These photographs had such an impact on me that I still fail to render into words, if one of these scenes talks to you please post a comment,  and I’ll add it as a caption to the picture.

When we were planning Dr. Aseel’s visit, we wanted to achieve two main things; one is to introduce her to our campus and my students at the Islamic Feminism course, and two is to introduce her to the general public in Doha. This was Aseel’s first trip to Doha, and although Kuwait is a neighbor and a GCC member, not every one in Doha have thoroughly followed the changing political scene in Kuwait. In introducing Aseel we introduce Kuwaiti politics and women’s struggle to achieve political rights.

As a part of Carnegie Mellon’s Distinguished Lecture Series, Dr. Aseel Al-Awadhi was our first distinguished lecturer in 2010. The Lecture was held at the Four Season Hotel on Monday the 25^th and was given the title of “Gulf Women and Politics: The Kuwaiti Experience”.

I had the pleasure of introducing Aseel, and here is what I said:

“Gulf women have been taking strides during the recent decades. On the on hand they’ve become publically visible, in education, business and other domains. On the other hand their visibility has brought to surface the issues, challenges and obstacles that they face- those that were previously buried in an ideological system that would perceive even talking about women a shameful matter. Today we know what the shortcomings of our societies are, we know our potential as women- although we haven’t explored it to the fullest yet, and we know how to stand up for our beliefs and make our voices clear and loud.

Our distinguished speaker tonight knows that success requires sacrifice. She doesn’t quit because she has the vision, passion and drive to succeed not just for herself but for all women in the Gulf and the following generations.

She made history when she became one of the first four women to be elected to the Kuwaiti Parliament in 2009.

She has since provided an alternative dialogue to the political discourse in Kuwait, a one that is based on logic and critical thinking. She has made women’s voice clear and visible and has paved the road for future female politicians, posing herself as a role model for the younger generations.

Her name on its own is a success story.”

Aseel’s 50 minutes talk went from the general to the specific, starting from obstacles that the women of the Gulf face in the field of politics to narrowing the point of reference to her personal experience in the elections of 2008- when she came 11^th and lost for a hard-core Islamist- and of 2009 elections when she won a seat in the parliament.

When talking about obstacles, Aseel specified that the “patriarchal culture” is the main obstacle. She explained how patriarchal culture can hinder women in three main points. Firstly, she mentioned that in such a culture there exists a clear distinction between being a man and being a woman. There are inherited conceptions of how women are, one of which is being weak, irrational, and emotional and therefore a woman can’t handle politics. Men of course are perceived as strong, rational, and fit for leadership. The problem is magnified because both men and women are raised in such culture and come to believe these misconceptions. And this consequently affects voters, who will advocate and vote for the candidate according to his gender rather than credentials. Aseel continued that the dominant Islamic fundamental groups during the previous 30 years in Kuwait have helped in spreading this patriarchal culture and have helped in emphasizing these gender roles under the slogan and excuse of religion.

A second aspect of the patriarchal culture that undermines women is their submission to a hero. The belief in collective efforts that is incomplete unless they are led by a charismatic leader, a one who is capable of delivering long speeches and touching the hearts of the masses is exactly what made some reject women running for office. Such a leader to them cannot and should not be a woman because of their belief that men should not be led by a woman.

The third aspect undermining women is women and the way they perceive themselves. Women are made to believe that they cannot compete with men despite that there is a big percentage of Kuwaiti women who are already active in societies and organizations but politics for them remains the domain by and for men.

Aseel touches on the fact that people are resistant to change, and gives an example that change cannot be seen as merely the act of issuing a law, because until people actually starts implementing it and when it becomes a part of the people’s practices.  

The engaged audience showered Aseel with questions and comments. The discussion continued over dinner and Aseel was approached by many who congratulated her and passed their warmest regards to the three other female MPs back in Kuwait.

That was a lovely evening.

