World Peace

Invitation to participate in Musawah knowledge building

2011-10-05T20:34:00.001-07:00

FYI and please spread the word to those who may be interested!


INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN MUSAWAH KNOWLEDGE BUILDING
27 September 2011

Musawah's Ground-Breaking Research on Qiwamah and Wilayah
Picture courtesy: flickr

Read this email in Arabic.

Musawah is undertaking a long-term, multi-faceted knowledge building initiative on the Qur'anic concepts of qiwamah and wilayah, which are commonly understood as sanctioning men's authority over women.

As interpreted and constructed in Muslim legal traditions, and as applied in modern laws and practices, these concepts play a central role in institutionalising, justifying and sustaining a patriarchal model of families in Muslim contexts. In Muslim legal traditions, marriage automatically places a wife under her husband's qiwamah and presumes an exchange: the wife's obedience and submission (tamkin) in return for maintenance (nafaqah) from the husband.

This theoretical relationship, which still underlies many family law provisions in our contexts as Muslims today, results in inequality in matters such as financial security, right to divorce, custody and guardianship, choice and consent in marriage, sexual and reproductive health and rights, inheritance and nationality laws. This inequality is out of tune with contemporary notions of Islamic and human rights principles. It also clashes with the reality that men are often unable or unwilling to protect and provide for their families.

It's time to recognise that women often serve as the providers for and protectors of their families.

In order to campaign and advocate for laws and practices that promote equality and justice in the Muslim family, we need new knowledge and perspectives on qiwamah and wilayah. This project seeks to show how laws based on outdated interpretations of qiwamah and wilayah no longer reflect the justice of Islam, and that other interpretations are both possible and more in tune with human rights principles and contemporary lived realities.

Need more information? Read an overview of the initiative in English or in Arabic.

Join the research team - GET INVOLVED!

We are inviting all Musawah Advocates to join this initiative. At this stage, there are three ways to get involved:

Send in existing statistics and data from your country - Can you send in statistics or data from your context that can support Musawah's perspective that the realities and experiences of women and men today can no longer justify the rationale for qiwamah and wilayah in Muslim legal traditions?

We have commissioned a research paper to use such data as evidence of the need to rethink men's role as 'protectors and maintainers' of women. We need data on female-headed households, dual-income households, women's education levels, women's participation in agriculture, male and female labour-force participation rates and migration rates, prevalence of violence against women, divorce rates, and grounds commonly cited for divorce. Your data will help develop a worldwide analysis that you can then use to show the disconnect between law and reality and make a strong case for change in your local activism. All those who contribute data will be acknowledged as part of the research effort.

Document women's life stories in your context - Would you or your organisation like to document women's life stories to better understand how qiwamah and wilayah impact their lives? A major part of the knowledge building initiative will be participatory research by Musawah Advocates to shed light on the realities of family lives.

An Indonesian team has been undertaking a pilot documentation project since January 2011 to develop a methodology that can be shared with all Advocates. We'd like Advocates to commit to be part of this project NOW so we can get them involved and start building capacity for this important documentation process. By participating in this project, your organisation can learn more about the concepts of qiwamah and wilayah, build your research and analysis skills, collect life stories that can be used in your local or national advocacy work, and be a part of this exciting, ground-breaking knowledge-building initiative. A limited amount of small grant funds are available to contribute towards supporting local research.

Tell us about your work on qiwamah and wilayah - Have you or your organisation worked on issues relating to qiwamah and wilayah already?

If so, please share your experiences or research so we can try to incorporate these into the Musawah knowledge building initiative. We will acknowledge your contributions and may also invite you to join the conceptual meetings or online discussions when we discuss the issues in more depth.

If you would like to get involved in the Qiwamah and Wilayah Knowledge Building Initiative, please contact us at musawah@musawah.org. We look forward to working with you!

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Prophet Mohammed Cared About His Wife's Feelings

2011-07-26T21:53:00.001-07:00

عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهَا قَالَتْ قَالَ لِي رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ إِنِّي لَأَعْلَمُ إِذَا كُنْتِ عَنِّي رَاضِيَةً وَإِذَا كُنْتِ عَلَيَّ غَضْبَى قَالَتْ فَقُلْتُ مِنْ أَيْنَ تَعْرِفُ ذَلِكَ فَقَالَ أَمَّا إِذَا كُنْتِ عَنِّي رَاضِيَةً فَإِنَّكِ تَقُولِينَ لا وَرَبِّ مُحَمَّدٍ وَإِذَا كُنْتِ عَلَيَّ غَضْبَى قُلْتِ لَا وَرَبِّ إِبْرَاهِيمَ قَالَتْ قُلْتُ أَجَلْ وَاللَّهِ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ مَا أَهْجُرُ إِلا اسْمَكَ"

رواه البخاري، كتاب النكاح، رقم الحديث 4827 موسوعة الحديث.

