Usos e percepções a respeito do véu islâmico (hijab) entre muçulmanas no Ceará

Abstract

My purpose in this thesis is to understand the uses and meanings of the hijab, or Islamic veil, among Muslim women in the state of Ceará. The research was conducted both with women who use and with those women who chose not to wear the veil, regardless of whether they were born or not in the state, as long as they live in it. The field included women residing in the capital, Fortaleza, and in two other cities: Redenção and Acarape. The Muslim presence in the state of Ceará is concentrated in Fortaleza. In the other two cities, we find Guinean Muslims who are in the state to study. I chose to include these women because they live for a significant time in the state. I collected data through personal contacts with the agents, observation of their religious practices, conversations, semi-structured interviews and the monitoring of information in social networks. I make a brief historical reconstruction of the Islamic presence in the state of Ceará, which is quite recent. Using information from the Pew Research Center, I present data on the Muslim population in the world compared to other religions. I briefly contextualize the situation of the organization of Islam in Ceará. Finally, I transcribe and analyze women's accounts of the uses of the Islamic veil. I conclude that Muslim women in Ceará express their conceptions regarding the veil in a plural form. We find both Muslims who wear and do not wear the veil, and the meaning attributed to the garment go from the veil conceived as something that should be compulsory in Islamic contexts to the veil seen by the women as a choice and a way of expressing their identity.