“Dr. Aseel Al Awadhi is a perfect example of how a Muslim woman from the gulf can succeed and flourish and still be feminine and respectful. She has a clear vision of a better Kuwait and believes that Kuwait’s young men and women are the key to its success. Her positive, simple and optimistic thoughts were refreshing amongst today’s unrealistic promises and negative attacks.” Farha Al-Kuwari– Islamic Feminism Spring 2010.

Dr. Aseel Al-Awadhi was our distinguished visitor last week. I was happy to organize her visit and have sensed its importance and the impact it could have on our students. We thus arranged a discussion session with her last Sunday on campus. I urged my students in the Islamic Feminism course to attend and participate in the discussion and reflect on the themes that we have covered so far in the course.

Aseel, what a lovable woman! And she is not any woman!! She is a Parliament member! I’m not sure if it was the public image or our perception of what a woman politician would look and act like, but Aseel certainly does not fit any existing images. She is strong and still feminine, intelligent while being young and pretty, assertive and extremely friendly. She is a character to fall in love with, which I believe all of the students have.

She approached students before the discussion. She told them how much she misses teaching and showed interest in them by asking questions about their majors and courses. The students were ecstatic and took her on a tour around our magnificent campus, feeling proud and humble when they saw how amazed she was.

I introduced Aseel in the discussion session by giving a short synopsis of Kuwait’s history and women’s role in the country. Kuwait is perceived as one of the most progressive countries in the Gulf. One of the reasons is that it gained independence in 1961, prior to other countries. Kuwaiti Women have been working alongside men and have been educated inside and outside Kuwait, gaining positions in different professions, like in government, business and academia. However, Kuwaiti women were not given their political rights till 2005. It took them since then four years to win seats in the parliament. They have faced different obstacles in their march for their political rights- one of which is to challenge a patriarchal system of beliefs that is so entrenched in our traditions and customs. Dr. Aseel made history by being one of the first four women elected for the Kuwaiti parliament in 2009.

My students whom didn’t know what to expect were taken by her. They monopolized the discussion. Their questions were intelligent and meaningful and showed how much research was put into them. Aseel herself after being asked twice by “Mai” looked at me and said your students deserve an “A” without a doubt! She was asked about her stand towards segregation in Kuwait University, which she totally rejected as she believes is a waste of resources and efforts. She was also asked about her reactions to the Islamists’ propaganda during previous elections, especially the slogans that said “voters for women go to hell” and “no women will win the election so do not waste your vote”. Her answer was so simple: “we proved them wrong!” Also when asked if she endorses women’s issues, she said she endorses Kuwaitis’ issues and women’s issues will always be a major part of her political agenda without necessarily presenting herself as a feminist. She touched on the fact that our societies are resistant to change, so no good will come from shocking them. Instead change could be gradual and peaceful.

Following the discussion, we took her out to dinner. She blended perfectly with the young ladies. The nine of us were sitting around a table eating, laughing and code-switching. Our conversations ranged from students asking her how she managed to face criticism and rumors, to her talking about her family’s support through elections and her experience as a professor at Kuwait University. What made her so lovable is that she is so real. She defied the common type of strong public women being masculine. Aseel is a woman politician, and she seems to have strong convictions which reflect on her confidence and poise. At the same time she is feminine and can engage in feminine talk as well as she skillfully does with political conversations. She made the students believe that they could one day be where Aseel is now. She is such a role model- one that is balanced and real.

Aseel told the students that the main reason behind her winning the 2009 elections was the amazing campaign that was run by young adults- the eldest was 27 years old. She depended on them believing in their abilities. She explained how the campaign worked and how they managed to attract as much voters as they could through new technologies. They connected with people through twitter, facebook, youtube. They spoke a new language and they found a new audience who embraced it. It was the young generation who led the way and helped her win.