A'isha reported: "Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) said to me: I can well discern when you are pleased with me and when you are annoyed with me. I said: How do you discern it? Thereupon be said: When you are pleased with me you say "No, by the Lord of Muhammad," and when you are annoyed with me, you say "No, by the Lord of Ibrahim." I said: Allah's Messenger, by Allah, I leave only your name (when I am annoyed with you)." Sahih Muslim and Sahih Al-Bukhari.

Hadil witnessed the Tahrir wedding & Sunday Coptic Mass

2011-02-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

Here is the second update from Hadil about her experience in Tahrir Square on Sunday:

"Dear Friends,

Yesterday I went to Tahrir square with my whole family, Mom, dad and my two younger sisters.As we approached the square we watched thousands marching towards the square, many of whom carried bags with food for protesters.We got down and marched with them till we reached a long queue of people who were getting inspected by regular youth before entering the square, to make sure no weapons or any harmful material. The military was there as well and checked our ID's.

That day in Tahrir we numbered to at least 2 Million. Just observing the scene there seemed as if everyone had an unspoken determination to resist Mubarak's" divide and conquer" strategy.Sunday was announced as the day of "martyrs" in commemoration of all the protesters who fell since the start of the revolution.We witnessed the Sunday Coptic Mass and the Muslim Prayer, with both Father and Sheikh sending prayers of blessings for the people's uprising, and people marching and chanting with the Cross and the Qur'an.Women and girls were hand in hand with men and boys who volunteered to clean up the square and run the field hospital.

Perhaps one of the most telling scenes was the marriage ceremony ( niqah) in the middle of the square between two people who allegedly met during the protests. The whole crowd joined in prayers for them. When the new bride spoke she said: "This square has turned into my home and all of you became my family, I will not find a people more precious than all of you to share my marriage happiness with than you".

I never felt safer in a crowd of 2 Million people in my life than yesterday. Sexual harrassment [had] turned sadly into a reality that accompanied any public gathering in Egypt. This is the same Egypt where today I could stand alone in the middle of a crowd with men passing behind and in front of me without having the slightest fear and not even a single gaze or inappropriate remark.A young man who accidentally was pushed slightly against my sister turned around and was extremely apologetic. When a group of us young women stood together ,young men gradually started forming a chain around us to protect us, as the masses of people increased.

Abdel-Halim Kandil, a famous political activist and coordinator of the Kefaya political pro-democracy movement, spoke to the crowds yesterday about the process of change, and that as we demand the change of the system we must change as well.This change is already happening....

As I'm writing you this update, one of the Satellite TV channels is now posting the picture one by one of each martyrer who were killed in cold blood by the regime of Mubarak,most of them 16 and 17 year old, the youngest being killed is a 10 year old boy with two bullets in his body.Rest in piece my brothers and sisters...

Hadil"

Update from my Egyptian friend

2011-02-05T21:10:00.000-08:00

My friend Hadil wrote this update to her friends all over the world. I pray for her safety and wish her and all other protesters victory!

"Dear Friends

Today I flew back to Cairo to join family and friends in this historic uprising againts Mubarak's despotic regime. A few of us on the plane found ourselves in tears just laying our eyes on Cairo as its lights appeared from the sky.

Many of my friends have been camping in Tahrir square all night, while others have been arrested and beaten and humilated.

Yet the determination and strength of everyone is like an earthquake that shook Mubarak's system.

On my way from the airport I passed by at least 10 security checks, including neighborhood watches from ordinary people who sat up all night ,set up fire to warm themselves in the cold and arming themselves with whatever weapons they could find againt thugs and secret riot police who try to terrorize and intimidate people.

I stayed up all night chatting with friends who have been going regularly to tahrir square, sharing stories upon which we cracked up laughing and stories whch made us shed tears.Two of them had just been released from secret police who caught them bringing much needed medical aid and cotton to injured protestors at the square.These were a group of 16-19 year old teenagers, yet this didnt stop the police from terrorizing and assaulting them.

Muhamad Haeikal one of the prominent Egyptian thinkers summarized the whole situation in one beautifull sentence " the ugliest of what is in Egypt tried brutally to kill what is most noble in it".

It was eye opening to all of us, especially the pro-democracy opposition activist like us, that while the world, then UN, the various Human development reports, were telling us how uneducated, poor, corrupt, violent and racist we are, it was amazing to see a humane, noble, conscious and aware people that is humbling to say at least. It is incredible to see how when our ruthless dictators loose their ground, a nobility and love for one own's country emerges.

A picture in the front page on one of the newspaper here was showing a picture of an army solider who was shedding tears beacuse he could not protect the proestors from the violent thugs. The picture is showing one of the protestors whiping away his tears.

Coptic Christians formed human chains around Muslims protecting them while they are performing their friday prayers.

The stories of heroism are incredible, this is the first time in our history we witness riot police being inspected by neighbourhood watch people.

A doctor was sharing, on the funny side, how an old man with more than 30 bones broken still insisted on coming to the square every day! He was begging the man not to return so he can give medical aid to others.

