Police in the Tunis used teargas on Sunday to try to disperse hundreds of Islamists who were attacking them with stones, knives and batons, the biggest clashes over religion yet seen in the Tunisian capital.
Tension is mounting in the North African country before an election later this month that will pit Islamists against secularists who say their liberal values are under threat.
The Islamists were protesting against a ban on women who wear the niqab, or full-face veil, enrolling in university, and the decision by a Tunisian television station to broadcast an animated film depicting Allah.
Several hundred protesters gathered outside the main university campus in Tunis, and from there went to the working-class neighbourhood of Jebel El-Ahmar, north of the city centre, where the clashes with police broke out.
About 100 police vehicles, and several hundred police officers wearing anti-riot gear were deployed. A Reuters reporter said he saw several officers running away to escape the protesters.
The mainly young protesters blocked a main road and threw stones at vehicles trying to get through. They shouted: "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) and "We will die for Allah!"
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