Story By: Alex Cope, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News
This Egyptian billionaire – whose brother owns Aston Villa – has sparked controversy among both women’s rights advocates and religious devotees after saying “if God wanted women to be veiled, he would have created them with a veil”.
Billionaire Naguib Sawiris – whose brother Nassef co-owns Premier League club Aston Villa – also claimed that Islamic fundamentalists “plague” the Arab world in an interview with local newspaper Arabian Business.
Sawiris, who is a member of the Christian minority in Egypt and made his fortune as the CEO of Orascom Investment Holding, and investment conglomerate, courted controversy by saying: “Women are beautiful. If God didn’t want them to be beautiful, he would not have created them like that.
“If God would have wanted them to be veiled, he would have created them with a veil. God is beautiful and loves beauty. God knows what he is doing. Who are we to argue?”
The comments sparked controversy among netizens.
Netizen ‘Mohamed El Halaby’ responded to Sawiris’ comments by saying: “By that logic, if God wanted men clothes, he would’ve created them with pants.”
And ‘Amr Khalifa’ wrote: “Mr. Sawiris is in desperate need of a better self filter or a very expensive PR firm.
Meanwhile, many women’s rights activists also criticised the billionaire’s comments.
Netizen ‘Fida Chaaban’ said: “This man needs to not impose his opinion on what women should and should not wear: Naguib Sawiris to @ArabianBusiness: ‘If God wanted women to be veiled, he would have created them with a veil”
Meanwhile, ‘Mohamed El Halaby’ added a photo of the Virgin Mary above the comment: “Sawiris being a Christian, I’m sure he never seen this lovely veiled lady before.”
Sawiris latest controversy comes just weeks after he was accused of objectifying Lebanese women taking part in the country’s uprising.
“I was watching Lebanon’s demonstrations, but switched the channel to the war in Yemen after my wife entered the room,” Sawiris tweeted in Arabic, branding it the “joke of the day.”
His comments drew sharp criticism from many who claimed Sawiris was objectifying the protesters as they took to the streets.
The comments come after Sawiris supported the El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt which is run by his brother Samih.
This year’s festival held in October saw over 200 film stars descend on the town of El Gouna, including Owen Wilson, Sylvester Stallone, and Patrick Dempsey, but reportedly led to criticism from religious hardliners in Egypt.
Sawiris said the country’s Censorship Authority “delay” lots of films, saying the problems are “with religion” as people in the country still think in “a very close-minded” way.
Actress Rania Youssef, from Egypt, had to apologise for wearing a see-through black gown on the red carpet at last year’s Cairo International Film Festival when three lawyers decided to file a lawsuit against her for “inciting debauchery”.
Sawiris told Arabian Business: “Unfortunately in Egypt, there is a tendency to look at women and say: “They are dressed half-naked”. I am not from that school (of thought). The Arab world is plagued by these symptoms.”
He added that he cannot understand those people “who reduce everything to a sexual angle, which is sick,” saying that such reduction does not exist anywhere else in the world.
The billionaire said he will continue telling artists and actors to “wear what they like”.
The businessman is said to be a defender of secularism and co-founded the Free Egyptians Party, a liberal political party, in 2011 after the revolution in the country saw the overthrow of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Sawiris and American billionaire Wes Edens bought a controlling 55-percent stake in Aston Villa in July 2018 and the Egyptian became the club’s chairman.
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