After thanking the young ladies for their hospitality and inviting them to Kuwait, Nada, Nofe, Farha, Omnia, Hind, Mai and Corinne left with lovely memories of the dinner they had with Dr. Aseel–the Kuwaiti MP. Driving back to the hotel, Aseel told me that she felt that she was in the presence of future leaders. I totally believe that as well.

Suddenly the drumming goes to his brain, which seems to resume its functionality. Images of faces and scenes start flashing in his brain. Now he sees something, although his eyes are shut. It is still bright, the sky is clear and kids in their torn sandals and filthy clothes are playing on the sandy streets. Images are rushing in and out of his brain, yet they are muted. He can’t hear their voices, screaming at each other and calling each other names. Then suddenly, he sees an image of an explosion followed by a big bang. “Boom” and all noises come rushing into his head. The noises conjure a string of images, flashing rapidly in front of his closed eyes. He sees a building collapsing, an impossible scene to imagine if not seen with his own eyes. It just collapsed vertically- as if it was made of sponge.

Other sounds intrude, he can hear a baby’s cry and someone’s moaning, but they aren’t in the picture he is seeing! The sounds go away and he pulls another scene of a sand storm and people totally covered in white running and waving hysterically. He sees his legs moving, running through the narrow road that takes him to his house. He sees the small church on the corner of the road flattened and the debris are stained with patches of blood. He wonders: If there were people killed, where are the bodies? He runs east but the road is blocked by scattered bodies. He can’t look at them. He doesn’t want to!

He hears a baby crying but he can’t see one around. He walks ahead maneuvering around the bodies on the floor, stepping on some. His feet are bleeding. He sees a bright green roof on the side of the road. It’s the same roof of his in-laws but their house cannot be found! Where would they be? His brain starts hurting as he remembers that his wife and newly born baby boy must be in the house waiting for him. He steps on a broken glass, it must be a shattered window but he continues. It is amazing how he doesn’t feel any pain.  He sees a car landed on a half destroyed one-floor house. Someone is breathing heavily, but there is no one but him on the road! The scene is stripped off sound again.

He reaches the end of the road and takes the unpaved side-road down hill. His house stands at the bottom of the hill. He built it with his own hands, one bedroom, L shaped kitchen and a small bathroom. It is made for a small family, which he has. He takes the turn right and descends towards his house. But there is no house. He stops and looks around him. No house could be seen, not even rubble! He runs towards the spot on which his house stood one day. What he finds brings back his hearing ability and the first sound he hears is his. He screams out his wife’s and baby’s names. The chaos around him starts dressing up in its true colors and sounds. The sound is too loud for him to distinguish. The earth has split in half, like a big mouth that has opened to swallow everything around it. His house was swallowed by the earth. He stands still and tries to remember what has happened and where could they be?

He suddenly remembers that his child had a sudden fever this morning and they took him to the hospital. When they were in the hospital the earth started shaking feverously. He remembers that he held his wife who was holding their boy tightly. Then everything went blank.

He hears a faint sound whispering his name. It is his wife; she has been there all of this time buried next to him under the hospital’s rubble. He hears her saying that the baby stopped crying. Then she falls silent as well. He feels moistness over his face.  He wants to scratch his eyelids so badly but can’t move his arms. He tells him self it is not time to feel, stay numb.

Haiti was hit by a devastating Earthquake. Around 100,000 people were killed and more than 30,000 are left homeless.

Whenever an expat writes a piece in which he criticizes “us”, we get angry and suggest to him that if he doesn’t like it here he can leave! His response, usually, is that we need to get educated about constructive criticism and we need to open up to different perspectives, and in short we need to grow up and stop thinking that we are always right.

Criticism can be harsh. I think that criticism should be harsh, and that burying one’s head never changed anything. It is only when some one exposes the problematic status quo, critiques it and provides alternatives that a situation changes. In order to progress, we need to constantly evaluate our present to better our future. Yet, the criticism needs to come from a good place within us—one that hopes for the prosperity of one’s country.