In the middle of all of this, Egyptians did not loose their sense of humor, people chanting and dancing in the millions " Mubarak went crazy' as the tanks stand behind them and try to terrorize them.

There were the stories of Azhar scholars and students joining the protestors in their cloaks , even though the only slogans they knew were from the times of resistance to the british colonial rule, people embraced them laughingly and warmly while carrying them on thier shoulders and chanting.

I will head to the Tahrir square in an hour...

Love,

Hadil"

Questions. Lots of Them.

2010-12-14T18:04:00.000-08:00

Have you recently thought of what constitutes friendship? Who are your friends? What makes them friends not acquaintances? What is the true test of friendship?

The ultimate question, though, is why does it hurt so much when you find out that someone you consider a "friend" does not consider you a friend of theirs? Even worse, when you find clues that this "friend" has been jealous of you or passionately, yet secretly, envies you? Can you be friends with someone who's so envious?

It's true that some friends are forever. Others appear at particular times and places for particular missions, then they slip back out of our lives. And then there are "friends" that were never meant to be friends, but somehow they got mislabeled, or were given more benefit of the doubt than they really deserved.

I'd do and give anything for my friends. I just hope I don't do it for those "friends"!

الحلم والمسيرة

2009-12-29T22:07:00.000-08:00

بينما تتهافت المشاركات في مسيرة غزة الحرة من أنحاء العالم وتتظاهر احتجاجا على عرقلة الأمن المصري مرورهم إلى غزة، وتجلس المرأة اليهودية ذات الخمسة وثمانون عاما والتي نجت من المحرقة النازية، على كرسي في القاهرة معلنة إضرابها عن الطعام¹ غير مبالية بآثار هذا القرار على جسدها الهزيل، أتساءل أنا عن نساء العرب وكم منهن تنوي حضور تلك المسيرة أو غيرها تضامنا مع أخواتنا في غزة... أخواتنا الأرامل والثكالى ومعيلات الأسر... وأخواتنا اللاتي إن أسعفهن الحظ بأن ينجو الزوج، فإن احتمالية تعرضهن للعنف من قبل ذلك الزوج ازدادت طرديا² مع ازدياد الجوع والبطالة والإحباط والاكتئاب الحاد لدى كل سكان السجن مفتوح السقف مقفل الأبواب والجدران والنوافذ.

أنا لا أعرف من فلسطين، أرض أجدادي، غير ما رأيت منها في زيارة قصيرة جدا قبل سنوات... فقد ولدت في بلد عربي كان يعتبرني وأهلي عمالا وافدين لا أكثر، ثم عشت في بلد أحمل جنسيتها وقدمت لي الكثير، ثم تغربت وبعدت بي المسافات… لكني بقيت أحلم بالعودة… حلم العودة هو الشيء الوحيد الذي ورثته عن أجدادي وسيرثه أبنائي وأحفادي… يا ترى، بماذا تحلم نساء القدس ورام الله والخليل؟ بماذا تحلم نساء غزة؟ بأيام تختفي فيها القيود بكل أنواعها، قيود الاحتلال وقيود الثقافة الأبوية؟ بحياة ملؤها الحب والسلام والعدل والأمان؟

سألبس كوفيتي الفلسطينية يوم 31 ديسمبر (كانون الأول) 2009 تضامنا مع المشاركات والمشاركين في مسيرة غزة ومع أخواتي الفلسطينيات الحالمات بحياة أفضل، وأخواتي الفلسطينيات في المهجر اللاتي تشاركنني حلم العودة، وأخواتي الليلات في كل مكان اللاتي لا تنسى أخواتهن وتكافحن من أجل التغيير والحرية لهن ولنا جميعاً. ولو استطاعت الكوفية أن تنطق لقالت كم كنت أتمنى أن أكون هناك مع 1300 شخص من 43 دولة للمشاركة في المسيرة.³

Holocaust survivor stages hunger strike for Gaza ¹

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5juepzZ-b0wLkYbpEJGjlY1QhsE2g

² في دراسة حديثة لمركز معلومات وإعلام المرأة :77% من النساء في قطاع غزة يتعرضن للعنف http://www.pwic.org.ps/cnews/show_news.php?subaction=showfull&id=1261652027&archive=&template=

CODEPINK: Gaza Freedom March ³

http://www.gazafreedommarch.com/article.php?list=type&type=416

The Hunter and the Dirty Diaper

2009-11-29T12:06:00.000-08:00

Life has gotten too complex for the old division of labor by sex to prevail -- an order that reduces roles to simple provider vs. care giver. It is rather unfortunate that that old division of labor by sex is very much well and alive, even here in the U.S., particularly among Arab American families.

That order may have been fit for the old days when men were hunters and women were gatherers, but notice here how even then, women were not care givers period, they actually provided 70% of the food intake of their families out of what they gathered. Hunting did not always put food on the table, so there had to be stables to fall back on in the absence of bloody meat.

