Leila Ahmed – Professor of Divinity, Harvard Divinity School
December 7th, 2006 – American Public Media
„We need to distinguish what we mean by veil. The veil, headcovering for women was the norm throughout the Muslim world. And actually, the headcovering for men was also the norm. So that is what is called veil nowadays, it’s a headcovering, and usually not a facial veil. Face veil in addition to headcovering was worn by upper-class women.“
„I think the idea is of putting down Islam, supposedly because Islam surppresses women.“
I get called by journalists to explain why Islam oppresses women. I have not yet been called to explain why Islam has produced seven women head of state and Europe only two or three.“
„I am afraid of fundamentalism. That is very dangerous. But how does one separate? I cannot quite remove poverty. If we didn’t have poverty the situation would be completely different. I would not be as frightened as I am.“
„And what do we Americans mean when we refer often and broadly to „the Muslim world“? Where does „the Muslim world“ begin and end these days? Its borders are impossible to draw, and arguably must now encompass Paris or Amsterdam or Chicago. Conflating the notion of „the Muslim world“ with „the Arab world“ only compounds our inability to make important distinctions about the global reality we inhabit.“