What makes us angry isn’t the criticism in specific but its language! There is a negative rhetoric that is spreading among the expat community, conjuring up an Orientalist one. This kind of rhetoric that uses English as a powerful and worldwide language is used to describe the “Others”- in this case “us”, their mentality, their life style and their beliefs as the total opposite of the “modern western” paradigm that these people subscribe or belong to. When they criticize a situation, they talk about the ignorance of the people involved, and ignorance triggers a chain reaction! How many times have we heard about the lazy, ignorant, super-wealthy Qatari who has no sense of responsibility or commitment! This myth that they have created has been employed in every piece of critique I’ve heard or read, reproducing such stereotypes and multiplying them within different discourses and under different topics. This ‘Orientalist’ approach has become the basis upon which every piece is built, and instead of repeating it, all they need to do is allude to it. Such condescending rhetoric is what gets us mad and not the actual criticism.

How many expats think that the years they have spent in Doha qualify them to become anthropologists who have credibility to comment on the ‘people’? Some of the people I know have “absurd” assumptions that they forward as “accurate observations”, which in fact can make up not so bad fictional work, especially about aliens! Most of those people do not know one single Qatari on a personal level, they haven’t visited a Qatari home, and they didn’t even bother to learn our language! Still, they act like ‘experts’ on Qataris!

If you have noticed, I am also using the same language they use and that is the binary opposition of “us” and “them”. Yet, I won’t assign each reference with any specific attributes. I will never identify myself as Qatari and thus more civilized, international or educated than others. I will never group others under one false homogenous identity like some do to make it easier to criticize all of them in one go. But I won’t keep silent each time someone criticizes Qataris and I will point out the pitfalls in their argument.

There are some expats that really care and truly mean well. For those I hold the upmost respect.

Suhaila Zain al-Abdeen is one of the prominent female voices in Saudi Arabia. “She wrote over 40 books and articles related to Islam and more specifically on women”.

Here is a recent interview with her on MBC. When asked why the sudden escalation of women movements and the call for women rights in Saudi Arabia, she responds that it is neither sudden nor soon! It’s been  15 centuries and  women have  not been granted their rights yet!

Here is one of Suhaila’s articles in Arabic:

* سهيلة زين العابدين حمَّاد

عندما مرّت بأمتنا الأمة الإسلامية عصور من الجهل والانحطاط نتيجة سياسة العزلة التي فرضتها الدولة العثمانية على ولاياتها، ممَّا أدى إلى تفشي الأمية، وحرمان المرأة من معظم حقوقها في الإسلام كحقها في التعليم، واحترام رأيها، والمشاركة في الحياة العامة، كما كانت في عصور الإسلام المختلفة، ولا سيما في عصر صدر الإسلام؛ عاد الناس إلى جاهليتهم، ونظروا إلى المرأة نظرة دونية، لسوء فهمهم للقوامة، وللحجاب، ولحديث نقصان عقل المرأة.

النظرة الدونية للمرأة:

لقد عانت المرأة المسلمة في عصور العزلة والجهل، ولا تزال تعاني حتى الآن أمرّ المعاناة من النظرة الدونية لها؛ إذ اعتبر الرجل أنَّ المرأة دونه مرتبة باعتباره قيماً عليها، واعتبر أن القوامة استعباد واسترقاق للمرأة، وأنّ الرجال قوامون على النساء في كل الأحوال، فمادام هو رجل فهو قيم على المرأة حتى ولم تكن له أية صلة بها، وليس من حق المرأة أن تناقش الرجل وتعارضه في الرأي، وهو بهذا حرمها من جل حقوقها، وجعلها في وضع أدنى ممَّا كانت عليه المرأة في الجاهلية. والقوامة في الإسلام ليس كما فهمها رجال عصور الجهل والعزلة، ومازالت رواسب هذا الفهم في عقول البعض، فالقوامة في الإسلام هي مسؤولية وتبعات، وحماية وأمان لمن يعولهن الرجل وينفق عليهن، وليست قوامة كل الرِّجال على كل النساء كما فهمها البعض، والآية الكريمة توضح هذا المعنى؛ إذ يقول جلَّ شأنه: (الرِّجَالُ قَوَّامُونَ عَلى النِّسَاءِ بمَا فَضَّلَ بَعْضَهُمْ على بعضٍ وَبِمَا أَنْفَقُوا مِنْ أَمْوَلِهم )…
 