The reality is that there are some men who are more caring than some women and that there are some women who are smarter and can provide better than some men. It does not have to be an either or and I'm not calling for role reversal here. I'm just saying that it's time for some who claim to live by the morals and rules of an abstract culture to reassess the reality. It is time for some men who think money buys everything including women's labor to roll up their sleeves and go change that dirty diaper. It is time for some women to stop measuring their worth by how sparkling are their cookware or if they have a son or not.

Ignorance: the root of today's "Honor"

2009-09-13T16:45:00.000-07:00

Do women have honor? If so, how would you define it? Is it in any way associated with a man's behavior, choices, or relations? Do women OWN their own honor rather than owe it to a man?

Men, on the other side, are overburdened, by choice or not, with the multiple concepts, words, and meanings of their honor. العرض [al ‘erdh], الرحم [ar rahem], and المحارم [al maharem] or its Western variation as Harem, are all equivalent to Honor, which is in Arabic [Asharaf] الشرف. All of which are contingent, in one way or another, on, at least one, woman’s behavior, choices, and sometimes mere existence.

How this came to be, when, and why, is beyond me. One thing I know for sure is that ignorance is at the root of this (mis)understanding and its consequences, which have turned a beautiful thing, “honor,” into a troubling phenomenon in some Arab and Muslim communities.

Way too many women’s lives have been cut short, in some places under the clear label of “honor” and in many others under other labels, as “accidents,” or even silently. The crimes and punishments that go unreported are many times more than those we hear about.

In Jordan, many people, including judges and lawyers, put more value on the “honor” part and less value on the “crime” part of the issue. How is this not blaming the victim and idolizing the criminal? It is unfortunate that when the subject of women in Jordan comes up anywhere, the first thing to pop up is “Honor” crimes. Jordan is not the only country where this happens, or even the country where this phenomenon is worst. Jordan’s black record in this area is actually the result of good advocacy on the part of Rana Husseini and women’s rights activists and organizations.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has just pointed out that Jordan needs to put this issue back on its reform agenda, probably at the top. In their September 10 letter to Minister of Justice Ayman Awdeh, HRW says:

The establishment of a special tribunal on "honor" killings signals the government's awareness that it must do more to tackle these severe and discriminatory crimes against women. However, in Human Rights Watch's experience, only a sustained and comprehensive effort-not a special tribunal-can lead to the goal of integrating sensitivity about violence against women into the mainstream justice system. Such an effort should start with the legal reforms in the penal code, but also include adequate judicial training.

The issue, however, is too deep-set to solve through legal reform alone. In his analysis of the status of what he calls “Pride crimes” in Jordan, Naseer Alomari wrote in the Jordan Times: “the legal system cannot right the perceived wrong.” He adds:

Honour killings pose a political and social dilemma for Jordan. Politically, no government would push for tougher punishments for honour killing without sounding like advocating immorality. Socially, the path to stopping honour killing is blocked by the insurmountable hurdle of wrong values and beliefs about sexuality, women’s freedom of choice and fundamentalist religious beliefs.

Politically, fear of being perceived as advocating immorality sounds similar to the Republicans’ obsession with the “Abstinence only” program. You can see how this program embodies American double standards and cognitive dissonance when you watch any of the American mainstream TV programs.

Socially, the gender double standard regarding women’s sexuality is a worldwide issue to varying degrees, so it is not specific to Jordan. What is specific to Jordan and other Arab and Muslim countries (and pushes my buttons) is the false understanding of the religion and the misuse of religious texts to cover up for inherently misogynist, patriarchal, and archaic beliefs.

I assure you that if you read and search throughout the Qur’an for one verse that can be in any way understood to justify such antiquated beliefs, you won’t find any. I would put money on it that none of the “honor” killers have read the Qur’an. I do not claim to be a scholar or a qualified interpreter of the Qur’an, but what I find when I read it includes the following:

4:15 وَاللاَّتِي يَأْتِينَ الْفَاحِشَةَ مِن نِّسَآئِكُمْ فَاسْتَشْهِدُواْ عَلَيْهِنَّ أَرْبَعةً مِّنكُمْ فَإِن شَهِدُواْ فَأَمْسِكُوهُنَّ فِي الْبُيُوتِ حَتَّىَ يَتَوَفَّاهُنَّ الْمَوْتُ أَوْ يَجْعَلَ اللّهُ لَهُنَّ سَبِيلاً

4:15 (Y. Ali) If any of your women are guilty of lewdness, Take the evidence of four (Reliable) witnesses from amongst you against them; and if they testify, confine them to houses until death do claim them, or Allah ordain for them some (other) way.*

4:93وَمَن يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُّتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَآؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ خَالِدًا فِيهَا وَغَضِبَ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَلَعَنَهُ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُ عَذَابًا عَظِيمًا

4:93 (Y. Ali) If a man kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell, to abide therein (For ever): And the wrath and the curse of Allah are upon him, and a dreadful penalty is prepared for him.*

And in a Hadith, Prophet Mohammad says:

"أتاني جبريل، فقال: يا محمد عش ما شئت فإنك ميت، وأحبب من شئت، فإنك مفارقه، واعمل ما شئت فإنك مجزي به، واعلم أن شرف المؤمن قيامه بالليل، وعزه استغناؤه عن الناس." وفي قول آخر: "شرف المؤمن صلاته بالليل وعزه استغناءه عما في أيدي الناس."

