scholarly journals Beyond the Veil: Exploring Muslim Women’s Multidimensional Identities in Laila Aboulela’s The Translator and Mohja Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf

Author(s):  
Nawel Meriem Ouhiba

The article presents a critical analysis of two novels by contemporary Arab Muslim women writers, Leila Aboulela and Mohja Kahf. The article examines how these authors critique, resist, and disrupt the hegemonic discourse that presents Muslim women as a monolithic and homogeneous category. In The Translator and The Girl in Tangerine Scarf respectively, the female protagonists’ religious experiences and identities are studied with reference to resistance narratives and disruptive postcolonial strategies. The unsettling of the monolithic image of veiled Muslim women is hereby pursued through providing an analysis of the cultural imagery of Muslim women, to deconstruct the image of the veil in today’s world.

1970 ◽  
pp. 16-20
Author(s):  
Rachel Epp Buller

Images of Muslim women in global popular culture convey ideas of restriction and oppression: to many in the West, the covered Arab woman appears a victim, unable to express herself in word and deed. Artists and writers from within Arab cultures have challenged such simplistic readings, some offering alternative readings of living behind the veil, others offering the possibility of a feminist existence within an apparently oppressive society, all challenging the Orientalist mindset implied by such assumptions.


Diasporic Arab writers substantially differ in how they represent aspects of contemporary Arabic culture(s) in their literary works and diasporic Arab women writers have represented Islam even more differently in their works. The study investigates how Islam is portrayed in the fiction of two diasporic Arab women writers, Leila Aboulela (b. 1964- ) and Mohja Kahf. (1967- ). General literary research has been conducted on these two writers and how they represent Islam in their writing; however, firstly, most of the conducted literature is about the veil and what it adds to Muslim women living in the West. Secondly, most of the previous research tackles each writer alone. Nevertheless, the current study is predominantly different as it shows how Islam is represented in both Aboulela’s Minaret (2004) and Kahf’s The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf (2006) as a religion that provides an ethical pathway and empowers its adherents socially, politically and psychologically, thus lending purpose to one’s life. It also fills the gap in discussing the works of two writers from different backgrounds and in different settings and contexts in one study.


2004 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 277-295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emi Goto

Though veiling by Muslim women has been discussed from many angles and with various methodologies, the very basis of the discussion – the relationship between the Qur'a¯n and the veil – still remains unclear. This paper returns to this basis, focusing on three relevant passages from the Qur'a¯n (33:59, 33:53, 24:31). An analysis of the first two of these passages in association with a number of prophetic traditions [hadi¯th] shows clearly that one of the main purposes of veiling in early Islamic society was to distinguish, and secure the safety or status of, privileged women. Problematic is Verse 24:31, which contains another reason for veiling in Islam: to cover women's beauty. Because of the ambiguity of the words contained in this passage, and the absence of any solid hadi¯th concerning it, ample room for interpretation was provided for later religious authorities. The extent of covering changed over time and so did the grounds for argument. By following major exegetic texts [tafsi¯r] on this verse from the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, this paper shows the relationship between the Qur'a¯n, hadi¯th, tafsi¯r, and the veil.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-66
Author(s):  
Amri Azhari

