Veil

Paper version  https://www.amazon.com/dp/1540755649
This book in Arabic presents in the first part the debate about the veil (hijab) in Islam through the interpretations given to the verses of the Quran and the position of liberal and conservative Muslims. The second part gathers the Arabic texts of ancient and modern exegetes relating to the verses about the veil.
About the Author
Sami A. Aldeeb Abu-Sahlieh. Christian of Palestinian origin. Swiss citizen. Doctor in law. Habilitated to direct researches. Professor of universities (CNU-France). Responsible for Arab and Islamic Law at the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law (1980-2009). Visiting professor at different French, Italian and Swiss universities. Director of the Centre of Arab and Islamic Law. Author of many books, including a French, English and Italian translation of the Quran.

This ebook aims to challenge the erroneous and negatively biased understanding of the head-veil worn by Muslim women. Criticism of the head-veil is not only prevalent in governmental policy, but also within academic discourse. These criticisms have been perpetuated by the media, resulting in a misrepresentation of the true nature of the Muslim woman's devotional practice. The primary argument against the head-veil is that it oppresses women or is a symbol of oppression. Additionally, there is an assertion that there is no religious requirement for Muslim women to wear the head-veil. A thorough and impartial analysis of the evidence demonstrates that these claims are unfounded. This ebook aims to identify the evidence that counters these claims, thereby clarifying the matter for those seeking factual information. Furthermore, it seeks to provide evidence against sophistic arguments, enabling Muslim women to make informed decisions about the head-veil, rather than having it imposed upon them.

Resumen:
Para hablar del secreto (damīr, rāz, serr) y lo paradójico, del lenguaje del misterio (ġeyb), Ḥāfeẓ emplea tres símbolos fundamentales de su poesía mística: el ojo, el velo y el espejo. El ojo (čašm, dīda) es el órgano sutil (laṭīfa) que une los dos mundos y el instrumento de percepción de la belleza del mundo, así como la «pupila (negra) del ojo» (mardom-e čašm) es la imagen, sobre el ojo-espejo del amante, de la negrura absoluta del lunar (jāl-e siyāh) del Amado que en él se mira. Asimismo, el velo (ḥeŷāb, parde) mediante el cual la Divinidad infinita permanece oculta en el acto mismo de su propia manifestación, es un velo sutil de luz que oculta los secretos pero sin el cual los secretos no pueden ser comprendidos. Finalmente, el espejo (mer’āt) es el propio corazón del gnóstico, en el cual Dios refleja Su belleza y Su gracia, y con el que el poeta participa en el juego de cubrimiento y develación de los «atributos» divinos (ṣefāt), al ser un espejo de la belleza. Tres imágenes que expresan la paradoja de la visión, pues ver lo invisible está reservado sólo al iniciado, al místico, a aquel que de su corazón (del) ha hecho un centro sutil (laṭīf), ojo interior o «penetración» (baṣīra) con el cual percibe el mundo invisible (‘ālam-e ġeyb). Su expresión en el arte contemporáneo la hallamos en el filme del cineasta iraní Majid Majidi (Teherán, 1959) titulado Bārān (Lluvia, 2001).

Abstract:
To speak of the secret (damīr, rāz, serr) and the paradoxical, of the language of mystery (ġeyb), Ḥāfeẓ uses three fundamental symbols of his mystical poetry: the eye, the veil and the mirror. The eye (čašm, dīda) is the subtle organ (laṭīfa) that unites the two worlds and the instrument of perception of the beauty of the world, as well as the «pupil (black) of the eye» (mardom-e čašm) is the image, on the mirror-eye of the lover, of the absolute blackness of the mole (jāl-e siyāh) of the Beloved who looks at him. Likewise, the veil (ḥiŷāb, parde) by means of which the infinite Divinity remains hidden in the very act of its own manifestation, is a subtle veil of light that hides the secrets but without which the secrets cannot be understood. Finally, the mirror (mer’āt) is the Gnostic’s own heart, in which God reflects His beauty and His grace, and with which the poet participates in the game of covering and unveiling the divine «attributes» (ṣefāt), being a mirror of beauty. Three images that express the paradox of vision, because seeing the invisible is reserved only for the initiate, the mystic, the one who has made a subtle center (laṭīf) of his heart (del), inner eye or «penetration» (baṣīra) with which he perceives the invisible world (‘ālam-e ġeyb). Its expression in contemporary art is found in the film by the Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi (Tehran, 1959) entitled Bārān (Lluvia, 2001).

