Stigmatization and Redemption

To withstand the challenges they face every day due to the veil they wear, the Muslim women whom I interviewed make use of an original view of the veil question in France: the religious theme of resilience in the face of difficulties.Far from being a call for collective mobilization in the name of Islam, it rather translates what Weber called “the ‘theodicy of suffering’—that is, the way in which religion gives meaning to suffering, thereby changing it from a source of revolution to a vehicle of redemption” (Peter Berger).After demonstrating how the stigmatization of veiled Muslims is transfigured into a resilience test by religious discourse, I identify how women use this theme and the reasons why they are aligned with it.