There are two different thoughts of the scholars since the last period to the present about the use of Veil. The first thought which oblige a woman Muslim to close the face [Veiled] in front of the male who is not her Mahram; because the face is a primary body part that must be covered. This thought being the opinion of Imam Ahmad bin Hambal, and a strong thought of Imam Syafi'i. The second opinion says Istihbab [Highly recommended], this being the opinion of the Imam Malik and Abu Hanifah's thought and Imam Malik, but, on the other thought of Hanafi and Maliki, since then,  they oblige a veiled woman when they're worried about a slander that will occurr to them. It could happen to her if she is pretty girl, so it appears a libel damages and a malice outbreaking. As this opinion asserted by Al imam Ibn ' Abidin Alhanafi his book [Raddul Muhtar ' Ala Addurul Mukhtar] said: the young girl is prohibited to open her face in the presence of a male [that is not her mahram], it does not because of the face is a body part that must be covered, nevertheless it is concerned as a defamation that occur to the tempted men though his desires are not appeared. Then, the thought about this istihbab is strongly assumed by Shaykh Muhammad al-Albani, a great scholar in the field of Hadith. In addition, he also has a considerable role in enriching the treasure in the field of Islamic law by producing a good works such as the book: (Hijab Almar-ah Almuslimah Fii Alkitaab Wa Assunnah) and a book (Arradul Mufhim ' Ala Man Khalafa Al ulamaa Wa tasyadda Wa ta'shshaba Wa alzama  Almar ata antastura Wajhaha Wa kaffaiha Wa awjaba Wa lam yaqna ' Biqaulihim Innahu Sunnatun  wa Mustahabbun). those two books were his Ijtihad about the use of the veil and islamic law.  Mustahabbun/Sunnah (highly recommended for Muslim women and it does not up to the obligatorily required status). Based on the some Imam Madzhab's thought being compared with the opinions of Shaykh Muhammad al-Albani about the veil, as a result, the author of this scientific works has  aims to explain a different thought among Mutaqaddimin and Muakhkhirin scholars about the veil. I pray to Allah, may Allah gives a great benefits, Aamiin Yaa Rabbal 'alamiin.Para Ulama sejak dahulu sampai sekarang berselisih paham tentang hukum Cadar dangan dua pendapat: yang pertama pendapat yang mewajibkan seorang wanita muslimah untuk menutup wajah [ Bercadar ] didepan laki-laki yg bukan Mahram; dikarenakan Muka adalah Aurat yang wajib di tutut, hal ini menjadi pendapat Imam Ahmad bin Hambal, dan pendapat yang kuat dalam madzham Imam Syafi’. Yang kedua pendapat yang mengatakan Istihbab [ Sangat di anjurkan] , ini menjadi pendapat Madzhab Imam Abu Hanifah dan Imam Malik, Namun di sisi lain para ulama Hanafi dan Maliki- sejak dahulu kala meraka mewajibkan wanita bercadar ketika di khawatirkan terjadinya fitnah yang akan menimpanya; hal tercebut bisa terjadi jika seorang wanit yg cantik maka timbullah fitnah berupa kerusakan dan merebaknya kefasikan. Sebagaimana pendapat ini di tagaskan oleh Al imam Ibnu ‘ Abidin Alhanafi di dalam kitab beliau [ Raddul  Muhtar  ‘Ala  Addurul Mukhtar ]  berkata: Wanita yg masih muda di larang membuka wajah di hadapan laki-laki [ yg bukan mahram baginya] , bukan karena wajah iyu Aurat , namun khawatir fitnah yg akan menimpa laki- laki seperti terlena/ tergoda walaupun tidak bangkit syahwatnya. Lalu pendat yg mengatakan Istihbab ini di kuat oleh Syaikh Muhammad Nashiruddin al Albani, beliau adalah seorang yang mampuni dalam bidang hadits. Di samping itu beliau juga memiliki peran yang cukup besar dalam memperkaya khazanah  dalam bidang hukum-hukum Islam dengan karya-karya yang bermutu semisal buku beliau:  ( Jilbab Almar-ah Almuslimah Fii Alkitaab Wa Assunnah ) Dan kitab  ( Arradul Mufhim ‘Ala Man Khalafa Al ulamaa Wa tasyadda Wa ta’shshaba Wa alzama Almar-ata An Tastura Wajhaha Wa kaffaiha Wa awjaba Wa lam yaqna’ Biqaulihim Innahu Sunnatun Wa Mustahabbun .dua  buku tersebut merupakan Ijtihad beliau tentang hukum Cadar  dalam huk um Islam yaitu: Mustahabbun/ Sunnah ( Sangat di anjurkan bagi wanita muslimah dan tidak sampai ke status Wajib). Berangkat dari pendapat Para Imam- imam Madzhab dan di bandingkan dengan pendapat Syaikh Muhammad Nashiruddin al Albani tentang Cadar, maka Penulis karya Ilmiah ini bertujuan untuk menjelaskan khilafiyah di antara ulama Mutaqaddimin dan Muakhkhirin tentang Cadar tersebut. Saya berdoa kepada Allah Suabhanu Wata’aala memberikan Manfa’at  yang  besar, Amiin Ya Rabbal ‘Alamiin .   اختلاف العلماء قديماً، وحديثا في حكم النقاب على قولين: الأول: يجب على المرأة ستر وجهها أمام الرجال الأجانب؛ لأن الوجه عورة، وهو مذهب الإمام أحمد، والصحيح من مذهب الشافعي، الثاني: استحباب النقاب، وهو مذهب أبي حنيفة ومالك، لكن أفتى علماء الحنفية والمالكية - منذ زمن بعيد - أنه يجب على المرأة ستر وجهها، عند خوف الفتنة بها أو عليها، والمراد بالفتنة بها: أن تكون المرأة ذات جمال، والمراد بخوف الفتنة عليها، أن يفسد الزمان بكثرة الفساد وانتشار الفساق؛ قال "ابن عابدين الحنفي" في (رد المحتار على الدر المختار): "وتمنع المرأة الشابة من كشف الوجه بين رجال، لا لأنه عورة، بل لخوف الفتنة كمسه وإن أمن الشهوة. إن العلماء الذين يقولون باستحباب حكم النقاب لقد أيده الشيخ محمد ناصر الدين الألباني, كان رجلا بارعا في المجال الحديثي وله مساهمة غير قليلة في إثراء المكتبة الفقهية الإسلامية بالمؤلفات المفيدة منها: جلباب المرأة المسلمة في الكتاب والسنة والرد المفحم على من خالف العلماء وتشدّد وتعصب وألزم المرأة أن تستر وجهها وكفيها وأوجب ولم يقنع بقولهم: إنه سنة ومستحب, ومنخلال كتابيه راى وأخذ القول مجتهدا أن النقاب مستحب/ سنة وليس بواجب. انطلاقا من أراء العلماء المتقدمين والمعاصرين ثم المقارنة باجتهاد الشيخ الألباني عن النقاب, فلبى الباحث كتابة هذه الرسالة مبيّناً عن خلافية العلماء في أحكام النقاب, الله أسأل أن يمن علي الأجر والنفع الكبير, ويرزقنا العمل الصالح, آمين يا رب العالمين


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