My paper raises questions from the point of view of an art and architectural historian, offered in the spirit of genuine inquiry – and also in truth, in some perplexity, at the gulfs that continue to divide –- even to drive apart -- the fields of architectural history and historical musicology. Thus while architectural history might gesture towards the location of musicians, and while much musicology scrupulously indicates where musical performances took place, scholarship in both fields rarely interrogates the inter-relationship of music and architecture in material and productive terms. Thus—and this is admittedly something of a caricature—musicology insists on an architecture which is merely passive container, an indifferent locus for music, while architectural history evokes silent spaces and mute places. That is also why this conference is so important in its call to think urban history through music.  Its emphasis on the urban is important. I urge a consideration of the urban that is also specifically architectural. And I want to advance the claim that a consideration of urban history is necessarily also concerned with architectural interiors.

My paper examines nuns’ conventual churches, choirs and bodies in relation to their song. To open the question of the nuns’ voice and gender as a possibility. Not as a given. Indeed, as a possibility that is a political potential and thus crucial to urban history. Thus gender is not already decided and determined, something that can simply be posited --as the scholarship tends to --as if the consideration of nuns’ singing is necessarily a consideration of gender. And thus of music made by the nuns as gendered by pitch or simply because nuns make it. I want instead to think about architecture, music and gender as inhabiting a complex inter-relation thought in terms of the veil.

This paper argues that international human rights law is inadequate in understanding the complexities of Muslim women’s headcoverings and that it has failed to protect Muslim women from prohibitive and punitive measures of the liberal State. Through a review of the relevant cases from the European Court of Human Rights as well as a review of prohibitive laws from Muslim-majority Turkey, the paper argues that international human rights law is prejudiced to say the least, and, heeding Janet Halley’s advice, needs to take a break from feminism in order to fully protect Muslim women’s dignity as defined by Muslim women themselves.

The article considers the changing meanings of the Tuareg veil, or taglmust, that have appeared due to the political marginalisation of the Tuareg, changes in relations between the social categories of Tuareg society, settlement in urban environment and tourism. The author confirms that the taglmust represents a symbol of Tuaregness to the outside world as well as for the Tuareg themselves. In everyday uses its regulating function of relations between affines is becoming smaller, while its function as a symbol of ethnic identity and its related aesthetic function are obtaining primary importance. Like the clothing in general, the taglmust also has a dynamic function of communicating identity in different contexts.

Des études sur la beauté sont actuellement menées dans de multiples disciplines et explorent une pluralité de sujets traversant de nombreux débats contemporains. Ce domaine d’étude est toutefois encore peu institué en Europe. Ce séminaire souhaite donc fournir un espace de réflexion ouvert autour des enjeux socio-anthropologiques, politiques et thérapeutiques des pratiques corporelles à visée esthétique. Dans ce but, nous choisissons de donner la voix à des chercheur.e.s qui, à l’instar de figures telles que Ruth Holliday ou encore Kathy Davis, privilégient une vision compréhensive en s’appuyant, de préférence, sur de l’observation de terrain et du recueil de matériaux empiriques abondants relatifs aux phénomènes d’embellissement. Cette posture inductive de recherche permet, nous semble-t-il, de faire la lumière sur le sens psycho-socio anthropologique profond sous-jacent aux pratiques esthétiques. Dans cette perspective, il ne s'agit pas de poursuivre la tradition académique de dénonciation des pratiques esthétiques menée par certaines approches féministes. Ces dernières ont mis l’accent sur l’existence d’une industrie de la beauté au caractère oppressif, presque dictatorial, qui promouverait de fausses aspirations émancipatrices. Nombre de travaux envisagent en effet le travail esthétique comme une forme « d'esclavage » sournois, auquel seraient soumises les femmes dans les sociétés contemporaines.