“Angel Gabriel came to me and said: O Muhammad live all you want for you will die one day; love whoever you want, you will leave it; do what you want, you will be judged for it; and know that the honor of a believer is in nightly worship, and a believer's pride is in being independent of people.” In another narration:“the believer's honor is in nightly prayer and his dignity is letting go of what's in the hands of the people.”

Do you still not know how to define “honor” after all?

* Verse search and translation through IslamiCity.com.

Picture:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hamed/ / CC BY 2.0

Technology as the new form of Burqa

2009-08-30T00:31:00.000-07:00

Growing up, family gatherings were the best part of Ramadan for most, food was for some, but for me it was Taraweeh prayer. I used to love going to the mosque down the street with Mom or with neighbors. The united voices of so many people, mostly men, chanting "Amen" in every Rak'ah never ceased to send shivers down my spine.

With the constant competition of daily obligations and endless to-dos, Taraweeh prayer has not been getting a worthy share of my time for the last few Ramadans. Not with a toddler anyway! I did manage to go once so far this month. I tried not to let the ignorant old man who hushed my son and husband (along with other men and their children) out of the mosque ruin it for me. "No children here" he bellowed. "Children go outside or to the room downstairs."

The room downstairs makes me claustrophobic. It's a small room with no windows or healthy ventilation where women with children pray to keep the noise away. Women without children pray upstairs in the section separated from men's by movable board walls. The one thing in common between the two women's spaces: monitors showing live webcast of the men's section.

Through those monitors, we can see the men, or at least the imam or speaker. They remind me of Mariam, the main character in Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns, and her burqa.

And the burqa, she learned to her surprise, was also comforting. It was like a one-way window. Inside it, she was an observer, buffered from the scrutinizing eyes of strangers.

Technology has facilitated and reinforced the gender-based separation at many a mosque these days. If the justification for those monitors is to make women have a sense of inclusion and presence in prayers or events, then how are we supposed to raise questions, participate in discussions, or object to rules or roaring old men? How did the woman who objected to Omar bin Al-Khattab's direction to lower dowries do it if she was cast behind a wall or caring for a baby in the basement? All I know is that monitors did not exist when we were growing up, just like fake walls did not exist in the Golden years of Islam.

Silence is a crime!

2009-07-01T20:14:00.000-07:00

Here is an insider's perspective into "honor killings" in Palestine and how they are related to incest and abuse by Kawther Salam, a Palestinian refugee in Austria. She mentions 7 familiar cases, out of many more, in which girls and women from her school, neighborhood, or city were murdered by fathers and brothers, for the wrong reason, or for no reason.

It's time to break the silence about incest and domestic violence. Silence is no less of a crime than the shameful acts themselves or the so-called "honor killings" that often cover-up those shameful acts. It's enraging to know that

More than 50 percent of the victims who were examined and found to be not virgin could only have lost their virginity because of sexual abuse by their own relatives, who then murdered them to cover up their shameful deeds.

"Faith and feminism" go hand in hand

2009-04-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

Almost every word in this column resonates with my own thoughts and lived experiences. It's so true, I felt like Zohra Moosa, the author of this week's "Faith and feminism" column on the New Statesman, could be my twin sister. Here is what she says:

I am often probed about how I reconcile my faith with my feminism. Sometimes it comes as an explicit question, as happened when I was interviewed earlier this year for a book on Islam and feminism. I was asked directly whether I found it difficult to reconcile the two, whether there were inherent tensions I had to navigate and how did I square my religion and my belief (the two were conflated in the question) with my feminist convictions.

I was there too:

More often, it is an implied critique, a suggestion that I suffer from some combination of any of: false consciousness, limited agency/choice (where my family, ‘community’ and/or ‘culture’ is presumed to be oppressing me), insufficiently robust or analytical intellectual capacities (no one has actually called me ‘stupid’ yet though), political defensiveness about being Muslim (i.e. refusing to engage in critiques of Islam within the current political/security climate), political or social naiveté, opportunism (some people think it’s a good time to peddle being a ‘Muslim woman feminist’), and/or a misreading of feminism and/or Islam.

Sexist text?

Having grown up with both faith and feminism and never really not had either, I continue to find the suggestion that they are anything other than complementary in my life a bit alien. Intellectually I understand the confusion that prompts the question; I’ve had enough people quote parts of the Qu’ran at me to have received the message that they would like to tell me: ‘your primary text is sexist don’t you know’. But to equate a spiritual practice with some people’s literal, and historically and politically vacuous, interpretations of a text is to miss the point in a pretty profound way.

