--- description: Far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, cancelled a meeting with Lebanon's grand mufti after she was told to wear a headscarf title: Marine Le Pen Cancels Lebanese Cleric Meeting Over Headscarf image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17538a8b8fbb54ec/6988bb107cdbac1473d57332/marine-le-pen-headscarf.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Marine Le Pen Canceled a Meeting with Lebanon's Top Cleric After Being Asked to Wear a Headscarf by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 21, 2017 1:56 PM CUT  The leader of France's far-right Front National political party and presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen (C) refuses to wear headscarf before her meeting with Lebanon's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, in Beirut, Lebanon on February 21, 2017. The leader of France's far-right Front National political party and presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen (C) refuses to wear headscarf before her meeting with Lebanon's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, in Beirut, Lebanon on February 21, 2017.Ratib Al Safadi—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 21, 2017 1:56 PM CUT France’s far-right [presidential](http://time.com/4660732/france-elections-marine-le-pen/ "undefined") candidate [Marine Le Pen](http://time.com/4674432/jean-luc-melenchon-and-benoit-hamon-pair-up/ "undefined") canceled a meeting with Lebanon’s grand mufti on Tuesday after refusing to wear a headscarf for the encounter. The media office of Lebanon’s grand mufti, Sheikh Abdel-Latif Derian, [told _Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-lepen-idUSKBN1600R6 "undefined") they were “surprised by her refusal” seeing as Le Pen’s aides were told beforehand that a headscarf would be required for the meeting. [But Le Pen](http://time.com/4627780/russia-national-front-marine-le-pen-putin/ "undefined") told reporters that she hadn’t been required to wear a headscarf when she met Egypt’s top cleric in 2015\. “I met the grand mufti of Al-Azhar,” she said. “The highest Sunni authority didn’t have this requirement, but it doesn’t matter…You can pass on my respects to the grand mufti, but I will not cover myself up.” The National Front leader, who is on a three-day visit to Lebanon, met with Christian President Michel Aoun and Sunni Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Monday. French law currently bans headscarves for high school pupils and those in public service. Le Pen wants headscarves banished from all public places. \[[_Reuters_](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-lepen-idUSKBN1600R6 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4676711/marine-le-pen-lebanon-headscarf/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4676711/marine-le-pen-lebanon-headscarf/"},"headline":"Marine Le Pen Canceled a Meeting with Lebanon's Top Cleric After Being Asked to Wear a Headscarf","datePublished":"2017-02-21T13:56:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T03:25:50.902Z","description":"Far-right presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen, cancelled a meeting with Lebanon's grand mufti after she was told to wear a headscarf","url":"https://time.com/4676711/marine-le-pen-lebanon-headscarf/","keywords":["France","Lebanon","Marine Le Pen"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17538a8b8fbb54ec/6988bb107cdbac1473d57332/marine-le-pen-headscarf.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17538a8b8fbb54ec/6988bb107cdbac1473d57332/marine-le-pen-headscarf.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The leader of France's far-right Front National political party and presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen (C) refuses to wear headscarf before her meeting with Lebanon's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, in Beirut, Lebanon on February 21, 2017.","caption":"The leader of France's far-right Front National political party and presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen (C) refuses to wear headscarf before her meeting with Lebanon's Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Latif Derian, in Beirut, Lebanon on February 21, 2017.","creditText":"Ratib Al Safadi—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4676711/marine-le-pen-lebanon-headscarf/","name":"Marine Le Pen Canceled a Meeting with Lebanon's Top Cleric After Being Asked to Wear a Headscarf"}}]}] ```