2 - Reflections, Christians in the arabic world, Islam and prescriptions

R037 - Islamic Veil

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Fax – 24/02 – 2002

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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 submission of the woman, property to be hidden from the eyes of strangers, property subject to her husband, external sign of her purity of heart, with the anxiety of separation 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 seventh century.

(altro…)

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2 - Reflections, Islamic cult centers and Mosques, Islam and prescriptions

R038 - Infibulation: yes or no?

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Reflections – 30/1/2004

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Giuseppe Samir Eid

Emma Bonino is making a silent revolution from within Arab societies through women, but she is only half right when she says that at the Cairo Conference she took away all alibis from those who justify the practice on religious grounds.  In the Conference itself, in fact, Gad El Hak, the then head of Azhar, justified the practice as a religious duty. The fact is that the voices are still discordant and they must be taken into account. Going back to Italy, I agree that our country must adopt strong principled behaviour without leaving room for compromises and ways out, taking away any credibility from the values to which the country has adhered.  A parallel action of conviction must be taken towards the centers frequented by immigrants, including religious ones:  to make the difference between a request to adhere to a religious imperative, unanimously recognized as such, and others that concern customs and traditions prevalent in the Islamic world, and more precisely the Arab one, the main source of Muslim immigration. Coexistence must be based on values and certainties, and if we hide the foundations of our culture, what integration can we hope for? A clear willingness to accept the rules on the part of those arriving from abroad is certainly necessary, but if the host society does not have a clear idea of its identity it will not be able to integrate, on the contrary, it will be frightened by the new in which it sees a threat to its own security.

In my opinion, only if an initial “hard core” is guaranteed, can foreign communities amalgamate, integrate with the founding elements. There is a basic identity which cannot be ignored in order to plan new forms of society. Brava Emma Bonino to whom I hope to find effective support from both Italian diplomacy and the European Community.

Giuseppe Samir Eid

Free web translation from the original in Italian

The published articles intend to provide the tools for a social inclusion of the migratory flow, shed light on human rights and the condition of life of Christians in the Islamic world from which the author come from. Knowledge of the other, of cultural and religious differences are primary ingredients to create peace in the hearts of men everywhere, a prerequisite for a peaceful coexistence and convinced citizenship in the territory.

2 - Reflections, Islamic cult centers and Mosques, Political Islam

R039 - Which Islam?

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Reflections – 2011

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  1. It is essential to ask the Arab world to work on education, the media, and textbooks in schools and even to invite them along this line of education and peace. Imams and preachers have the formidable instrument of preaching in mosques, where it would be appropriate to proclaim also the verses of the Koran which underline God’s will towards religious pluralism and the commitment to compete for good in God’s Mercy.
  2. I believe that it is essential to ask the Arab world to work on education, the media, textbooks in schools and even to invite to this line of education and peace those imams and preachers who have in their hands the formidable instrument of preaching in mosques, where it would be appropriate to proclaim also the verses of the Koran that underline God’s will to religious plurality and the commitment to compete for good in God’s Mercy. Rather, implement a strategy to aim for this result.
  3. According to one of the 138 Muslim theologians, the main extender of the response to the Pope, the Koran should be read in its entirety, it would be wrong theologically speaking to extract and quote a verse in its own right and comment on it without taking into account the text as a whole. In fact the Meccana part is different from the part following Medina: So what is the “thought of Koranic GOD or rather of ALLAH”? This explains the difficulty of defining what the true Islam outside of stereotypes is.

In practice today as today the definitions coming from the strong powers of the petrodollars are valid. A political Islam against which a divided Christianity (Catholics, Orthodox etc.) proves to be weaker as an opposing force. In my opinion, the redemption must start from changing the hearts of men with the services and all the means available.

 

Giuseppe Samir Eid

 

Free web translation from the original in Italian

 

The published articles intend to provide the tools for a social inclusion of the migratory flow, shed light on human rights and the condition of life of Christians in the Islamic world from which the author come from. Knowledge of the other, of cultural and religious differences are primary ingredients to create peace in the hearts of men everywhere, a prerequisite for a peaceful coexistence and convinced citizenship in the territory.

2 - Reflections, Islamic cult centers and Mosques, Articles, Political Islam

R040 - Comments: Sharia, Ramadan, social and political instability

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Corriere forum – 16/10/2006

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A forum of free and civil confrontation on the most debated issues in Italy that looks at the plural and globalized world: immigration, Islam, dialogue between civilizations, national identity, human rights.

Monday 16 Oct 2006

Is the Islamic consultative first step towards the sharia in Italy? Does it consult it, the first step towards the Sharia in Italy?

A Muslim friend of mine moved from an Arab country to the state of Ontario in Canada to escape from the discrimination inherent in Sharia law against women. Unfortunately, in Ontario there is a proposal for a law that allows the application of sharia law to the problems of families, so my friend in Canada has passed from the pan to the grill thanks to the local consults. The President of UCOII, the doctor Dr. Nour, having declared on TV to the Turkish Minister that Italian laws are (should) slowly approaching the sharia, will there be the intention to exploit the Italian consultative as an attempt to take a first step towards the introduction of sharia in Italy?

(altro…)

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