Le voilement du corps de la gent féminine contesté par des féministes arabes laïques, des féministes islamiques et des femmes imames

Abstract

In the space of two decades, between 1980 and 2000, Islamist actors succeeded in veiling the bodies of a large part of the female population with the help of an argument of religious authority disseminated on a large scale via the real and virtual world. Islamic feminists and imam women, who affirm the non-mandatory nature of the veil, are part of a gendered power struggle in the theological field while equipping women of the Muslim faith with critical knowledge. Finally, this article attempts to demonstrate that the veil in the scriptural sources is assimilated to a sign of social distinction between free women and slave women and not to a religious act.