My feminism is informed by my faith and vice-versa because of how I live both. Just as my feminism is more than the job I do at the Fawcett Society, so too is my faith more than the prayers I say.

I couldn't agree more:

I came to the feminist movement from religious teachings about empathy, peace, social justice, and the need to work for the betterment of others and the world. I was schooled, in religious contexts, to have a healthy intolerance of exploitation, abuse, marginalization, and dis-empowerment. In addition, there were particular religiously-sourced stories about the importance of respecting women, the righteousness of treating women with dignity and fairness, the value in educating girl children over boy children that reinforced feminist principles for me from an early age.

They reinforce each other:

Over time, feminism has become the natural extension of the moral framework that I was inculcated into from birth. There need not have been anything particularly ‘Muslim’ about my feminist awakenings, but the reality is that in my case there was. In turn, I come to my faith, every day, with a sense of purpose and direction because of my feminist ethics. My spiritual journey is intimately connected with my ideas about humanity and life. As these ideas evolve over time, so too does my spiritual path change, which then affects my politics.

Who wouldn't want a richer life?

My life is richer for having both faith and feminism in it. So that’s how I reconcile the two.

Marcel Khalifé, Al Mayadine Ensemble, and Mahmoud Darwish: Inspiration Unlimited!

2009-03-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

Going to Marcel Khalifé's concert at the Kennedy Center yesterday was the best thing I have done in a while. The music, the words, the talents, everything was magical, indescribable! I enjoyed every second of it and I wished it went on longer to extend the heavenly experience I had in the presence of a prodigy!

Marcel Khalifé's songs were among the first songs I loved and memorized in childhood. Far from typical, his songs have special inspirational values that transcend all measures of success. What makes Marcel Khalifé stand out is a combination of his moving words and poems, particularly the ones written by Mahmoud Darwish, and his amazing talent composing and playing his own music. The Oud, his instrument, provides the Arabic dimension and rooting in his music, among a variety of other instruments.

His sons, Rami and Bachar, are no less talented on the Piano and Percussion (respectively). Both played throughout the concert without notes! Omaima El-Khalil and her famous "asfoor tal men el shebbak" (A bird peered from the window) song was wonderful as always. Each and every person in his ensemble has an extraordinary talent playing their instruments, it makes you wonder how can so many individually talented people all be in one place and play in such wonderful harmony! What's noteworthy is how Marcel Khalifé made sure he gave almost every person in his ensemble a chance to play solo, showcasing their individual abilities. There were also several pieces of musical dialogues, if I may so call them, where two to four instruments would play simultaneously or respond to each other.

Marcel Khalifé's unwavering nationalism and courage rocked Washington D.C. despite immigration officers' intimidation attempts at his arrival. He shared with the audience his story of being pulled aside by immigration officers at airports every time he enters the U.S., this time being the worst because he was held up for 3 hours despite the special visa he was given by the Kennedy Center to facilitate his entry. Yet he was gracious enough to dedicate his famous "Passport" song to the immigration officer who pulled him aside! It's probably time that immigration officer does his/her homework about this legendary political, cultural composer, conductor, songwriter, and singer. After all, the event was called "And we Love Life" - Salute to Mahmoud Darwish.* Let's not forget that "[w]herever his artistic paths may lead him, Palestine will always remain a life theme for Marcel Khalife." Qantara.de 2009

* Kennedy Center - Washington, DC: Arabesque Festival: Arts of the Arab World, February 23 - March 15, 2009

Cultural Pride: Not for Everyone

2009-02-27T21:06:00.000-08:00

I have never lived in a country where I felt I fully belonged and was embraced as an indiginous or national with full rights. As a child, I always wished I could be one of those proud children neatly wearing dresses and hair ribbons of the flag colors of their country. I remember the mixed feelings I had of joy and envy as I just sat on the gym floor watching the Kuwaiti girls rehearse their cultural dances for the big performances on national holidays and end of the year graduation day. The joy of always being one of the honors students receiving cool gifts at the graduation ceremony was not enough to quench my thirst for wearing fancy, glittery clothes and colors that show my cultural and national pride. I still remember the graduation day of 2nd grade when Mom thought I'd look neater in the school uniform, but I insisted on wearing a fancy white dress. I probably didn't even know what a Palestinian cultural dress looked like back then.

Playing in the school band in Jordan while the Jordanian girls rehearsed their national songs and dabkeh was not any easier for me. Even though there were some Palestinian/Jordanian girls in the team, only pure Jordanian girls were allowed to sing and be lead dancers. The video of that award-winning performance of my middle-school's team, taped in 1992, is still being played on Jordanian national TV over and over to reinforce concepts of national pride. Cultural pride is beautiful when it's not intended to reinforce divides or hierarchies. But when Palestinian expats and refugees are the only ones not appreciated, not allowed, or even endangered for displaying their cultural and national pride, it's plain unfair.

