Musings on the International Women's Day

Usually on March 8th, which is the International Women's Day, my thoughts go out to the women who still live under the barbaric medieval laws and are subject to such niceties as being stoned to death for adultery, having acid thrown in their faces for not wearing the veil or for going to school, being barred from many forms of employment, being murdered for so called honour reasons, etc. But this year, my thoughts go out to a man. A very important man. In fact, no less than the President of France himself, one Nicolas Sarkozy. Time and again, he falls victim to a woman's whim and his domestic imbroglios appear on the front pages of la belle France. When Cécilia left and the latest of his ladies, Carla, showed up, the media went so ballistic that he had to remind his countrymen of the laïcité, the secularism, that is the so important trait of the French nation, which boils down to this: what is private, should be left that way, and what is public can be in the public sphere. Being secularist myself, I am with him on this. I am heart and soul for the laïcité. But, back to Monsieur Sarkozy. Once again, a woman's anger is looming over his head, and this time the lady's name is Jeanne.

What got him into trouble this time was his proclamation that the burqa was not welcome in France. His motive, of course, was again the laïcité, France's vaunted secularism. Sarkozy consulted Sheikh Tantawi (photo right), head of the Islamic Al Azhar University, in Cairo, before trying to ban the burqa, and had been assured that the veil was not, strictly speaking, a requirement of Islam. In October 2009, in fact, Imam Tantawi proclaimed a fatwa on the niqab. He justified it by explaining that all kinds of veilings were traditions, not Islamic obligations. In December, he told Sarkozy that France had the right to ban hijab (another word for veiling). Thus strengthened in his conviction that something should be done against the rising islamism in secular France, Sarkozy came up with his bold statement: "no burqa, please!"

Reaction was immediate and worldwide. Some media called the French xenophobes and racists. I have before me the illustrious New York Times, which wrote: "The Taliban would applaud. The rest of the world should declare its revulsion."

Meanwhile Tantawi, in his native Egypt, came under the attack as well. His fatwa triggered a backlash in the Gulf region, the cradle of salafism, which is a brand of ultra-conservative Islam, practiced mostly in Saudi Arabia. In February 2010, under the pressure of the orthodox Islamic leaders, Tantawi's fatwa was struck down. In the wake of these events, Sarkozy's suggested law to prohibit the burqa came under the fire not only abroad but within his country as well. The intellectuals of all stripes are now at each other's throats. The public at large is so divided that calling names like 'Fascist' and 'Nazi' has become an everyday occurrence. The worst, in my eyes, is the division within the feminist camp - those who are for the burqa and those who are against it. Knowing what those French women are capable of, I am worried. I see a danger looming over Sarkozy's' head: a woman taking him to task.

Indeed, that veiling business is not to be taken lightly. In 2006, Muazzez Ilmiye Cig, a 92-year old Turkish historian and assyriologist, stated that the Islamic-style headscarf had been a sex symbol in pre-Islamic times. She wrote in one of her scientific papers that 5,000 years ago, the headscarf had been the identification sign of the temple priestesses who had ritual sex with young men to celebrate fertility. This assertion provoked the ire of a fanatic Islamic lawyer and ended up in Ms. Cig being put on trial for inciting religious hatred. She won and avoided 18 months jail term. But this case only demonstrates how serious this veiling matter is, and yes, I am now worried about the President of France. What if… just if, one of his compatriots, some 21st century Joan of Arc, takes him to court?

By Dagmar Gontard

Update March 11, 2010

On March 10, Sheikh Tantawi died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 81.  He was a fierce critic of al-Qaeda and condemned the attacks of September 11 2001 so he will be missed.  Pope Benedict sent his condolences.

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