An Egyptian minister has reprimanded parents who force their under-age girls to wear the Islamic hijab head scarf, the Egyptian Gazette reported on Tuesday.
"Children have the right to play and enjoy themselves, and parents have no right to impose the hijab on girls before they reach the age when they should don it," Hamdi Zaqzuq, Minister of Waqfs (religious endowments), was quoted as saying.
"Islam is keen that its followers should be strong and we should not ignore such things by forcing little girls to wear the hijab," he added, speaking at public forum in Cairo.
The hijab, which covers the hair and neck, is worn by most Muslim women in conservative Egypt, and religious authorities say that wearing it is an obligation of the faith.
Authorities have clashed with ultra-conservative sections of Egyptian society over what is deemed acceptable Islamic dress, mainly over the niqab full-face veil.
In October, Sheikh Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, Grand Imam of the prestigious Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, ignited a heated debate when he said women would be banned from wearing the niqab in schools and universities.
A court later caved in to opposition to the religious ruling and placed a stay on the ban.
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