* image of Kuwaiti children from http://www.amanjordan.org/articles/index.php?news=3400

The "Sarah Palin" Fever

2008-09-17T18:46:00.000-07:00

As seasonal allergies and flu fevers hit hard, there is one world-wide fever that is particularly unexpected and unsettling: the "Sarah Palin" one. From silly impersonations of her on YouTube and Palin hairdos to non-stop media coverage and analysis of each and every word she says, it is becoming simply unbearable. I know I am contributing to this fever by writing this very post, but sometimes you have to vent about something to be able to begin healing!

What i don't understand is how much of this fever is REALLY triggered by her gender as opposed to everything else she is and stands for? But then, why didn't Condoleezza Rice, Nancy Pelosi, or Pat Shroeder get this celebrity-like treatment and attention? And her motherhood -- why is it that all those men's fatherhood is never brought up or their ability to "balance it all" questioned? There is something seriously wrong with our political gender double standards.

Despite their proven track record, I refuse to believe that McCain and Republicans are stupid enough to think that most women of America are stupid enough to vote for them just to get a woman VP. I partially agree, however, that whether they intentionally meant for this to happen or not, the Sarah Palin fever is stealing the spotlights away from the real issues American voters and media should be focusing on only weeks before elections.

Well, there are also the recent distractions of the stock market, economy, and Ike. To me these issues come handy in a "World 101" lesson on how the greatest majority of people on earth do not prioritize political participation when their #1 concern is survival and immediate financial security.

So while the Obama supporters are busy balancing their checkbooks and re-calculating their monthly expenses based on the new oil prices, Sarah Palin is busy getting a private tan in the comfort of her own mansion and shopping for designer shoes.

As Eve Ensler nicely put it in her "Drill, Drill, Drill" article: "I believe that the McCain/Palin ticket is one of the most dangerous choices of my lifetime, and should this country chose those candidates the fall-out may be so great, the destruction so vast in so many areas that America may never recover. But what is equally disturbing is the impact that duo would have on the rest of the world. Unfortunately, this is not a joke."

Guantanamo Cell Tours

2008-06-19T13:38:00.000-07:00

It is a great success that detainees at Guantanamo now have the right to challenge their detention in civilian courts!!

Amnesty International has done a wonderful job in their grand Guantanamo Bay replica cell tours in Miami, Philadelphia, Portland, Washington DC, and Los Angeles. Thousands have visited these cells and many expressed grief, disbelief, and willingness to fight injustice as a result.

Here is the cell tour blog with many amazing videos and links:

http://celltour.amnesty.org/?tr=y&auid=3740912

Enjoy!

Discrimination in the 21st Century!

2008-05-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

"Mission Foods Fires Six Muslim Women Over Islamic Attire"

They used safety as a reason to impose new tight-fitting uniform that does not accomodate Muslim women's choices and beliefs.

CAIR is mediating between the fired employees and the company to find a reasonable solution.

http://www.cair.com/ArticleDetails.aspx?mid1=777&&ArticleID=24849&&name=n&&currPage=1

Reflecting on Modern Patriarchy

2008-05-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

I can't help but wonder sometimes if the concept of patriarchy in its traditional understanding still holds today. Yes, most of the world leaders are still men (although there is still the question of who votes for them, is it only men?) and yes, women still make 76 cents to a man's dollar in the most powerful country in the world. Women still amount to less than 10% of military forces worldwide and less than that in Engineering. But if we look around us, and I mean really look closely, who is oppressing women these days? Who is telling us what to wear and what not to wear? Who is raising us to be good housewives? Who is judging our (in)ability to be super-human by juggling (and perfecting) two or three jobs at once - career, housework, and childcare - if not more than that? Who is constantly pointing out our excess fat and cellulite? Who is labeling us spinsters, bitches, and monsters-in-law? Men are not the ones going around cutting girls' genitalia (for whatever reason) in Africa; they are mostly grandmothers and midwives, and sometimes moms help out by pinning the girls down so they can't move! And are scantily-clad and nude models all being forced to pose for those photo shoots? What about women who ask for female servants/maids/modern slaves from poor parts of the world, totally oblivious to their possibly horrible fate and the ugly big picture of women enslaving women?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending men or blaming women. I am trying to analytically critique the concept of patriarchy the way it is practiced today. It might have been true that in the past, far or near, men had a strong hold over women and women had no say. How could they when they had no right to vote, own property, get education, or even express their opinions? Nowadays, women almost all over the world have these rights and much more, yet a few choose to have affairs with married men who promise nothing but love and lies.

What's wrong with the picture? Has patriarchy been internalized as a culture and way of life that we can no longer point fingers at men, yet we're still several steps below them struggling with a shiny, glamorous glass ceiling? Have they succeeded at petting us against each other using the "divide and conquer" rule that now we're too busy to get back on track? I am not asking for a militant women's movement with a separatist strategy to achieve equality. I am just hoping to live to the day when women are aware of their own oppressive ideals, cultures, lifestyles, choices, and dreams and are willing to change them.

