During a visit to a secondary school a few weeks ago, Egypt's highest Sunni authority came across a teenager wearing the full veil. Flabbergasted, he humiliated the girl, asking her "Why wear the niqab in a class full of girls?!" He then forced her to remove it. Read more...

A shocking incident in which an Egyptian woman was stabbed to death in a German courtroom has provoked outrage in her home country. The young mother, pregnant with her second child, was killed by the very man she was bearing witness against, himself in court for making Islamophobic insults. Read more...

The French parliament has launched an inquiry into how many women wear head-to-toe Islamic veils in France. President Nicolas Sarkozy used the occasion to spell out that "the burqa is not welcome in France", leading to concerns that he would ban it in public places. A French Muslim explains to us why she chooses to wear the sitar - the Saudi full-face cover - and why Sarkozy's comments frighten her. Read more...

When Obama said that Western countries should avoid "dictating what clothes a Muslim woman should wear", it could have been perceived as a personal attack in France. The hijab, along with all religious symbols, was banned in French schools in 2004. Read more...

Talk about the Islamic headscarf has long been the preserve of acrimonious debates over fundamentalism, women’s rights and freedom of expression. Blasting intolerance on all sides, Jana Kossaibati presses her right to dress as she pleases – and to do so hijab style. Read more…