حرمان المرأة من كثير من حقوقها:
وترتب على هذا الفهم الخاطئ للقوامة حرمان المرأة من كثير من حقوقها، كحق التعليم؛ إذ حكم عليها بالجهل، وكذلك حرمت من حق اختيار الزوج، وزوِّجت غصباً وكرهاً، وكذلك حرمت من حق إبداء الرأي، بل حرمت من أهليتها الحقوقية المالية، فبحكم قوامة الرجل على المرأة حكم عليها بعدم الأهلية، معلناً وصايته عليها، فلا يحق لها أن تتصرف في مالها كما تشاء، فمالها يكون في حوزته، وقد يتصرف فيه دون إذنها، أو أخذ مشورتها، ولكن لا يحق لها أن تتصرف في مالها إلاَّ في الحدود التي يأذن لها، ولا يزال بعض الرجال يعدون أنفسهم أوصياء على أموال من لهم الولاية عليهنّ، ويعتبرون المرأة قاصراً حتى ولو كانت في الستين، وهذا يتنافى مع ما جاء به الإسلام الذي أزال عن المرأة الحكم عليها أنَّها قاصر، وأقرَّ بأهليتها المالية.
تعيير المرأة بنقصان عقلها:

وممَّا ضاعف من معاناة المرأة من النظرة الدونية للمرأة تعيير الرجل لها بنقصان عقلها؛ لفهمه الخاطئ للحديث النبوي عن نقصان عقل المرأة، ولعلَّ هذا من أكثر الأسباب التي جعلت المرأة تدخل مع الرجل في مجال التحدي لإثبات كينونتها وذاتها، وأنَّها لا تقل عنه ذكاءً وفطنة.
تصحيح المفاهيم الخاطئة لحديث نقصان عقل المرأة:

لقد أساء غالبية الناس في عالمنا الإسلامي فهم الحديث النبوي الشريف: “ما رأيت من ناقصات عقل ودين، أغلب لذي لب من إحداكن” قالت امرأة منهن جزلة: “ما نقصان العقل؟ “قال : “أمَّا نقصان العقل فإنّ شهادة امرأتين بشهادة رجل، وأمَّا نقصان الدين فإنَّ إحداكنّ تفطر رمضان، وتقيم أياماً فلا تصلي”.

ولقد أخذ غالبية الناس بظاهر الحديث فحكموا على المرأة بنقصان العقل، وتعاملوا معها على هذا المفهوم الخاطئ، وبنوا عليه أحكاماً عانت منها المرأة أشد المعاناة، طوال ست قرون مضت، ولا تزال، فهذا الحكم لا يزال قائماً حتى الآن.

ونحن عندما نعود إلى نص الحديث نجد أنَّه بيَّن المقصود بنقصان العقل ومتى يكون؛ إذ قصره في شهادة امرأتين بشهادة رجل، وعند رجوعنا إلى الآية الكريمة: (وَاسْتَشْهِدُواْ شَهِيدَيْنِ من رِّجَالِكُمْ فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُونَا رَجُلَيْنِ فَرَجُلٌ وَامْرَأَتَانِ مِمَّن تَرْضَوْنَ مِنَ الشُّهَدَاء أَن تَضِلَّ إْحْدَاهُمَا فَتُذَكِّرَ إِحْدَاهُمَا)، فالعلة هي النسيان، وهذا في أمور المعاملات المالية، ووجود الشاهدة الأخرى لتذكر إحداهما الأخرى، بدليل أخذ شهادة الاثنتين معاً، وليس كل واحدة منهما على حدة، وهذا لا يمس عقل المرأة وذكاءها

أمَّا شهادتها في أمور النساء فيكتفى بشهادة امرأة واحدة، وهذا يؤكد أنَّ شهادة امرأتين برجل لا يمس عقل المرأة.

