DUBAI (AlArabiya.net)
Young Egyptian actress Menna Shalabi refused to reveal what she thought about the hijab or actresses who wear the Islamic head-cover, saying she might offend one of her best friends who donned the veil last year.
Shalabi was referring to actress Hanan Turk, who not only put on the hijab, but also attacked actresses who did not.
However, Shalabi stressed that the veil, besides being a matter of personal freedom and privacy, is also very sensitive. Celebrities, journalists, and audiences alike should bear that in mind, she told the London-based Al-Quds newspaper Thursday.
"If I get veiled, I will retire immediately and live a totally different life," she said.
As for how far her mother, belly-dancer Zizi Moustafa, interferes in her marriage decisions, Shalabi said that they might have their disagreements, but they are still best friends.
"She totally dedicated herself to caring for me after she and my father were divorced," she said.
Shalabi said that she will choose her future husband with both her mind and her emotions and stressed that if she felt happy with him and he asked her to stop acting, she would.
The veiling of actresses in Egypt has been the subject of much controversy lately, especially in the cases with those who start lashing out at art and denouncing it as an un-Islamic activity.
Talking about the veil has also become a taboo -- those who oppose it are automatically accused of going against what God ordained.
However, the past couple of years witnessed some counter-reaction with some veiled actresses abandoning the veil and returning to acting, Ghada Adel and Abeer Sabry -- the latter being subject of much harassment for her decision -- among them.
(Translated from Arabic by Sonia Farid). |