Or, la compréhension des pratiques esthétiques et de la beauté nécessitent en réalité de les appréhender d’un point de vue multifocal car il s’agit d’un objet complexe.

L’archéologie semble nous confirmer que, depuis la préhistoire, les humains ont recours à des pratiques d’embellissement dont l’analyse se révèle être riche de symboles et de codes. Ceux-ci requièrent d’être étudiés afin de mieux les comprendre, non pas seulement sous les aspects de séduction, de compétition et de reproduction mais aussi pour leurs liens avec le bien-être, la socialité et la manière dont les individus habitent le monde. Pour Francesco Remotti3, il convient d’envisager la beauté pour sa valeur anthropo-poïétique et donc plutôt comme un «façonnement d’humanité ». L'esthétisation du corps peut être lue comme une forme d’expression particulière, qui se sert de codes et de signes indiquant l’inscription du sujet dans un système de valeurs propre au groupe social d’appartenance ou de référence. Le corps serait ainsi, grâce aux messages exprimés par l’apparence, un « relieur », selon les mots de David Le Breton1, un « pont » entre le sujet et son environnement. Le regard compréhensif adopté dans ce séminaire visera donc à saisir les significations socio-anthropologiques y compris au sens large liées aux symboles et aux pratiques esthétiques dans différents contextes socioculturels.

Les différentes séances (11 sont prévues à ce jour, s’étendant de février 2018 à mars 2019) visent à faire se rencontrer des chercheur.e.s et des « acteurs de terrain », dans les deux cas, des spécialistes dont l’esthétique est au coeur de leur profession ou de leurs centres d’intérêts. Les atouts résident dans le caractère international et itinérant de cet événement : les sessions ont lieu dans plusieurs villes en France et en Suisse (Paris, Rouen, Strasbourg, Lyon, Genève). Afin de décloisonner le débat, des rencontres seront occasionnellement organisées en dehors des cadres classiques de la recherche académique : dans des librairies, des musées, des centres sociaux, ou encore dans les locaux de partenaires privés.

Lors de nos rencontres, les supports visuels seront privilégiés : nous prévoyons la projection de documentaires ou de courtes vidéos à but pédagogique afin de nourrir les imaginaires et les débats. De plus, chaque séance du séminaire sera enregistrée et disponible gratuitement en podcast sur les plateformes des universités partenaires. Nous ouvrirons aussi un carnet de recherche Hypothèses spécialement dédié au champ des études sur les pratiques esthétiques. Ces supports pédagogiques virtuels garantiront une diffusion et une pérennisation des savoirs produits et mis en commun lors des différentes rencontres. Ils contribueront à visibiliser et formaliser, nous l’espérons, les études sur les pratiques esthétiques en France et en Europe.

Ce séminaire peut voir le jour grâce au soutien de plusieurs partenaires, universitaires et non universitaires. Nous leur adressons notre reconnaissance et veillerons à les remercier nominativement lors de la diffusion des affiches propres à chaque séance, sur les pages web que nous consacrerons au projet, ainsi que lors de la présentation écrite et orale de chaque séance thématique à laquelle ils ont accepté de contribuer.