والغريب أنَّه في الديانة اليهودية “المحرفة” شهادة مئة امرأة تعادل شهادة رجل واحد، ولكن مع هذا لم يوجه

 إليها ما يوجه إلى الإسلام من هجوم؛ لأنه جعل شهادة امرأتين برجل واحد في العقود والمعاملات المالية.
وممَّا يؤكد أنَّ نقصان عقل المرأة مقصود به فقط هذه الحالة في الشهادة أنَّ الإسلام ساوى بين المرأة والرجل في القصاص والحدود والعقوبات والفرائض والعبادات والأهلية الحقوقية المالية، والتي تسقط عن القاصر والمعتوه والمجنون، فالإسلام هو الدين الوحيد الذي لم ينظر إلى المرأة على أنَّها قاصر؛ إذ أعطاها الأهلية الحقوقية المالية مثلها مثل الرجل تماماً.

كما أنَّ للمرأة حق الإفتاء؛ لقوله تعالى: (وَالْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاء بَعْضٍ يَأْمُرُونَ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ وَيَنْهَوْنَ عَنِ الْمُنكَرِ..).

والسؤال هنا: هل كانت المرأة ناقصة عقل بالمعنى الذي فهمه أغلب الناس لما حصلت على كل هذه الحقوق التي تسقط عن القاصر والمعتوه والمجنون؟
إنّ الذين يوسمون المرأة بنقصان عقلها، ويُنْسبون ذلك إلى الإسلام، يُسيئون إلى الإسلام؛ لأنَّ ما حققته المرأة من إنجازات على مدى العصور يبين خلاف ذلك.

ولم يكتفوا بتعيير المرأة بنقصان عقلها، بل أساؤوا إلى مفهوم الحجاب في الإسلام، وأعطوه معنى القهر والحبس، ونظروا إلى المرأة أنَّها محط كل فتنة، ومصدر كل رذيلة، وأنَّ كل ما فيها مصدر إثارة للرجل، وتعاملوا معها من هذا المنطلق، وأهملوا كل ما لها من حقوق، وأنَّها إنسان، شريكة لأخيها الإنسان (الرجل) في حمل أمانة الاستخلاف، ولا يكادون يستوعبون حكمة الله في تكليفها بمختلف التكاليف، ومنحها مختلف الحقوق السياسية والاجتماعية، والإنسانية، والاقتصادية، والمدنية، وتقرير أهليتها لذلك

Settling the “infidels” question in Islam

by Maher Y. Abu-Munshar

01 December 2009

Kuala Lumpur

Despite the substantial number of scholarly works and news stories to the contrary, many people still have the unfortunate misconception that Muslims cannot tolerate, coexist, or cooperate with followers of other religions. This is partly because Muslim extremists themselves often (mis)use Qur’anic verses to justify acts of violence against non-Muslims.

Simply put, these interpretations are wrong. In fact, many verses in the Qur’an call for friendship, fair treatment and cooperation with non-Muslims but are ignored by those wishing to create division in order to fan the flames, so to speak.

Examples of the misused Qur’anic verses include, for example: “Let not the Believers take for allies or helpers Unbelievers rather than Believers” (3:28) and “O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for your allies. They are but allies to each other. And he amongst you that turns to them [for alliance] is of them” (5:51).

These verses should be seen as providing the necessary support for the survival and cohesion of an early vulnerable community of Muslims–the Prophet Muhammad and his followers who arrived as refugees in Medina–in a potentially hostile environment.

