An Interview with a Burqa Wearing Muslim Woman about Women's Rights in Islam: Stop the disinfo.

In light of denying ignorance, I thought I would interview a friend of mine in Egypt named Maha El Masry. She's a 24 year old traditionalist Muslim who chooses to wear a full burqa, also known as niqab. She even covers her eyes with a thin cloth, so nothing can be seen. In this interview I will ask her about women's rights in Islam, what she thinks about western women.

Me: do u want to explain for people why you wear you burqa? Is it forced upon you?

pure heart: since i was a child
pure heart: i used to look up to women who wear it
pure heart: whenevr i saw one of them
pure heart: i used to feel very happy
pure heart: and respect towards them
pure heart: no body told me at all to wear
pure heart: on the contrast
pure heart: many people try always to make youngwoman scared from wearing it
pure heart: but i felt inside me its the right and best thing for me
pure heart: so when i joined the university
pure heart: i felt its time to wear it
pure heart: and when i told my family about my decission
pure heart: they ALL opposed me
pure heart: they told me no body will propose to u
pure heart: u will not find a job
pure heart: and u will be mistreated cause they think whoever wear it is an extremist
pure heart: but was strong in my decission
pure heart: and tried so hard to convince them
pure heart: and finally was able to wear it
pure heart: i wanted to show them all

Me: And has it effected your ability to find jobs?

pure heart: that wearing niqab will not hinder me from education or work
pure heart: yes
pure heart: the governmental jobs
pure heart: but i worked for myself
pure heart: i gave private lessons
pure heart: and earned more than those who for for the government earn
pure heart: and after university
pure heart: i continued my study
pure heart: although many other girls who dont wear niqab dont study after university
pure heart: iam very happy with my decission
pure heart: i feel peace and secure

Me: What about this quote from ATS?: "Just look at all islamic countries, you dont see independent women, with careers, enjoying freedom like nowhere else. They are free to study (islam) and free to make babies (along with other wives who are owned by a "husband"). They are sold like cattle, and killed like wild game. They can't show their faces, nor talk to people on the streets, nor, in most cases, even walk in the street."

pure heart: of course this not true
pure heart: i went to university
pure heart: and was asked to show my face to people
pure heart: but ITS ME who insisted on wearing niqab
pure heart: and the woman here when she gets married
pure heart: islam and the law gurantees all her rights from her husband
pure heart: she has also the right to get divorce if he is not a good husband
pure heart: she not is not only a mother and a wife
pure heart: but she is also a doctor. engineer, teacher, and any job u can imagine
pure heart: she can never be sold, cause islam appreciate women so much that the husband should gurantee a good life for her when he proposes
pure heart: a woman in islam is like the very precious diamond
pure heart: if any body has a diamond
pure heart: he wont just leave it eveywhere and with every body
pure heart: but he will put it in a safe place

Me: most Arab women go to university though?

pure heart: yes
pure heart: and most of them are educated
pure heart: and most of them get good jobs
pure heart: even better than men

Me: but what happens when they get married?

pure heart: what do u mean?

Me: do they stop working>?

pure heart: it depends on what they agreed to do
pure heart: some husbands prefer to make her stop working
pure heart: and she agrees with him
pure heart: like me if iam to get married
pure heart: i will like to stay at home
pure heart: but others prefer to let her work
pure heart: giving the woman the right to work outside her home is not a good thing at all
pure heart: if this is the democracy and the freedom they talk about
pure heart: then we as muslim women dont want it

Me: you just want to be with ur children right?

pure heart: we dont care about what they think
pure heart: yes
pure heart: its my first mession on this earth
pure heart: Allah didnt creat me to work at fields or in factories
pure heart: Allah created me for a much importand and vital role
pure heart: to raise generations
pure heart: let money and jobs go to hell
pure heart: i just want to be a good wife and mother
pure heart: its my first mession on earth
pure heart: if iam able to do it and work at the same time its ok
pure heart: but my family is first

Me: what do u think about western world... which makes women work in order to survive as a family? is that freedom?

