For a variety of historical, cultural and political reasons, the Islamic headscarf has become an increasingly controversial matter in Europe. This is particularly the case in France, where the Parliament passed, in March 2004, a piece of legislation that prohibits students from wearing the Muslim veil—together with any other ‘conspicuous’ religious sign—in the classroom. Although Statute 228/2004 proved highly controversial and attracted unprecedented media attention, it was overwhelmingly supported by French MPs as a response to popular opposition towards religious insignia at school and was heralded as a ‘liberating’ piece of legislation that faithfully reasserted the beloved French principle of laïcité. Overseas, the new law was less favourably perceived and was often accused of being discriminatory and of violating the students’ freedom of religious expression. This thesis compares the French and American attitudes towards religious symbolism in general and the Islamic veil in particular. As in other matters, at first sight these two countries seem to adopt a very different—if not opposite—approach to religion and the Muslim veil, and so much so that their positions are often described as ‘irreconcilable’. This thesis will argue that this is hardly the case. Indeed, it will show that, at least before the passage of Statute 228-2004, the French and American legal systems adopted a substantially similar approach that appeared respectful of a veiled student’s right to wear religious insignia. This, the work will also suggest, is not surprising, for contrary to popular belief, the American conception of secularism is in many respects stricter than the French idea of laïcité, with the result that French ‘exceptionalism’ on matters of religion is hardly a convincing ground for justifying the new piece of legislation. The fundamental value of a Franco-American comparison, this work will suggest, ultimately lies with the fact that such a comparison demolishes a good portion of the popular myths surrounding the affaire des foulards: that the French legal system is fiercely secular; that the American one is strongly ‘religious’; and that France was, in 2004, confronted with a veritable ‘veil emergency’ that rendered the passage of the new statute all but inevitable.

For a variety of historical, cultural and political reasons, the Islamic headscarf has become an increasingly controversial matter in Europe. This is particularly the case in France, where the Parliament passed, in March 2004, a piece of legislation that prohibits students from wearing the Muslim veil—together with any other ‘conspicuous’ religious sign—in the classroom. Although Statute 228/2004 proved highly controversial and attracted unprecedented media attention, it was overwhelmingly supported by French MPs as a response to popular opposition towards religious insignia at school and was heralded as a ‘liberating’ piece of legislation that faithfully reasserted the beloved French principle of laïcité. Overseas, the new law was less favourably perceived and was often accused of being discriminatory and of violating the students’ freedom of religious expression. This thesis compares the French and American attitudes towards religious symbolism in general and the Islamic veil in particular. As in other matters, at first sight these two countries seem to adopt a very different—if not opposite—approach to religion and the Muslim veil, and so much so that their positions are often described as ‘irreconcilable’. This thesis will argue that this is hardly the case. Indeed, it will show that, at least before the passage of Statute 228-2004, the French and American legal systems adopted a substantially similar approach that appeared respectful of a veiled student’s right to wear religious insignia. This, the work will also suggest, is not surprising, for contrary to popular belief, the American conception of secularism is in many respects stricter than the French idea of laïcité, with the result that French ‘exceptionalism’ on matters of religion is hardly a convincing ground for justifying the new piece of legislation. The fundamental value of a Franco-American comparison, this work will suggest, ultimately lies with the fact that such a comparison demolishes a good portion of the popular myths surrounding the affaire des foulards: that the French legal system is fiercely secular; that the American one is strongly ‘religious’; and that France was, in 2004, confronted with a veritable ‘veil emergency’ that rendered the passage of the new statute all but inevitable.

