Farouq Hosni, Egyptian minister of culture

The minister told the Egyptian daily, al-Masri Al-Youm: "There was an age when our mothers went to university and worked without the veil. It is in that spirit that we grew up. So why this regression?"

Hosni offered his resignation after the the Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's largest Islamic political group, called for the minister to "apologise and resign", calling his remarks insults that were directed at Islam's religious leaders.

Saudi Arabia's leading Muslim scholar described the Egyptian culture minister's recent criticism of the veil as a "calamity," a Saudi satellite channel reported.

Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Al al-Sheikh, Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, responded in a statement aired by Al Majd television, a religious channel, to Hosni's comments.

"It is a calamity that struck Islamic lands and contradicts the teachings of the Quran," al-Sheikh said of Hosni's comments. "It is truly painful to hear such declarations from within Islamic lands, from people who are considered Muslims."

The response to the Egyptian minister's remarks highlights the growing conflict between conservative Muslims and secularists in the Arab world. It is also an example of the struggle between secular governments, such as Egypt, and Islamic opposition groups.

Headscarves fell out of favour among some urban Egyptian women in the 1920s and 1930s, but began reappearing in the 1970s and 1980s. The evolution has been steady with more women wearing scarves, and more also wearing body cloaks and face veils.

Salah Zeidan, a scholar at Al-Azhar University, the Sunni Arab world's most important seat of learning, said Hosni's statements puts him "in a critical position" and "will take him down".

"This is degrading talk that does not fit a sophisticated man, especially a minister," Zeidan said.

"He should know that with these remarks he has just isolated himself from his Islamic community. He has to watch out if he walks out in the street, because any veiled woman will pour her raging fire on him," he said.

We all Hate Farouk Hosni

Right after Egypt's culture minister Farouk Hosni called the hair cover "a step backwards", the Muslim Brotherhood and religious personalities around the Arab world lept and called for his sacking. Not wanting to be left out, and not wanting to be seen as doing nothing to defend "Islam's great symbol", the ruling party also joined the Farouk Hosni bashing party.

Many high profile members of the National Democratic Party bashed Hosni in parliament. Zakaria Azmi, Mubarak's chief of staff and the last one you expect to talk about religious matters, said: "We cannot allow anyone to insult Islam… The culture minister should not have talked about religious matters."

My guess is that Farouk Hosni will be sacked or forced to resign unless his friend, the first lady, weighs in. The NDP, acknowledging the ground it lost to the Muslim Brotherhood, is starting to feel the pulse of the street and understand that Egyptians are now embracing something they didn't know 40 or 50 years ago.

The hair cover has become to Islam what a hymen is to a virgin.

* Why does Egypt needs a minister of culture. What does he really do? I heard him saying proudly, that he lived in USA for 17 years. SO? There are thousands of Egyptian American that lived there much more than he did. Is this the culture that he want to impose on the good religious girls and women in Egypt. Enough of those secular guys that think they are sitting on an ivory tower.