Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, declared the niqab has nothing to do with Islam in 2009.

Al Azhar University has banned the niqab in its classrooms and dormitories.

Is The Globe and Mail an authority on Islam? 

Do the people posting on this forum have a better understanding of Islam than the Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, the highest religious authority in Sunny Islam with 1.2 billion adherents globally?