Contents

The controversial Mohammed cartoons published by the “Jyllands-Posten”, a Danish newspaper, in September 2005 showed once again that images can have tremendous force and impact. The ensuing debates dealt not only with the prohibition of portraying the prophet or the meaning of Islamic symbols, but touched on topics such as immigration and integration of Muslim citizens in Europe.

Religious and, in particular, Islamic images or symbols in the mass
media carry a host of different meanings, most of them subliminal. They are associated not only with Islamic religion, but with Islamic militancy and the refusal to accept the host countries’ value systems. As far as the headscarf or veil is concerned, it is widely seen as a symbol of the oppression of women in Islam whereas the equality of the sexes is considered to be a key element of Western liberal democracies.

Objectives

This module wants to impart a more differentiated view of Isla-mic symbols by positioning depictions of the prophet Mohammed or the veil in a historical and socio-cultural context. We want to achieve this by making the underlying assumptions and values explicit that often inform discussions on Islamic images.

The future coexistence of different religious and cultural communities needs sound knowledge and understanding about the ideas and values that surround vexed debates, such as the Muslim headscarf issue. Knowledge on the intricacies of prejudice and how it impacts and manifests itself in the way we view and interpret images of the veil, in particular, will help raise awareness of discrimination and contribute towards better understandings of religious and cultural differences.

Organisation

You can ask your students to bring along newspaper or magazine clippings that contain Islamic images or symbols or start off by presenting a series of Islamic images including the portrayal of Muslim women wearing headscarves and images taken from the Mohammed Image Archive.

Participants will be asked to discuss in small groups what sort of meanings they associate with those images. If possible, groups should be mixed, i.e. be composed of Muslim and non-Muslim students.

The workshop moderator will then give a brief lecture or present some theoretical background about the issues raised in the discussion. The workshop moderator(s) can use several starting points for the discussions, e. g.

• Introduction to the historical tradition concerning imagery in Islam and compare this with the Judeo-Christian including the Orientalist tradition
• Compare the Islamic tradition with other religious traditions such as Buddhism (see the article by Ruth Gschwendtner-Wölfle, p. 30)
• Focus on the question of freedom of speech
• Focus on the presence of Muslims in Europe and their (willingness for) integration into an essentially mainstream secular/Judeo-Christian culture

• Focus on the veil as a symbol of oppression of women in the Muslim world.

  Afterwards, the group will re-evaluate their previous statements and ideas about the meanings associated with various images.

  Accompanying Materials

  On our website www.the-learning-eye.eu you can find plenty of background materials to illustrate the above mentioned directions or aspects in debates on Islamic symbols.

  With regard to Orientalism, which has so bedevilled discussions in the last few centuries, we would like to refer you to Edward Said’s classic work “Orientalism”, published in 1979. Said’s main thesis was that the Western image of the East was heavily biased by colonialist attitudes, racism, and more than two centuries of political exploitation. Although Said’s critique was controversial, the impact of his ideas has been a pervasive rethinking of Western perceptions of Eastern cultures.

  If you choose to focus on free speech you may start by asking the question whether free speech should override religious sensitivities according to Voltaire’s motto: “I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it.” Whereas some warned against inciting religious hatred and even called for making it an offence to portray the prophet, others upheld freedom of speech as one of the basic freedoms on which other liberties depend. If we agree with this line of argument, it would equally be wrong to impose Holocaust denial laws as is the case in many European countries including Germany, France, Poland and Spain.

  The general conclusion drawn on Islam in many debates is that it is incompatible and inconsistent with Western European liberal, democratic values, principles and institutions. To illustrate this conflict between Islam and European values the proponents in this debate, politicians, journalists, and academics, draw on the headscarf or Muslim women’s veiling practices to underlie their point.

  The main arguments used in this public debate are: On the one hand, secularists claim that religious symbols should be banned from public spaces like schools, universities and courts and that religious practice should be performed only in private. This argument is often combined with the issue of the oppression of Muslim women: Headscarves are seen as a symbol and a means to oppress women and therefore should be legislated against. Moreover, the argument is made that the headscarf is less of
  a religious symbol but more of an expression of a political ideology, i.e. fundamentalist Islam. On the other hand, there are voices that argue for tolerance of religious differences and for the right to wear a headscarf as a sign to express one’s religion. Besides, there are those who claim that the ban on headscarves is an act of disempowerment of Muslim women who freely choose to wear a headscarf.

  Variations & Extensions

  *Compare the status of images in Islam with that in other religious traditions such as Buddhism (see Ruth Gschwendtner-Wölfle, p. 30).

  • Explore other scenarios such as “The Islamic City”. What are the main characteristics and features of a town or city in the Muslim world? In what respect do they differ from urban planning and architecture in European countries?

  Questions

  • What are the main characteristics attributed by Western authors to the Muslim world?
  • Has the attitude to Islam changed in the course of time and if so, which were the causes or events that have triggered such a change?
  • How have these changes influenced the choice and use of Islamic symbols and images?
  • Why has the veil become such a potent symbol that Western
  
  governments and courts of law have to deal with its use?
  • How do you account for the differences in attitude towards the veil in different countries (e. g. the laissez-faire approach in Great Britain vs. the emphasis on laicité in France)?