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Sunday, January 25, 2004
Read his lips:Sheikh 'Ikrima Sabri: France at war against Islam

Read his lips:Sheikh 'Ikrima Sabri: France at war against Islam
Dr. Mordechai Kedar * Sunday, 25 January, 2004

Sheik 'Ikrima Sa'id Sabri, the Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine, had the
following to say in his Friday sermon of January 23, 2004:

"A burning issue, which is now heating up even more, concerns the Hijab
(the tight-fitting head covering of Muslim women) in France. As I have
previously stated, the French laws banning the Hijab constitutes a war
against Islam as a religion. This is proven by what was published yesterday
in the local press: that the ban will not be limited to the Hijab; it will
also be extended to the head-scarf and to men growing beards for religious
reasons."

My notes:

1. The Hijab covers the woman's hair, ears and neck, while leaving only
the face (or eyes) exposed. The head-scarf is considered of lower status
from the Islamic point of view, since it leaves parts of the head uncovered.
If the head-scarf were also to be banned, Muslim women and girls in France
will be forced to uncover their heads and necks completely. This goes
against an explicit commandment of the Koran, according to most
fundamentalist approaches and commentaries.

2. The terminology used by 'Ikrima Sabri may be significant: as much as
I know, this is the first time that he uses the term "war" in referring to
an issue which, until now, had been described as a "dispute" or "argument".

3. Serving as the Mufti of Palestine, Sheikh 'Ikrima's salary is paid by
the Palestinian Authority, i.e. he is not a member of some marginal group.
By saying what he said, he might well represent the feeling of many Muslims
all over the world.

Some open questions:

1. If this is a war against Islam, what measures - according to Sabri -
should Muslims take in order to defend their religion and traditions?

2. Are there any rules in this war?

3. Who in France is the party which wages this war?

Answers to these questions may portray the future relations between France
and its Muslim communities, as well as the Muslim communities in other
countries. If I were an advisor to the French president I would recommend
that he rethink the whole issue of banning the Hijab before it leads to what
Sabri, and probably some other Muslims as well, consider "war".

* Dr. Mordechai Kedar, Lecturer, Department of Arabic and research
associate in Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies
Bar-Ilan University
52900 Ramat-Gan
Israel
mkedar@mail.biu.ac.il

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