Self-appointed enforcers of Islamic law spread influence in Egypt

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/22196.html

Self-appointed enforcers of Islamic law spread influence in Egypt
By Miret el Naggar | McClatchy Newspapers

* Posted on Wednesday, November 28, 2007


Miret el Naggar / MCT

Many Egyptians complain that unofficial "morality police" have begun harassing unveiled women as well as unmarried couples, even if they're just classmates. | View larger image

CAIRO, Egypt — The self-styled enforcers of religious law issued frequent reprimands to Rasha el Kholy for not wearing a head scarf.

Sometimes her co-workers spoke to her as "concerned friends," and one colleague at the Cairo clothing factory where she worked gave her a CD of a sermon that emphasized the virtues of wearing the veil.

When that failed, the de facto morality squad lectured her on how to stand during prayers, on the need to pray more than the required five times a day and how she should limit her contact with Christian co-workers, Kholy said.

"It bothered me a lot because we were not friends," said Kholy, 36. "You're not doing it for my concern, you're really doing it just because you want to give me these pearls of wisdom that make you in some way a better Muslim than I am."