For a week, debate in Egypt has been raging over journalist Cherif Choubachy's call for women to take their hijab off in a protest at Tahrir Square in the first week of May.
In a video that was posted online, followed by several TV show appearances, Choubachy argued that for over 50 years, the hijab was barely seen in Egypt, until the 1967 defeat (An-Naksah) when Egyptians started believing that their defeat was rooted in abandoning religion.
"If hijab is the true meaning of virtue, then how do you explain that all the female prisoners wear hijab [...] And it's logical that they are imprisoned because they stole, killed, or committed adultery," he explained in his video, adding that: "99 percent of Egypt's prostitutes are veiled."
In response to what he considered a fake visage that bears no true virtue underneath, he called on women to take their hijab off if it wasn't an act of free will.
Naturally, Choubachy's opinion and invitation for taking off hijabs has sparked a huge debate. Similar to any argument that happens in Egypt, a sweeping wave of opinions are thrown around simultaneously, and they usually consolidate under a few main umbrellas.
There are those who are pro-leaving the hijab at home:
Those who are against:
The downright scary:
And those who sit back and mock all the above.
Basically, we feel: