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Readings Across the Mediterranean
To veil or not to veil…that is NOT the question!
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A two-day conference held at the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Cairo University has gone far deeper than simply the issue of hijab
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The
ban on hijab has stirred a great deal of discussion that has gone far deeper
than simply the issue of hijab. Intellectuals all around the world are
attempting to penetrate the thin "veils" in search of answers to the
bigger questions, revisiting dictionaries and encyclopedias to find the true
meanings of: liberté, égalité, fraternité,
integration, identity, neutral state, human rights and secularism.
"Islamic
Identity in European Communities: Abdications and Integration. A Reading
in the Current French Scene" was the title of a two-day conference held at
the Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences,
Cairo University, as part of the Program for Dialogue of Civilizations. On February 18 and 19,
2004, intellectuals and specialists discussed the issues involved in depth,
leaving their audience with a variety of perceptive opinions and questions to
contemplate.
Discussing
"Place" &"Time"
Intellectuals all around the world are attempting to penetrate the thin "veils" in search of answers to the bigger questions |
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The
furor over hijab became the mandatory gateway to most of the issues. Dr.Mona Abu
al-Fadl began by mentioning the date of the first incident over hijab in France; the year was 1989. She attempted to link it to the global winds of change that
were taking place during the period 1989 – 1992. Before then, Muslims had been
present in
France
for years and years without a single problem concerning hijab.
Dr.
Mona believes that examination of the case should take into account the backdrop
of the 200th anniversary of the French revolution, the collapse of the Berlin
Wall, the end of the Cold War and the Bosnian ethnic cleansing. The emergence of
a New World Order, the emergence of a “New Europe" versus the old concept
of "Nation" and finally Globalization also have to be taken into
account.
Dr.
Mona added that France's strong desire to confirm a French identity against other emerging identities
should not be overlooked. In this context, we should examine the case of hijab
and Islamic identity the same as we examine the case of the French rejection of
other identities, for example, the American identity represented in violence
against American symbols such as McDonald's.
However,
she thinks that the Islamic identity is a more sensitive case;
"privileged" as she calls it, taking into account the historic
background and what she calls the correlation of the "Andalusian Moment of
1492" with the "Bosnian Moment of 1992".
Finally,
she stated that what seems to be a prevailing "evil" at this moment
might become an opportunity, "especially, if we deconstruct the memory away
from the influence of power, biases, and interests.” She hinted that over the
past few months, Socio-political scientists have produced a great number of
perceptive and constructive theories, which are setting new epistemological and
civilizational perspectives on the matter. In her opinion, all have been
catalyzed by the apparently unfortunate events centered on hijab and Islamic
identity.
Dr.
Mona Abu al-Fadl discussed "Time" and later Dr. Amr Al-Shobaky
discussed "Place". France! Why France in particular and not
Britain
for instance? The answer, in his opinion, is based on the uniqueness of the
French secular model versus other models, especially the Anglo-Saxon model. He
thinks that the French model acts more rigidly, though is in fact motivated by
humane justifications—namely integration—avoiding the ghettoizing of a
certain group of people and giving them equal chances to evolve in the social
hierarchy. The Anglo-Saxon model, in his opinion, seems more flexible in regards
to such personal issues of identity; however, it breeds poor and under-developed
ghettos and sectarian trends.
This
is a "Militant Secularism", where a clear separation between
the public sphere and the private sphere is evident
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He
asked three major questions: Is the current furor motivated by an extreme case
of "secularism" or is it a "war on Islam”? Are occidental
Muslims typical clones of oriental Muslims? Are they a “fifth column” and
should they be so?
Dr.
Amr added; do Muslims WANT to stand out from the Europeans? In his opinion, it
is not a war on Islam. However, the ban is unacceptable based on other grounds,
such as human rights, freedom, integration and protection of the French secular
system. He believes that criticizing the ban should be based upon the elementary
and fundamental basics of French secularism. Dr. Amr thinks that this is a
"Militant Secularism", where a clear separation between the public
sphere and the private sphere is evident by the absence in the public sector of
crosses and Jesus and Virgin Mary icons, and where there is a Ministry of
Integration.
A
third speaker, Dr. Salah Jaa'frawy, argued that secularism should not be used as
a comprehensive excuse for such practices, because other European countries have
certain tilts towards certain religious groups. The Christian Democratic Party,
currently ruling in
Germany
, where Dr. Salah lives, is an example. He mentioned that there is a race
amongst German states to formulate laws banning hijab.
He
does not blame it all on the Europeans. He calls upon Muslims to take some of
the responsibility because of the misguided practices of some Islamic
organizations and the average Muslims' ignorance of Islam. He states 80%
illiteracy among first and second generation Muslim workers. "2,000 mosques
in France, 2,000 in Germany, 1,500 in Britain, yet only 20% of these mosques are run by qualified imams."
A
participant then pointed out the ban on the entry of imams during Ramadan in France
and the recent exclusive ban of imams in Denmark. Dr Salah commented that such incidents take place because of the weakness of
Muslim states and the vilifying of Muslim activists and scholars by Muslim
governments. Dr. Salah highlighted the emergence of Islamophobia in the late
80s, mentioning a famous incident in the European Parliament in Strasburg when
Mr. Brown, a British MP, talked of “soon changing his name to Mohammad
Brown”, cynically stirring fear among his fellow Europeans of the so-called
"Islamic threat".
