Calling All Islamic Law Scholars

Okay, this has nothing to do with counterinsurgency, but Abu Muqawama was reading this story about a cafe in Cairo where only Muslim women are allowed and had a question for any smart folks on Islamic Law out there. (Hussein, if you're reading this, email me.) Abu Muqawama understands veiled Muslim women would want a place where they can relax, take off the veil, and enjoy the company of other women. He understands that. But since when was it illegal for a Muslim woman to take off the veil in front of non-Muslim women? Is this is a new thing? Because this is the first he has read anything about this. (And there are some pretty hilarious Q&A sessions out there on the internet. Click here or here.)

Abu Muqawama apologizes to his readership if it has been laboring under the false assumption that -- because of his name -- he's some sort of Ghazali, because the reality is that when it comes to Islamic jurisprudence he's just as ignorant as any other Presbyterian.

Update from Abu Muqawama's ever-steady voice of Muslim common sense, from New Haven by way of Lebanon: "...it has always been lawful for Muslim women to take their veils off in front of non-Muslim women. The formula doesn't have to do with the religion of whomever she is in front of. she can always take her veil in front of infants and other women, and mentally retarded people - regardless of their religion."