Ayoon wa Azan (She came a long way on the road to freedom)

Their women have freedom. Our women’s freedom is restrained. Their women use all their capacities. Our women have limited capacities. Before I proceed, I want to note that I am not saying that our women are in chains. I am rather saying that their freedom, and thus their productivity, is restricted. This reflects on each woman’s efforts, intelligence, and knowledge. I was following up on the revolution against the offensive movie to the Prophet and I noticed that the news about the protests, the storming of embassies, and the killings of some people came along with many other pieces of news, some correct and others fabricated, about the bad situation of the Arab and Muslim women. It is as if Israel’s agents were trying to cover up for Israel’s racism and crimes by highlighting its enemies’ erroneous and un-defendable practices. A list of the most important women in the world is issued by Forbes Magazine on a yearly basis. In the latest list, Angela Merkel came first, followed by Hillary Clinton. I wasn’t actually looking for these two but rather for our women in the list. I found out that there are two Jewish women among the first ten and two other – Jewish women – among the next ten. There are also many other Jews in the list of 100 names. I congratulate them all for their success. I also found that the first Arab name was that of a Kuwaiti, Shaikha al-Bahar, the CEO of the National Bank of Kuwait, who ranked 85th on the list; followed by Shaikha Lubna al-Qasimi, the Minister of Foreign Trade in the UAE, ranking 92nd; and Shaikha Maysaa al-Thani at the 100th rank. I am familiar with Shaikha Lubna and I follow up on her work. She is a national treasure. However, I must say that she, along with Shaikha Mayssaa, would probably have not made the list if it wasn’t for their families’ positions despite their high personal capacities, efforts, and sense of ethics just like many other Arab and Muslim women who were unable to access high posts and who had doors slammed in their face. I was surprised that the list did not include Lubna Alayan, a world class business woman who has more capacities than many women on the list. I however found her in the list of the 100 Arab women, published by the magazine of Arab Economy, which is issued in English. Alayan ranked third there after Shaikha Lubna al-Qasimi who ranked first and the Yemeni Activist Tawakkul Karman who ranked second. On the other hand, what were the other pieces of news about? I read about a rich Indian Muslim whose wife asked for divorce after 35 years of marriage. He thus said in a British court that the Shariaa gives him the right to take a second wife although the court believed that he was not married to his mistress. There was also some news about an Imam (his name and photo were published) in London who was visited by a journalist claiming that he had a 12 year old daughter and that he wanted her to marry someone. The Imam agreed and asked him to be discrete since this violates the British laws. As for Iran, a news agency there issued news indicating that “Zionists are propagating homosexuality in order to control the world.” Some American Jewish websites claimed that there is a “war against women in Egypt” and that “Salafist MPs are objecting to the prevention of sex slavery (and sex trade).” There was also some news about the increased abduction and raping of young female Copts; which is absolutely untrue. Israel’s gang is also trying to use the connection of some Coptic emigrants with the despicable movie in order to create strife between the Muslims and the Copts in Egypt. In order for us to be objective, we must say that the most negative pieces of news about Arab and Muslim women actually do have some truth to them although they might be exaggerated; but they are not pure lies like some news concerning Egypt. It is enough to mention those “honor crimes” or the “non-honorable crimes” as I like to call them such as the instance of this Indian man and his wife who strangled their teenage daughter in London because she broke with Indian traditions. The man and his wife were each sentenced to 25 years in jail last month. The Arab and Muslim women have come a long way on the road of freedom during the last decades. However, they have not reached the end of that way. There are men who want to help them and others who want to oppress them and keep them confined between the kitchen and the bedroom because they know that, should women and men have equal chances, women would outdo men. --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.