pure heart: they are simply destroying the family and the whole community
pure heart: i feel sympathy for those poor western women
pure heart: i dont like to be in their postion at all
pure heart: iam like a queen in my home
pure heart: dont have to go and deal with bad people ouside home to get money
pure heart: cause simply iam not created for such mession
pure heart: my father, my brother, my uncle....can do that better than me
pure heart: and at the same time
pure heart: they can never play my role at home
pure heart: they have their role
pure heart: and i have mine
pure heart: everybody knows what exactly should be done
pure heart: this is how Allah wanted us to be
pure heart: from the creation of adam SAAW
pure heart: since*
pure heart: since women went to work
pure heart: the children started to be so bad
pure heart: drugs and sex started to be everywhere
pure heart: they do everything arong cause their mother is busy at her work

Me: and also less jobs available for men, right?

pure heart: yes
pure heart: thats why alot of men now cant afford a family
pure heart: while a woman whose husband gives her money and who is not need for money has a job
pure heart: this is injust

Me: what do u mean?

pure heart: for example
pure heart: if a married woman is working
pure heart: and ofcourse her husband is working too
pure heart: then...they have two salaries
pure heart: while another youngman
pure heart: who wants to start his life
pure heart: doesnt have any salary at all

Me: and he can't get the job because the woman has it.. but they dont need the extra money?

pure heart: cause simply women are working in the postions youngmen should have
pure heart: yes

Me: so do u think women's rights were taken away by Islam? or given by Islam?

pure heart: women had no rights at all before islam
pure heart: she was buried alive
pure heart: simply because she was a woman
pure heart: she was not allowed to live her life after her husband dies

Me: or receive inheritance?

pure heart: she was not allowed to own money at all
pure heart: yes
pure heart: but after islam
pure heart: she restored all her rights
pure heart: Allah talked about buring her alive in quran
pure heart: and said that she didnt do anything to be buried
pure heart: and the prophet SAAW said
pure heart: whoever raises three daughters in a good way
pure heart: and treats them well
pure heart: and spends money on them
pure heart: till they get married
pure heart: he will go to heaven
pure heart: the prophet SAAW also said
pure heart: that men and woman are equal in rights and duties
pure heart: but that doesnt mean
pure heart: that she has to do exactly the same as the man does
pure heart: she just has a role to play
pure heart: and he has his
pure heart: but when it comes to laws
pure heart: they are both equal

Me: what are some other rights given to women? what about them being provided for even after divorce? or child birth?

pure heart: islam gurantees a good life for the woman even after she is divorced
pure heart: when the husband divorces her
pure heart: he still has to keep her in a house
pure heart: and spends on his children even after she leaves.
pure heart: its called in islam, nafaqah
pure heart: and she has the right to keep children until they are old enough to decide.

reply to post by seattletruth


You know, I'm betting that there were Chinese women who used to like to have their feet bound, which essentially crippled them. Good for them. The problem is that they were all forced to have their feet bound.

I have no doubt that there are Islamic women who love living in the traditional Muslim way. The problem is that those don't get stoned and worse.

Do we really need this thread

when there's another, with virtually identical title, already current ?

Originally posted by dolphinfan
reply to post by seattletruth

 

I have no doubt that there are Islamic women who love living in the traditional Muslim way. The problem is that those don't get stoned and worse.

That's a bold faced lie. She just said that women who chose to work after marriage still can. Almost all women go to university. This girl right now works and makes good money. If they want to work after marriage they still can. They don't get stoned to death for that.

Like I said, you are either ignorant and spreading disinfo, or simply a liar.

Lets see..........since you seem volatile already....deny ignorance seems to be the theme here so.......
1. Proof interview took place.....not calling you a liar, but....no proof.
2. Proof she has never seen a muslim woman abused, raped, murdered, treated bad etc.
3. Proof all muslim women feel this way.
4. Proof that it's this way for all muslim woman in the ME.
5. Proof all of the news reports to the contrary are false.

A biased supposed interview does little to refute what the news reports daily......Not all muslims are bad, nor do they all treat their women bad, but isn't this a little extreme?

Thank you for the information. A few questions, if you will.

1. It is my understanding that women's roles in the Middle Eastern country vary from each other. In other words, that some countries are more liberal than others. It is also my understanding that Egypt is considered a more liberal country with regards to Islamic law. Is this anaccurate assumption?

2. Can you describe your friend's religious beliefs? I mean, does she consider herself devout, secular, fundamentalist, etc.

3. Perhaps this is a cultural thing, but I don't understand why she considers two income families to be unjust. My husband and I are both working full time and raising a family. We have to work full time to support ourselves. How is this unjust?