In other words, the Qur’an was advising a particular community of Muslims in 7th century Arabia to be wary of entering blindly into political alliances. And indeed they were betrayed at that time by some of their Jewish allies. In fact, these verses were revealed in particular because some Muslims, for personal gain, were keen to establish or keep alliances with non-Muslims at the expense of their co-religionists and the newly formed state. These verses therefore were instructing these early Muslims to be self-reliant and to not depend upon others’ protection in order to establish a strong, lasting community.

Like the verses cited above, others are also quoted out of context, easily misleading the uninformed reader. One such verse, “And slay them wherever ye find them…” (2:191), is quoted extensively by many extremist Muslims and non-Muslims alike to showcase Islam’s supposed hatred of non-Muslims.

However, this verse too is taken out of context, because the ones just before and after it maintain that Muslims should never be aggressors and should only protect themselves against persecution. The context then becomes clear: this verse was revealed for a specific incident relating to the pagan Arabs who continuously breached the peace and reneged on truces at that particular time. In other words, this instruction is only applicable to this specific incident.

The Egyptian Muslim jurist Yusuf al-Qaradawi points out that these verses are not unconditional and certainly cannot be applied to every single Jew, Christian or non-Muslim. Taking them out of a specific context that relates to some event in earlier Muslim history, they contradict other instructions in the Qur’an that call for kindness to those who wish Muslims no harm.

Both Muslims and non-Muslims must learn to differentiate verses in the Qur’an that are specific to a particular context from those that are universal by also reading those verses that frame the contentious ones.

It is also important to remember that a prevailing message of respect for freedom of religion abounds in the Qur’an: “There is no compulsion in religion” (2:256); “Lo! Those who believe (in that which is revealed unto thee, Muhammad), and those who are Jews, and Christians, and Sabaeans–whoever believeth in Allah and the Last Day and doeth right–surely their reward is with their Lord, and there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve” (2:62); among others.

But the ideal relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims is best captured by two Qur’anic verses in particular (60:8-9). These verses–which advise Muslims to treat those of other faiths justly–employ a word which comes from the root word birr, which refers to a deep-rooted type of kindness and justice. The Qur’an counsels that birr be the basis of the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims–the same instruction it gives for dealing with one’s parents.

Today, when violent extremists quote these verses out of context to justify terrorism, it is essential to look at the Qur’an closely. All Muslims need to combine recitation of the holy text with full understanding of its injunctions. As the majority of Muslims do not speak Arabic, the language of the Qur’an, it is essential that they refer to trusted sources of interpretation and translation and not follow an unsupported, misguided reading of this text. This will surely pave the way toward eliminating misunderstanding and the misuse of the Qur’an for violent ends and instead promote the universal vision of Qur’an: genuine tolerance and peaceful coexistence between all of humanity.

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* Dr. Maher Y. Abu-Munshar is Visiting Senior Lecturer to the Department of Islamic History and Civilization at the University of Malaya, Malaysia and the author of Islamic Jerusalem and its Christians: A History of Tolerance and Tensions (I B Tauris 2007). This article is part of a series on the myth that Islam is inherently violent written for the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).

Source: Common Ground News Service (CGNews), 1 December 2009 [ Link ] 

Shelina Janmohamed the author of Love in a Headscarf was in Doha recently on a trip sponsored by Bloomsbury. I wanted to meet this exquisite writer and wanted my students to get to meet her too. I invited her to speak at one of my classes. I teach a course called “Quest for Identity”, in which students read novels and analyze them according to theories of post-colonialism and multiculturalism. The major theme in the course is identity and the ability and inability to consolidate between the different layers within oneself. One of the issues that the novels deal with is the clash between tradition and modernity, the two components that make up our cultural identities. The challenge is to consolidate between traditions and modernity, and not superficially, in for example architecture or street names, but within oneself, and my visitor is a perfect living example of a balanced hybrid.