คุณลักษณะสำคัญของรัฐสมัยใหม่ประการหนึ่งคือ หลักการฆราวาสนิยมหรือแนวคิดในการแบ่งแยกระหว่างรัฐและศาสนาเพื่อสร้างรัฐอันเป็นเอกภาพ ตลอดจนหลีกเลี่ยงการให้สิทธิพิเศษแก่ศาสนาหรือความเชื่ออื่นใดเพื่อรักษาไว้ซึ่งความเป็นกลางและความเท่าเทียมระหว่างพลเมืองภายในรัฐ อย่างไรก็ตามแต่บทความนี้เสนอว่าในทางปฏิบัติการประกอบสร้างรัฐฆราวาส ณ ปัจจุบันยังห่างไกลจากสภาวะดังกล่าว พิจารณาได้จากกรณีปัญหาเกี่ยวกับผ้าคลุมศีรษะในฝรั่งเศสซึ่งถูกตีความว่าขัดต่อหลักการฆราวาสนิยมและอุดมการณ์แห่งการก่อตั้งสาธารณรัฐฝรั่งเศส นอกจากนี้หลักการฆราวาสนิยมซึ่งถูกผลิตและผลิตซ้ำให้กลายเป็นอุดมการณ์หลักทางสังคมโดยรัฐและกลไกทางอุดมการณ์ ยังถูกใช้เพื่อสร้างความชอบธรรมในการกำหนดกรอบพฤติกรรมและควบคุมสมาชิกในสังคม บทความนี้สรุปว่าความพยายามในการประยุกต์หลักการฆราวาสนิยมในสังคมฝรั่งเศสกลับลดทอนพื้นที่และเสรีภาพในการแสดงศรัทธาของชาวมุสลิม ซึ่งท้ายที่สุดแล้วนำมาซึ่งความแปลกแยกทางชาติพันธุ์ของชาวฝรั่งเศสเชื้อสายมุสลิม

Abstract

One of the most significant attributes of the modern state is a concept of secularism, denoting the separation between religion and state. The secular state aims to create the statist unity and avoids privileging either religious or cults in order to create the equality of social members. Nevertheless, this study argues that the secularism, in practice, is far from such conditions, considering from the headscarf controversy in French society interpreting as a symbol against the principle of secularism and the fundamental ideology of the republic of France. In addition, the principle of secularism, produced and reproduced as a dominant ideology by the state and the ideological state apparatus, has been used to legitimize a way to control over people and their behavior. This study concludes that the implementation of secularism in France, in fact, diminishes the freedom of expression of Muslim, and thereby, eventually, has stimulated the ethnic alienation of French Muslims.

The development of Arab satellite channels, since the mid-1990s, has revolutionised the audiovisual and media space in the Arab countries. An observer such as the Egyptian political scientist Dina El-Khawaga sees it as a symptom of the emergence of a "tribunalistic space" which the social actors of Arab countries have not managed to establish in their respective political fields because of the security constraints imposed on them. In this space of debate on popular interests, Al-Jazeera is certainly the channel that has most significantly disrupted the Arab audiovisual field. Producing a "representation of international tensions closer to the sensitivity of Arab viewers than that of Western channels", the channel born in 1996 in Doha, Qatar, has transformed an Arab satellite media space which was until then largely dominated by Saudi Arabia. Giving a voice to actors of the political opposition (Islamist and left-wing), it has included in its schedule a series of political debates and talk shows that are explicitly intended to be political forums. In doing so, even if today it is more and more in competition with other Arab channels, which now tend to align themselves with its programme schedule, it remains with its 350 journalists and 50 correspondents working in 31 countries, certainly one of the most watched non-stop satellite news channels in the Arab world.
Like other Arab satellite TVs, Al-Jazeera has taken up the issue of the veil in France. During the period from the handing over of the Stasi report to the President of the Republic on 11 December 2003 to the vote in first reading by the National Assembly of the text of the law on conspicuous religious signs (a period on which we made a systematic viewing of the programmes), secularism and the prospect of banning the veil in schools were widely addressed in the news bulletins and in the live or deferred broadcasts of religious or political debates on the Qatari channel. Overall, Al-Jazeera made the French affair a revelation of the imperial and colonial temptation of a West allergic to Islam.

This article proposes a new view of the mysterious incident in which Odysseus wears Leukothea’s veil to make it safely ashore in Odyssey 5, arguing that it bears directly on one of the epic’s fundamental themes, the reunion of the hero with Penelope. Through an analysis of the traditional referentiality of the veil in the Homeric epics and of Odyssean similes associating shipwreck with family reunion, it is shown that Leukothea’s veil identifies Odysseus with Penelope while both signifying and magically effecting the recovery of chastity, and ultimately of his marriage.