In 2009, the Grand Sheik of Al-Azhar, Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, declared the niqab has nothing to do with Islam and a sign of radicalism. Many Islamic scholars see the niqab as a modern expression of tribal customs and traditions that predate Islam, meaning that the niqab is not a religious requirement. 

Al Azhar, the highest religious authority in Sunny Islam, the main branch of Islam with over one billion people, has banned the niqab in its university’s classrooms and dormitories since 2009. Other Egyptian universities have adopted the same position.

Bill 62 banning the niqab has the support of Cairo’s Al Azhar University renowned as "Sunni Islam’s most prestigious university". It was founded in 970 or 972, a mere 872 years before The Globe and Mail (1844).