Tantawi calls for a ban on niqab

What relevance does that have? Are “kafirs” inferior in your eyes?

The answer is I was raised Muslim, taken to the mosque every week but I never practiced on my own. When I got old enough to think about such issues I concluded religions are frauds, since in America one is free to choose their religion (not so in Muslim country after Muslim country…). What turned me off the most was the widespread hatred toward “kafirs”. There were 3 imams of that mosque; all three were Islamists of some stripe who hate “kafirs.” I heard lots of talk about Israel at the mosque or at family and Pakistani community functions but never–not a single time–heard anyone talk about the persecution of minorities in Muslim lands in general and Pakistan in particular. Why is that? It is because it is assumed by many that the “kafir” is inferior and hence deserves inferior status.