Headline News

Fatwa body says hijab mandatory for women

Published Date: October 08, 2009
By B Izzak, Staff writer




KUWAIT: The controversy over whether the four female members of the National Assembly should wear the hijab is likely to be revived soon after the Ministry of Islamic Affairs ruled yesterday that wearing the hijab is an obligation for Muslim women. The fatwa, or religious edict, was issued by the Fatwa Authority on the basis of a parliamentary question by Salafist MP Mohammad Hayef about whether wearing the hijab by Muslim women is one of rules of sharia law.

The Fatwa Authority stated that Muslim women are obliged to wear the hijab in front of men not related to them. Hayef sent the question to the Fatwa Authority after the opening of the previous term of the National Assembly in June and after Islamist MPs exchanged accusations with two of the four women MPs not wearing the hijab and their supporters.

Islamist MPs insisted that the female MPs were obliged by the election law to wear the hijab. The election law states that women must abide by the rules of sharia while participating in elections as a candidate or voter. Two of the four women MPs wear the hijab. But MPs and observers later said that even though the Fatwa Authority has ruled to make wearing hijab an obligation, wearing the hijab for the women lawmakers will not be compulsory. This is because the only authority entrusted to interpret laws an
d constitutional articles is the constitutional court and the Fatwa Authority ruling can simply be used as a reference.

In another development, MP Mubarak Al-Khrainej yesterday sent a question to all Cabinet ministers asking for the number of all expatriates appointed in their ministries and related government departments since March 18 this year until the date of the reply. Khrainej asked for their positions, pay and other specific details if any.

In the meantime, the Assembly's financial and economic affairs committee failed to hold its meeting for the second time this week for lack of quorum. The committee was supposed to study final amendments to the Capital Market draft law to allow the Assembly to study it at the start of the next term beginning Oct 27. Head of the committee MP Mohammad Al-Mutair regretted the absence of MPs, saying the bill is one of the most important legislation for the national economy.