Thanks again.

Originally posted by Dock9
Do we really need this thread

when there's another, with virtually identical title, already current ?

Absolutely!

My thread is about analytical evidence by referring to the Koran.

This thread is about empirical evidence from a practioners point of view.


[edit on 11-2-2010 by Jinni]

There is a series of books written by a journalist Jean Sasson who had the opportunity to live and work in Saudi Arabia, eventually met and befriended a member of the Royal Family. There are a series of 3 books written about the Princess's life, her family, her sisters, daughters, etc. It is a glimpse into the life of a woman leading by example and fighting for women's rights in her family and in the Kingdom. All 3 books are very interesting read.

From the Link:

But a year after leaving the hospital, I met a Saudi princess who would change my life in a most profound manner. Princess Sultana was one of the young female royals pushing against the age-old restrictions against women. Although she did not come out in a public way, she led her life in a manner that was unusual for the times. She was one of only four or five royal princesses who accompanied their husbands to some social functions held at the various foreign Embassies in Jeddah, and later in Riyadh.

In those days, I found that most Saudis were friendly and welcoming. Friendships with westerners were not taboo, as they have since become. I knew others at the hospital who were invited to various Saudi parties and weddings, so my experience was not unusual. Unfortunately, as the years passed, the welcome doors slowly closed. For that reason I am happy that I went to Saudi Arabia during the early years.

My friendship with the princess led to the telling of her personal story, which became the international best-selling book, Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia. And, my friends, the rest is history.

I post this only to make a point and that is that one person's experience is not that of another and we all need to always consider this when making arguments for or against something like Religion and Culture and Family and Customs.



[edit on 11-2-2010 by LadySkadi]

Anyone tried wearing one? Are they comfortable? Do they make you look fashionable? Does it make you feel happy wearing it?

Do all women who wear the burqa feel the same happiness?

This is like any religious belief.... does she really know what it's like to not have the necessity to wear one or have those religious beliefs? People can be happy believing god created the world in 6 days, or wearing a costume that most would feel uncomfortable because that's all they really know or understand.

If someone were locked in a cellar from birth, and didn't know the outside world existed, there is nothing to say that person could not be happy. Happiness can be relative, but people should have a choice about their life (including all religious faith).

[edit on 11-2-2010 by john124]

reply to post by adifferentbreed


1. What kind of proof would you want? A biometric body scan of her?

2. Not all muslim women feel that way. If they want to continue a career after marriage they are free to do so. However, many women do not see working and raising a family a the same time as "freedom".

3. Women receive university educations everywhere except Afghanistan (which isn't even technically Middle East), to my knowledge. I have a friend in Iraq who says that women there also attend university. And......

GUESS WHAT? University is even FREE in most Middle Eastern countries.

4. I didn't say that all news reports are false. Most of them are hand picked for propaganda purposes though. Which news stories are you talking about specifically? If you pick through western news stories you could come up with some real doozies to make our society look horrible as well.

reply to post by seattletruth
You really don't get it do you? First you call her pure heart after stating her name.......that doesn't seem a little like propoganda to you.....hmmmm pure heart I better believe her. Not all muslim women feel this way nor are treated the way she supposedly is.....you can't base an entire populaces experiences based upon the life of one. As I stated, not all muslims are bad, but it appears you are trying to discount the ones who have bad experiences based on a supposed interview with one who has a perfect life..

This is just one womens perspective and does not prove much apart from she is happy.

For proper stats, you need a survey.
btw, I dont think much of your interview, for all I know, you could have just typed all this yourself to prove something.

reply to post by LadySkadi


I really found those three books an enlightening read, myself.

Yes, they did confirm a lot of the "horror stories", if you will, but I also found the Princess's convinction in her faith interesting.

Particularly poignant was the fact that she defended her beliefs, but called for a change in the society's practices.

reply to post by Jinni
One practitioners view does not a general concesus make......and trying to say otherwise is fool hardy at best.

reply to post by Jinni


I'm curious. What happens to a traditional Muslim in Qatar who decides to convert to Judaism? What happens if she decides to become a Mormon and start trying to convert her neighbors?

I'm guessing they toss her a party

Originally posted by smyleegrl
Thank you for the information. A few questions, if you will.

