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 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.
Until the seventies, and more precisely the oil crisis and the appearance of petrodollars, 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 Brotherhood 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 imposed by all means on university students the so-called Arabic Islamic clothing: the means ranged from persuasion to violence, from threats to financial subsidies. The same phenomenon had spread to the working-class neighborhoods, a population that was largely formed by the invasion 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 literacy, and therefore more exposed to cultural manipulation by the central official Muslims who aim to accentuate the Islamic visibility, with the danger of self-gratification and hindering the integration of young emigrants. All of this happened with the support of some of our very noisy 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 “dressing” 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, with men
- cannot travel freely
- can’t study music at school
This rule was only introduced in some Arab countries in the last decade.
All this leads us back to wanting to take the Saudi Arabian society as an example of life.
Bear in mind that even in Arab countries the veil is not allowed in schools where the uniform is prescribed, and with regard to the statements on human rights as stated by Rose El Youssef, I must tell you that the Sharia is a racist system in all senses, and this truth should be spread for the sake of the Muslims themselves in Italy.
However, it cannot be generalized; Islam is extremely varied in Arab countries, but in Italy is the rigorous wing that prevails, which certainly does not help the young generations to live together. Under the definition of the veil are assimilated the most disparate veils, from a simple scarf to the one similar to the photo on the courier. Moreover, the Muslim people must be seen clearly from the centers that proclaim themselves their representatives.
Dr. Mieli:
If you have had the patience to read me, please consider publishing the meaning of my letter for the benefit of your readers, and each one in complete freedom, will draw your conclusions.
An affectionate reader
Joseph Samir Fadllallah Eid
2005 – Islamic veil?
Islamic veil is a Religious obligation only in the imagination of certain Western intellectuals.
Despite pressure from people who ignore the Arab world and its way of thinking, the “Islamic veil” is not part of the culture of the Arab Mediterranean world.
The intention of external forces, supported by politicians, to create cultural and behavioural ghettos within the Italian State is clear. We must not allow the so-called holders of truth to stand in defense of “religion” involving certain of our intellectuals, who I hope are naive and ignorant, making them accomplices of the constraints on women as a means of pressure from a totalitarian ideology.
Taking Egypt as an example, the country of origin of the Egyptian woman mentioned by Magdi Allam, can be considered the heir of many civilizations recalling Alexandria as the beacon of culture and splendor until the conquest by Arab Islam in the seventh century. During the Arab domination, the University of Azhar in Cairo, founded in the tenth century, had become one of the main religious reference points and not only for Muslims. With the arrival of the Mammelukes in the 13th century, communication with the western world was almost non-existent and the country fell into oblivion. When Napoleon arrived, the country had only two million inhabitants, 95% of whom were peasants, fellahin, with women participating in the work of the earth and not covering their faces. The following century saw a great emancipation of Egyptian women to the point that in 1923 with the election of the first woman to the Egyptian parliament, the scarf covers the head, and does not cover hair and head, nor face cover, is no longer carried by the new generations who are no less Muslim and faithful to the Koran than those of today. A custom, that of covering one’s head and hair, excluding one’s face, which has only taken over in the last thirty years under moral, physical, social and financial pressures that go so far as to prohibit, again in the name of religion, a woman from leaving the house without the permission of the man. And what do we want in Italy for our children? Who wants to be an accomplice to these constraints?
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.