ISLAM-CHRISTIAN DIALOGUE

268 ISLAMIC VEIL Fax - 24/02 – 2002 To: Paolo Mieli From: Giuseppe Eid Object: Islamic veil Your conclusion, forcibly hasty, might seem uninformative towards the general public that appreciates you. Egypt, at the time of the acquisition of its independence in 1922, had elected the first parliament in its history, and Mrs. Hoda Shaaraoui, the first woman to enter the first elected parliament, threw in public the "veil" she wore. (Her nephew is in Milan). In the eyes of men this veil means sub- mission of the woman, property to be hid- den from the eyes of strangers, property subject to her husband, external sign of her purity of heart, with the anxiety of se- paration between the sexes that can lead to the closure of the woman. A captivity created by centuries of social pressure, customs that have little to do with the dictates of the Koran of the se- venth century. Until the seventies, and more precisely the oil crisis and the appearance of petro- dollars, the veil or rather the scarf, was carried by the lower middle class and in the countryside, and had disappeared from all Arab cities in the Middle East. In the cities and universities it reappeared with the revival of the Muslim Brotherho- od current. Self-declared Guardians of the Integrity of the Faith, they aimed at power by exploiting the application of the word of God. With organized gangs they impo- sed by all means on university students the so-called Arabic Islamic clothing: the means ranged from persuasion to vio- lence, from threats to financial subsidies. The same phenomenon had spread to the working-class neighborhoods, a popula- tion that was largely formed by the inva- sion of the countryside. We know that the immigration of Arabs in Europe comes to a large extent from poor social classes, and poor culture and lite- racy, and therefore more exposed to cul- tural manipulation by the central official Muslims who aim to accentuate the Isla- mic visibility, with the danger of self-gra- tification and hindering the integration of young emigrants. All of this happened with the support of some of our very noi- sy minorities, well known from a religious and socio-political point of view. The issue of the veil fits into this framework: For centuries entire Islamic societies have not preoccupied themselves with "dres- sing" the woman, and they were no less religious than now. Today some Islamic currents continue to cover the woman's body as an essential message of Islam. The other prohibitions proposed by the majority of Islamic centers in Italy, led by Arab characters, certainly not inclined towards the culture of the host country, under the cover of the religious dictates, are numerous even if less obvious. I will mention some of them: • Woman cannot greet a man with her hand without her husband's permission. • cannot do sports or go to the pool, withmen • cannot travel freely • can't study music at school This rule was only introduced in some Arab countries in the last decade.