must cover everything except her face and hands, but he did so based on the notion that it is the woman’s responsibility to keep men from being tempted by her. So if the face tempts a man, it has to be covered as well.
“Egypt drafts bill to ban burqa and Islamic veils in public places,” by Siobhan Fenton, Independent, March 9, 2016:
The Egyptian parliament is drafting a law banning women from wearing the niqab veil. The ban will apply to wearing the clothing in public places and government institutions, it has been reported.
The full-face veil is worn by some followers of Islam and typically covers all of the wearer’s face other than their eyes. The clothing is common in Egypt which is a predominantly Muslim country.
MP Amna Nosseir, professor of comparative jurisprudence at Al-Azhar University, who has backed the ban, said that wearing the veil is not a requirement of Islam and in fact has non-Islamic origins. She has argued that it is a Jewish tradition which appeared in the Arabian Peninsula prior to Islam and that a variety of Quran passages contradict its use. Instead, she has advocated that the Quran calls for modest clothing and covered hair, but does not require facial covering….
Source: Egypt drafts bill to ban face veil for women, says it’s Jewish tradition
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