Finally,
he mentioned an incident where several churches in
Germany
stopped ringing their bells in support of a neighboring mosque that was banned
from calling out the summons to Prayer, or Adhan, by the state. The bells were
never rung until the ban on Adhan was cancelled. Dr. Salah explains, "If it
was not for our good relations with people from other religions, such support
would have never taken place. We are respected and loved among the people in
Germany
"
In
opposition to Dr. Amr al-Shobaky, Dr. Horeya Megahed said, "It is a War on
Islam. This is French Globalization. This is assimilation. The ban cannot be
objective when only two members of the Stasi commission are Muslims and both
known for their anti-Islamic opinions." She added, "Force cannot
achieve anything…the Tchador was not taken off by Afghani women after
Americans "Liberated" Afghanistan…and who is anyone to
"force" equality, while in western societies women are still paid
lesser wages!"
Dr.
Pakinam Al-Sharqawy confirmed that some people in the West simply like to
attribute the problems of Muslims to Islam, and then link the problems of Islam
to the problems of Muslim women, finally they reduce all the above to a
secondary issue like hijab. She firmly stated, "They are escaping the
bigger questions because eventually they will find themselves equally as guilty
of Muslims' problems, and that is a responsibility they do not want to
take."
A
reading on the Stasi Report
On
the second day of the conference, Dr. Pakinam shared her "
Readings
in the Stasi Report" with the participants. She started by stating the
"threatened" concepts of La Republique, as mentioned in the
report: namely, secularism, liberty, equality and integration. This is
strengthened by incidents such as the drop in participation in mixed activities,
the decrease in the number of women using mixed swimming pools (which, in their
opinion, is a sign of lack of equality between men and women), the homogeneity
of schools, the decline of sport activities in schools and the flourishing of
anti-Semitic attitudes.
In
the Stasi Report, integration is threatened by high unemployment rates, the
deteriorating economic situation among immigrants and the developments of the
Arab-Israeli Conflict. The solutions were based around a coded secular
declaration, allowing equal social and economic chances for everybody and
educational agreements with the immigrants' countries of origin to send
teachers. It also mentioned the necessity of respecting burial rituals and
religious holidays, promoting and supporting openness and the implementation of
"anti-ghetto" urban design.
Dr.
Pakinam remarked that of all the previously stated solutions, only one thing was
activated and highlighted by politicians—the ban on hijab and religious
insignia. In her opinion this does not solve the problems mentioned in the
report itself. She wound up by saying, "Prohibition of symbols does not
help integration, on the contrary, it is limiting the area of personal freedom,
consequently threatening secularism, liberty and equality"
A
Reading on Chirac's speech…
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In Egypt, there is the unwritten law that bans hijab in the media, diplomatic posts and other areas too |
Dr.
Faridah Gad al-Haq outlined the characteristics of Chirac's speech of
July 3, 2003, and his speech of
December 17, 2003, in reaction to the Stasi report, which was made public on
December 1, 2003
. From both of his speeches it was obvious that decisions had already been made,
and that the Stasi Commission was a charade. The resolutions advised by the
Stasi report were cut short to the ban on hijab and religious insignia.
Dr.
Faridah linked the issue to the current French attitude; the internal French
frustration. She pointed out terms used by Chirac himself to describe French
youth, especially those of Arab or Muslim origins, "the feeling of
incomprehension, despair and even revolt." In addition, she noted the
lethargy, represented by such weak participation in the April 2002 elections
that it almost led to the victory of the extreme right wing, led by Le Pen, and
she remarked on the feeble government actions on issues of unemployment.
Dr.
Faridah commented on phrases that suggested that "secularism is
nonnegotiable", hence, Chirac's insistence on reforming only the
“other”. The Algerian fixation and the French policy towards the US are also contexts that she regards as essential in her reading of the French
position.
Germany
and the Domino Effect
Ms.
Yasmin Daif Allah presented Dr. Olla Abdel-Aziz’s paper. She talked about the
“domino effect”. This was in the light of the German reaction to the
decision of the Supreme High Court, which gave a German Muslim the right to
remain veiled and keep her post as a teacher in a state school. The state's
reactions were evident in the rush to formulate laws to ban hijab, because,
according to the Supreme High Court, there was nothing in Federal Law favoring
the ban, unless based on the independent laws of each state.
The
vice-president of the parliament called hijab repressive, a political symbol,
and linked it to the Iranian revolution. The supporters of a requested ban claim
that besides contradicting the “neutral state”, hijab threatens the German
identity, represented in the Greco-Roman and the Judo-Christian heritage, in
addition to the values of enlightenment.
The
German President refuted such claims, stating that German identity and culture
is not as threatened by hijab as it is by the number of Christians who do not
understand Christianity. The Archbishop of Berlin concurred, and other clerics
support the freedom of hijab.
Finally,
Dr. Amr Darrag posed two questions. Is secularism emerging as a “sacred
religion”? Is there a third way, rather than assimilation or total
segregation, in the form of the return of four generations of European Muslims
to their country of origins? This leads to the question of the status of French
converts, who are of pure French origins.
The
Non-academic Terms!
Over
all the conference was a good example of a fruitful civilized and academic
exchange, however, in certain sessions, few non-academic terms were used in the
discussions in a loose manner. Some participants objected on such loose usage,
while those who used them defended their stands based on claims of not having
participants representing the "other", unaware that this kind of
attitude would lead to dual tones of speech one loose tone used esoterically in
"our" discussions and another that is more sensitive and objective
only for the use with the "other"! This negative phenomenon was only
advocated by one or two of the participants. The majority supported that no
esoteric discussions should occur in a scientific convention and that matters
should be discussed objectively and scientifically without involving ulterior
motives and that the presence or absence of the "other" should not
make any difference.
Waleed Arafa is a freelance writer and professional architect based
in Cairo, Egypt. You can reach him at waleedarafa78@hotmail.com
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