For a variety of historical, cultural and political reasons, the Islamic headscarf has become an increasingly controversial matter in Europe. This is particularly the case in France, where the Parliament passed, in March 2004, a piece of legislation that prohibits students from wearing the Muslim veil—together with any other ‘conspicuous’ religious sign—in the classroom. Although Statute 228/2004 proved highly controversial and attracted unprecedented media attention, it was overwhelmingly supported by French MPs as a response to popular opposition towards religious insignia at school and was heralded as a ‘liberating’ piece of legislation that faithfully reasserted the beloved French principle of laïcité. Overseas, the new law was less favourably perceived and was often accused of being discriminatory and of violating the students’ freedom of religious expression. This thesis compares the French and American attitudes towards religious symbolism in general and the Islamic veil in particular. As in other matters, at first sight these two countries seem to adopt a very different—if not opposite—approach to religion and the Muslim veil, and so much so that their positions are often described as ‘irreconcilable’. This thesis will argue that this is hardly the case. Indeed, it will show that, at least before the passage of Statute 228-2004, the French and American legal systems adopted a substantially similar approach that appeared respectful of a veiled student’s right to wear religious insignia. This, the work will also suggest, is not surprising, for contrary to popular belief, the American conception of secularism is in many respects stricter than the French idea of laïcité, with the result that French ‘exceptionalism’ on matters of religion is hardly a convincing ground for justifying the new piece of legislation. The fundamental value of a Franco-American comparison, this work will suggest, ultimately lies with the fact that such a comparison demolishes a good portion of the popular myths surrounding the affaire des foulards: that the French legal system is fiercely secular; that the American one is strongly ‘religious’; and that France was, in 2004, confronted with a veritable ‘veil emergency’ that rendered the passage of the new statute all but inevitable.

For a variety of historical, cultural and political reasons, the Islamic headscarf has become an increasingly controversial matter in Europe. This is particularly the case in France, where the Parliament passed, in March 2004, a piece of legislation that prohibits students from wearing the Muslim veil—together with any other ‘conspicuous’ religious sign—in the classroom. Although Statute 228/2004 proved highly controversial and attracted unprecedented media attention, it was overwhelmingly supported by French MPs as a response to popular opposition towards religious insignia at school and was heralded as a ‘liberating’ piece of legislation that faithfully reasserted the beloved French principle of laïcité. Overseas, the new law was less favourably perceived and was often accused of being discriminatory and of violating the students’ freedom of religious expression. This thesis compares the French and American attitudes towards religious symbolism in general and the Islamic veil in particular. As in other matters, at first sight these two countries seem to adopt a very different—if not opposite—approach to religion and the Muslim veil, and so much so that their positions are often described as ‘irreconcilable’. This thesis will argue that this is hardly the case. Indeed, it will show that, at least before the passage of Statute 228-2004, the French and American legal systems adopted a substantially similar approach that appeared respectful of a veiled student’s right to wear religious insignia. This, the work will also suggest, is not surprising, for contrary to popular belief, the American conception of secularism is in many respects stricter than the French idea of laïcité, with the result that French ‘exceptionalism’ on matters of religion is hardly a convincing ground for justifying the new piece of legislation. The fundamental value of a Franco-American comparison, this work will suggest, ultimately lies with the fact that such a comparison demolishes a good portion of the popular myths surrounding the affaire des foulards: that the French legal system is fiercely secular; that the American one is strongly ‘religious’; and that France was, in 2004, confronted with a veritable ‘veil emergency’ that rendered the passage of the new statute all but inevitable.

The Islamic religion has become a challenge to Christianity due to its rapid growth around the world today. Christianity and Islam are both devising strategies on how to reach out to each other with their conflicting messages. Christian missiologists have come up with several approaches of doing Mission to the Muslims. However, because of the Islamic practices and beliefs that vary in different contexts or from place to place, some of the approaches are not effective in some areas. The nature of the cultural context has more often made it progressively difficult for the Christian churches and missionaries to do Mission among the Muslim countries, including those at South Coast of Kenya, the Digo folk Muslims. The call for a suitable understanding of an evangelism approach among the Digo folk Muslims is an essential concept for an effective Mission to them. There is no doubt that in Digoland, there is still a great challenge in evangelising the Digo people. Even though currently there is a good number of un-indigenous churches in this area, the problem remains that the Digo Muslims have not effectively responded to the Gospel of Jesus Christ at large. It is also clear that the evangelism approaches that the Christian churches are using have not been effective. This thesis analytically examines evangelism approaches to Mission among the Digo folk Muslims by seven selected Christian churches from different denominations in the South Coast of Kenya. The study investigates the effectiveness of the evangelism approaches, which these churches are using with the Digo folk Muslims in sharing the gospel. Mostly using data collected from oral interviews, the study finds that Mission involvement to Digo Muslims is slow and not as effective as evidenced by the small number of the Muslim background believers in the selected churches. The churches and the Muslim background believers face challenges that include fear due to threats from the Muslim community as they perceive the Christians as adversaries who are stealing their members. Moreover, the few Muslims are, at times threatened with death. The churches also face challenges from the lack of effective training in Muslim evangelism in context including the financial constraints for Muslim Mission in the area. The research concludes that significantly, there is a need for the selected churches to reexamine and reconsider their evangelism approaches to Digo folk Muslims with a view to improving their ways of engaging in sharing the gospel with them. Finally, the study formulates and proposes a practical biblical model for effective Mission to these Digo Muslims. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology with specialisation in Muslim Evangelism)