  Shelina managed in half an hour to show us through her personal experience as a British Muslim Asian woman how she consolidated between these three identities that aren’t necessarily compatible with each other. She was able to ‘mix and match’ and select the best of each culture. She knew exactly what the most valuable aspects were in her Asian culture and worked on solidifying them within herself, such as family ties. She chose from her British culture the motives to become successful in the larger community. She graduated from Oxford and is a columnist, writer, and blogger- in short a public figure. Her Islamic identity was the strongest. She learnt how to differentiate between what is cultural and what is Islamic.

Bravely, she was the subject of the matter, and took us through a summarized version of her life touching on the challenges she faced to ‘belong’ to the British culture and the struggle to maintain strong ties with her Asian culture- all while being guided by her Islamic beliefs and practices. She read parts of her book that highlighted the challenges, making it more immediate and more real to us.

 The impact of her short talk was evident on the students as they have been renegotiating all through the course their own identities as Arabs and Muslims studying in an American University. The moment she paused, they started commenting and asking her questions. One of the students told her that he could relate to her as he has lived the first fourteen years of his life in England. He agreed that family is the main carrier of the cultural and Islamic identity that kept him grounded and true to him self, sparing him the drama of loosing himself in his foreign surroundings.

One young lady wanted to know more how Shelina as a Muslim woman was able to assert her identity in the British culture and still avoid discrimination. Shelina answered that she might have been lucky as she was never faced by discrimination; On the contrary she has experienced acceptance and tolerance in her work, accommodating her religious obligations like praying and fasting. “This actually contradicts what I have heard from Ed Hussain, the author of The Islamist in his talk in Chatham house last summer, where he said that Muslims in Britain feel tolerated but not accepted and that there isn’t enough tolerance towards the people of faith because of the extreme secularism. This actually reflects the diverse realities of Muslims in Britain. And I for one, living through both 9/11 and 7/7 have never been faced with discrimination or intolerance, but still my personal experience doesn’t negate other Muslims’ experiences facing racism and religious intolerance.”

Two young ladies disapproved of making her quest for finding a husband through arranged marriages the subject of her book. They added that such emphasis on arranged marriages and the need to get married reinforces the negative stereotype about Muslim women being dependent and subordinate. This opened a cultural dialogue, in which Shelina touched on the expectations of her Asian culture, and their perception of marriage as a communal obligation. In Asian culture, the quest for finding a suitable husband or wife for their children is the community’s responsibility. She explained that while a woman relies on her family and her cultural community to do all of the searching to find her a perfect suitor, she has a full control over accepting or rejecting him. It was a chance for us to draw similarities between Asian culture and Arab culture, especially that marriage in our societies is seen as a communal responsibility as well. I added that Shelina’s writings on love and marriage taps into a bigger discourse- that of love in general. She provides a different cultural discourse on love and of finding love through arranged marriages, and thus makes it accessible to the west, hence the possibility of mainstreaming it into the multicultural British discourse becomes possible, which will build understandings and acceptance of different cultures within the dominant one. She tries to emphasize in a way that ‘love’ is not a ‘bad’ word, but is what every woman looks for- even Muslim women, but the path and application may differ.  

One more similarity between both cultures was the issue of successful women and their social acceptance. We discussed the cultural constrains on women who thrive to become trendsetters. What hit a cord with me was when she said that in certain societies a woman should fit a certain type, the modest one, and when she goes beyond it, the society gets perplexed. Some societies can’t accept it when a woman is “too much” of any thing, like being “too educated” or ‘too successful’.

“I believe that a woman needs to be wise in picking her battles. A woman being “too’ educated, even if it wasn’t accepted at the beginning, will eventually bring prosperity to her, her family, and community as a whole.”

The class was vibrant and we all enjoyed having her. Shelina is a captivating speaker, very calm, very composed, and very relatable.