1. It is my understanding that women's roles in the Middle Eastern country vary from each other. In other words, that some countries are more liberal than others. It is also my understanding that Egypt is considered a more liberal country with regards to Islamic law. Is this anaccurate assumption?

2. Can you describe your friend's religious beliefs? I mean, does she consider herself devout, secular, fundamentalist, etc.

3. Perhaps this is a cultural thing, but I don't understand why she considers two income families to be unjust. My husband and I are both working full time and raising a family. We have to work full time to support ourselves. How is this unjust?

Thanks again.

1. All middle eastern countries are fairly liberal nowadays, except maybe the most impoverished ones. Even Saudi Arabia is westernized in many respects (except in regard to television, movies, etc). Women are educated in all countries, and in most of them, university is free. Egypt is very liberal now, though.

2. She is a very devout Muslim. I'm not sure what you define "fundamentalist" as, but she follows the Quran completely and also studies hadith. She is very religious, not just "culturally Muslim". When she's not working she even fasts on Mondays and Thursdays (no food or water from dawn til dusk) because Muhammad said its good four our souls and bodies to do that.

3. Forcing both men and women to work in order to simply survive as a family is unjust because of this: When the husband and wife in EVERY FAMILY works, in turn that doubles the income for every household. When this happens, it doubles the money supply in the country, there for giving each family the exact same purchasing power they had with only the man working, but now BOTH have to work.

You get twice as much money, but because so does everyone else, your money is worth half as much. Everything, in turn, costs twice as much. Now you're working twice as hard, losing your opportunity to raise your children the best you can, and still barely surviving. Do you really see this as "freedom"? We work because we HAVE to, not because we WANT to.

Again, that doesn't even account for the societal problems created by the lack of jobs, because there are now twice as many people in the job market.




[edit on 11-2-2010 by seattletruth]

reply to post by seattletruth


That working bit makes not sense. These governments have central banks that regulate the supply of money. Issue less money and the money is worth more. More people working does not lessen the value of the currency. Perhaps people would get paid less, but that would be immaterial because the money would have more value. Hence, a Muslim women who wanted to go out and sell cars could do so and one who desired to stay home could make that choice.

Its called monetary policy. Its also called freedom

reply to post by dolphinfan


Oh really? Lets look at the empirical evidence:

Before the 20th century, vast majority of women did not work in western society. Only the men worked.

Do you really believe that families were not able to support themselves when only the man was working? Did they not afford houses? Food? No.

You know that's a lie. Families survived just as easily as they do now, the only difference is that now in order to afford a house, it is almost a requirement for both the husband and wife to work. Look at the comment of the post above, she said that both her and her husband work to survive. This is all too common, but was not the case before the value of money was diminished when only men were working.

This has done nothing but benefit the bankers, benefit corporations who need more debt slaves, and increase property values to astronomically artificially high numbers.

Like I said, when each family makes twice as much money, the money is therefor worth half as much. Look at it this way. If each PERSON suddenly made twice as much money as before, the value of each dollar would be half as much, right? The argument is the same when you look at a family entity, as opposed to an individual. This is is an economic fact, ask any economist.

[edit on 11-2-2010 by seattletruth]

reply to post by seattletruth


Thank you for answering my questions. Would your friend mind if I contacted her directly, say via email? I have more questions I want to pose, but I don't think this is the proper place. If she is uncomfortable with this no worries.

We work because we HAVE to, not because we WANT to.

This may be true for many, but not all. I actually work because I WANT to. While I love my family and enjoy taking care of them, I also find my job equally rewarding and important. I also believe that it is possible to balance a job and family without the children becoming out of control. I believe this because it was how I was raised, how my friends were raised, and how my colleagues are raising their families. All of those children turned out to be decent, contributing members of society.

reply to post by seattletruth


That example is nonsense. Before the 20th century the majority of folks lived on family farms, had no cars, no telephone, no TV, etc. Their lives where completely different.

The difference is the materialist nature of people today. You want to live simply? Move to a small town where you can have one car and downsize your life. If you want to live in a place where you need to spend $300K or more on a house, have two cars, etc and you can't afford it on a single salary, and your wife needs to work, then you are making a choice. The same is the case for moving. If its too expensive to live where you live, move.

In some of these oil rich countrys, the natives don't work in any event, they import the labor from eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. There are more foreigners in the UAE than natives. Why? Because the natives get a government stipend and they created a tax haven.