This study investigates language varieties, non-verbal behaviour and language attitudes as cultural barriers which inhibit successful communication between Blacks and Indians at Durban Institute of Technology. The investigation reveals that Indians and Blacks often misunderstand each other. Sometimes these groups feel misunderstood because they use different varieties of English. To compensate for these differences, participants use non-verbal strategies. However, non-verbal behaviour is culturally determined and people tend to transfer it to intercultural situations. One finds that this transfer leads to miscommunication and negative stereotypes. Furthermore, non verbal behaviour which does not meet the politeness criteria leads to negative attitudes and strained relations amongst peers and supervisors. The study suggests these solutions: the introduction of intercultural awareness campaigns for all employees and Zulu conversational skills for all Indians. For the whole South African community, the spirit of ubuntu should be cultivated between all racial groups to foster mutual respect. / Sociolinguistics / M.A.

This study aimed at investigating the influence of locus of control and upbringing style on creative thinking of preparatory school learners in schools in the United Arab Emirates. Specifically, the study attempted to answer the following questions: *What is the effect of the family upbringing type (authoritative/authoritarian) on the creative thinking of grade 9 students in schools in the United Arab Emirates? *What is the effect of the type of locus of control (internal/external) on the creative thinking of grade 9 students in schools in the United Arab Emirates? *What is the effect of the interrelationships of family upbringing type and locus of control on the creative thinking of grade 9 students in schools in the United Arab Emirates? Three scales were used in this study: *The Arabized Rotter Internal-External Locus of Control Scale *Fawzi Abu jabal Scale of family upbringing style *Torrance Tests of creative thinking In order to answer the above-mentioned questions, a random sample from students in the ninth grade was selected. The sample consisted of (527) male and female students. In order to examine the questions of the study and to identify the effects of each of these independent variables, along with there interactions on creative thinking; the following statistical techniques were used: *T-tests *Chi-square tests *Pearson's bivariate and multi-variate correlation *Analysis of variance (222) *Stepwise regression analysis The findings of this study showed: *Upbringing style and the locus of control had a significant effect on creative thinking. All differences were in favour of the internal locus of control and the authoritative upbringing style. *Gender had no significant effect on creative thinking. *There were no significant effects for the dual and treble interactions of the independent variables (gender, upbringing style and locus of control) on creative thinking. The results were interpreted in light of a literature review and the students' socialization practices. / Early Childhood Education and Development / D.Ed. (Socio-Education)

The subject and the scope of this study are the challenges faced by Muslim women in contemporary societies as presented by the four prominent authors: Leila Ahmed, Elizabeth Fernea, Fatima Mernissi and Amina Wadud. The methodology applied to the literary analysis is the feminist-qualitative research approach in religious studies with specific reference to Islamic feminist studies. Many Muslim women scholars criticise the study of Third World women as objects of study-cases who are rarely heeded as serious scholars. Misconceptions about Islam and Muslim women are common in Western society. Previous studies have not dealt with the issue satisfactorily and failed to provide a holistic picture. The challenges faced by Muslim women have been interpreted against a Western feminist framework, thus causing more harm than good. The resultant predicament is the subject of this study in which Muslim women’s own attitudes and responses to their present circumstances and future prospects are explored. How and why Muslim women are challenged? How do they envisage the resolution of these challenges? The purpose of this study is to provide a framework that can give an adequate account of challenges as seen by Muslim women and to evaluate strategies that can provide suitable solutions to these challenges. Firstly, an objective Giele/Smock/Engineer framework was developed with reference to the most pressing challenges (articulated in well-documented definitions and descriptions) faced by Muslim women in contemporary societies. These key issues of women’s rights on political participation, education, work, family, and social participation were discussed and analysed in the light of this women-centred approach with specific reference to the writings of four prominent women authors: Leila Ahmed, Elizabeth Fernea, Fatima Mernissi and Amina Wadud. Each author has brought her own particular perspective and area of expertise into the discussion – sometimes arguing among with the other authors in a virtual ‘roundtable’ discussion; at times joining hands in mutual agreement. Finally, Muslim women’s struggle against injustice was subjected to critical scrutiny with particular attention to common strategies and solutions that the four authors have used and developed in the light of the modern debate. It is in the latter discussion that the study reached its ultimate goal by determining how the challenges have been met. Moreover, Islamic feminism was assessed to determine how it related to and coped with social change and how effective it has been in seeking to assert rights of and find justice for women through historical, anthropological, socio-political and hermeneutical approach. / Religious Studies / D. Th. (Religious Studies)

