“Women covering their faces is not Islamic. It is a new culture brought from abroad and has little to do with religion. The practice of covering the face is a cultural invasion. Now, it has become widespread in Kerala,” Fazal Gafoor had explained.The chief of a Muslim educational group in Kerala, which recently barred its students from covering their faces with any attire on campuses, has received death threats, PTI quoted police as saying on Saturday.
P A Fazal Gafoor, president of Muslim Educational Society (MES), lodged a complaint alleging that an unidentified caller had threatened him with dire consequences if he did not withdraw the circular asking students not to attend classes wearing face-covering attire.
According to his complaint, the caller used threatening and demeaning words against Gafoor, a police official told PTI.
The decision to bar students from covering their faces has attracted criticism from the Samastha Kerala Jamiyathul Ulema, the religious organisation of Sunni Muslim scholars and clerics.
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After issuing the circular Friday, Gafoor had stated that the circular on the move was issued on April 17 and had nothing to do with Sri Lanka’s ban on face veils this week following the April 21 blasts.
“Women covering their faces is not Islamic. It is a new culture brought from abroad and has little to do with religion. The practice of covering the face is a cultural invasion. Now, it has become widespread in Kerala,” Gafoor had explained.
Muslim Education Society is a communitarian organisation that claims the legacy of the reformist tradition among Kerala Muslims. It has little sway over theological debates, shaped by Sunni groups who control mosques and madrasas. The MES has held the veil to be a foreign import, but the rejection is likely to be challenged by the clergy.