Film chronicles a Muslim man’s quest for pilot’s license post 9/11

2008-05-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

"On a Wing and a Prayer: An American Muslim Learns to Fly" is a documentary film about Monem and Iman Salam, a Bellingham, WA couple with big and small dreams, a family, and a story. Monem, the son of Pakistani parents, a family man and a devout Muslim, acts on his dream to become a pilot like his Dad. His wife Iman, born in America to Palestinian parents, dreams of becoming the Muslim Martha Stewart. Not unlike many Muslims in America, the bridging of their Muslim and American identities is a daily activity. The small-scale film brings a much-needed insight about Muslim family life in America in its universal and unique perspectives.

Has 9/11 made it impossible for American Muslims to fly planes and become pilots? For that matter, has it become impossible to even ride planes without going through "random" thorough search and people staring at us throughout the trip? I really felt bad for the lady sitting in my same raw on the plane the other day for taking up the responsibility of watching every move I made. She could have used some sleep.

I know a friend whose father was denied a visit visa to USA to attend her graduation because of his past job as a pilot. It sure has not been easy for many people on all ends to put up with these new restrictions. However, I look forward to watching the film “On a Wing and a Prayer," which puts forward an optimistic, humorous outlook on the issue.

http://www.bellinghamherald.com/255/story/400443.html

"Words for the evildoers"

2008-05-07T21:12:00.000-07:00

Lesson of the day:
Think before you speak!
The words you choose make a huge difference!

Words to avoid: Islamic terrorists, Islamofascists, etc.

Read this interesting article by David Schanzer
http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1062269.html

A Devastating Cyclone Hit Myanmar Saturday

2008-05-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

So far, "at least 22,000 were killed and hundreds of thousands are homeless" in Myanmar as a result of the deadly cyclone that hit Saturday.

Aid is not getting to affected people fast enough. Red Cross and UN aid agencies seem to be at the forefront for now.

"Based on a satellite map made available by the United Nations, the storm's damage was concentrated over about a 11,600-square-mile area along the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Martaban coastlines — less than 5 percent of the country, but home to nearly a quarter of the country's population."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90213937

I will be featured in the new television series "Crossing Cultures/Changing Lives" starting May 5

2008-05-01T12:37:00.001-07:00

“Crossing Cultures/Changing Lives” Debuts May 5

“Crossing Cultures/Changing Lives,” a 10-part television series on race, ethnic relations, and change, will premier on Monday, May 5, on WBEC-BECON TV. The first half-hour program, titled “Color is a Family Matter,” features families in which parents and children are of different races and/or skin color; use of the visual arts; and oral histories on the civil rights era. Throughout the month it will air at 12:30pm Mondays, 9pm Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30pm Saturdays and 1:30 pm Sundays.

In the Boca Raton-West Palm Beach area, BECON broadcasts on channel 97; in Broward, channel 19; on digital cable, channel 40; in Miami-Dade County, channels 19, 16 or 24; if no cable, channel 63. The full listing of channels is available on the website: www.becon.tv. The site also includes a telephone number (877-TV-BECON) for viewers to make comments about the show.

The series is produced and hosted by Kitty Oliver, an author, historian, veteran South Florida journalist and educator. A former member of the faculty of the School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, she is currently a student in the Ph.D. program in comparative studies. For more information on this television series, please contact Kitty Oliver at oliverko@aol.com or visit her website at http://www.kittyoliveronline.com/

I will appear in the last episode -- more to come on the exact date and time!

Motherhood

2008-04-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

Motherhood is the spring of world peace.
Becoming a mother is the closest thing to experiencing the euphoria of achieving peace.
Until we equate motherhood with power and world change, peace is just an abstract ideology.

Muslim Women and the “War on Terror”

2008-04-25T08:55:00.000-07:00

The “War on Terror,” which was initially waged to retaliate against Al-Qaeda’s 9/11, was also controversially declared a war to “liberate” Afghan women. Moreover, the promise of democracy and freedom for Iraqi people has become a nightmare of endless occupation and violence, and further inferiority for Iraqi women in their extremely turbulent environment. Subsequently, Muslim women’s lives have shifted from the shadows of invisibility and silence to the spotlights of vulnerability for some and power for others. The so called “War on Terror” has created an opportunity structure wherein Muslim feminist activists working on the grassroots level have successfully mobilized feminist support and political action transnationally.

I am writing a paper that chronicles the emergence of a new type of feminism in the Muslim world that is characterized by its postcolonial perspective and its transnational sphere. Using postcolonial feminist theory and transnational social movement literature, this paper examines the dimensions of the “double-burden” that Muslim feminist activists face as they mobilize on two fronts: internal – against patriarchy and women’s rights violations – and external – against Western imperialism and neoliberal capitalism, two of the factors fueling the “War on Terror.” Examples and testimonies are derived from writings of Muslim feminist activists in war zones as well as from documents and programs of women’s organizations like RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan), which have been powerful entities in defining and driving women’s efforts to effect change in times of war and upheaval.