This study is an endeavour to construct a theological (Missiological) reflection on what Christian witnessing could look like in Kano among non-Christians (predominantly Hausa/Fulani Muslims), if interpreted and expressed from the viewpoint of the hope Christians have in Christ. This heads towards a proposal for new Christian praxis, developed in dialogue with and as a response to the role of the life-transforming message of justification in Christ, as it relates to Christian living. This is based on historical fact that attracts non-Christians to the hope in God’s future activity through His saving grace in the unique Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 1: 22), that is, seeking to be like Christ (1Jn 3: 2-3). This leads to the guiding issue on how Christians should explore hope as a fundamental key to become living witnesses to non-Christians, Muslim in particular, in Kano city, Northern Nigeria and elsewhere in the world based on the biblical interpretation of 1 Peter 3: 15-17. It equally means in a hostile environment walking by faith rather than by sight, through suffering rather than by triumph, to bringing about the future Kingdom of God, characterized by peace, justice and love into the community now, and ultimately in the one to come. This in turn makes this study relevant both internally – for the renewal of the church to discover and live out its Christian identity – and externally, in the church’s witness to its Muslim neighbours in the midst of religious intolerance that leads to bloodshed and the destruction of property. Therefore, the two dimensions, the internal and external, of the church’s life, since a congregation’s sense of identity is at the same time its sense of mission in society. A renewal in the church’s sense of identity brings about a renewal in its sense of mission, and vice versa. / Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology / D. Th. (Missiology)

The study investigated Zimbabwean Christian and Muslim women who had experienced domestic violence with a view to finding out the extent to which these women used provisions of the Domestic Violence Act of 2006. The study was conducted in urban Masvingo and its surroundings. The methodology applied to the empirical investigation was qualitative and was informed by the phenomenological, feminist and pragmatic theoretical frameworks. Data was collected, by means of in-depth semi-structured interviews, from 30 participants, 22 Christian and 8 Muslim, who were selected using purposive sampling and snowball sampling techniques. In investigating the women’s experiences, some questions guided the study. These include: Where and to what extent does a select group of Christian and Muslim women who fall victim to domestic violence normally seek help? How do religious and cultural beliefs and practices influence the response to domestic violence by the abused as well as those to whom they report? To what extent do religious communities prevent selected victims of domestic violence from seeking legal assistance? Data was analysed by coding responses according to themes. The study revealed that the participants perceived domestic violence as having diverse causes and most of them saw their religion as crucial in addressing their plight. It emerged that a majority of the participants sought help from their religious communities as well as relatives and friends. Mixed responses emanated from these sources of help. The most common response, based largely on religious and cultural beliefs, was to encourage participants to avoid reporting to authorities. It also emerged that most of the participants were not willing to seek help from the police, courts or legal practitioners to seek redress because of the advice they received as well as their own internalised beliefs. Religious, social, and economic factors prevented most participants from appealing to provisions of the Domestic Violence Act.It was concluded that the Zimbabwean Domestic Violence Act had limited usefulness for participants because of religious, social and economic factors. It was recommended that if relevant stakeholders could jointly work together, domestic violence would be alleviated. Recommendations for further research were also made. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)