تقول الكلمات: نحن هنا!

مراجعة لكتاب منى الطحاوي: الحجاب و غشاء البكارة

اخر جملة في كتاب مني الطحاوي الحجاب و غشاء البكارة هي " تقول الكلمات: نحن هنا"   صدر كتاب الطحاوي بالانجليزية في اوائل العام الماضي و تمت ترجمته و نشره في العديد من دول العالم. هذه المراجعة للنسخة الاصلية الامريكية.

يثير اسم منى الطحاوي الكثير من الجدل في الحركات النسوية المصرية و تتعرض للهجوم من تيارات مختلفة لاسلوبها تارة و لمواقفها تارة اخرى. هذه المراجعة ليست دفاع عن او هجوم على شخصية الطحاوي و لكنها فقط كما يقول العنوان مراجعة لكتاب غاية في الاهمية، يقراه العالم حولنا و لكنه غير متاح الي الان لقراء اللغة العربية. دعنا نراجع كلمات الكتاب متجردين من الاحكام المسبقة عن الكاتبة و عن العنوان.  دعنا نبحث ماذا تعني الطحاوي بهذه الجملة و ماذا تقول هذه الكلمات؟

تحطيم التابوهات:  تستعين الطحاوي بخبرات الحركات النسوية العالمية و بالاخص من الامريكيات ذوي الاصول الافريقية و اللاتينية. تعرض العديد من رائدات الحركات النسوية ذوي الاصول الافريقية و اللاتينية للهجوم بانهن يسببن زيادة العنصرية ضد السود و المكسيكيين لنشرهن الفضائح الخاصة بهذه المجتمعات، تسرد الطحاوي نقاش هؤلاء السيدات لفكرة تأجيل تحقيق المساوة للمرأة لما بعد تحقيق المساواة العنصرية و توضح انها ما هي الا محاولة للدفاع عن الامر الواقع .. الظالم!  الصمت هو السلاح الاساسي الذي تستخدمه المجتمعات الذكورية لاخضاع النساء، الصمت هنا هو صمت المراة، سكوتها عن الظلم و المعاناة!  و لذا بدأت الطحاوي بنفسها و رغم المرارة و صعوبة تجاربها الشخصية سردت الطحاوي بالتفصيل معاناتها الشخصية من التحرش كطفلة في السعودية و في مصر و تقدم بالتفصيل قصتها مع العنف الجنسي في شارع محمد محمود و ما تعرضت له بعد اعتقالها.

الحجاب و غشاء البكارة ليس كتاب مذكرات منى الطحاوي و لكنه كتاب عن الواقع الذي تعيشه النساء في الدول العربية، تجاربها الشخصية ما هي الا جزء  من تجارب عديدة تقدمها لنا من قصص من نساء قابلتهن بنفسها او قرات ما كتبن او كتب عنهن. الكتاب يقارن بين الواقع في المجتمع و ما هو معلن. تقارن الحقيقة التي تعيشها النساء مع المواقف الرسمية للدول وما تقوله الدول علنا في المحافل الدولية و نص القوانين. تقارن الطحاوي بين ما يقوله رجال السياسة و الدين عن حماية و صون للمرأة و ما تعيشه النساء كواقع حي. هذا ليس بكتاب مقالات او آراء و لكنه بحث جاد مليئ بالمصادر يستخدم القصص الشخصية للكاتبة و عشرات اخرين لتقديم صورة لواقع المعاناة. هذا ليس بكتاب سهل على القارئ و لي فقط ان اتخيل الصعوبة و المعاناة في كتابته. تصرخ صفحات الكتاب ضد العنف و التمييز الذي تتعرض له المراة في العالم، تصرخ الصفحات ضد انعدام المساوة بل و العبودية التي تتعرض لها النساء في كل مراحل الحياة.

يناقش احد الابواب موضوع العذرية و تقدم الطحاوي دراسة مفصلة عن الختان وقص و تشويه البنات كما تسميه الطحاوي و تاريخه و انواعه في البلاد المختلفة . قرأت معلومات جديدة لم اعلمها من قبل رغم قرآتي و كتاباتي في هذا الموضوع. لم اكن اعلم عن الممارسة الواسعة لأنواع من الختان في دول الخليج العربي. ربما يساهم النشر الواسع لهذا الكتاب في القاء بعض الضوءعلى المجتمعات التي يتفشى فيها الختان بدون حوار او مناقشات و بعيدا عن عيون الصحافة و المنظمات الدولية. صدمت تماما عندما قرات عن ممارسة الختان حتي فترة ليست ببعيدة في الولايات المتحدة واوروبا و كما اشارت الطحاوي نجاح بعض المجتمعات في القضاء علي هذا النوع من التعذيب البدني و النفسي للبنات يقدم لنا نوعا من التفاؤل بالقدرة على القضاء على تلك العادة البغيضة.

ربما يكون الجزء المتعلق بقوانين الاسرة و الاحوال الشخصية في الدول العربية اهم ما في الكتاب و اقربه الي اجندات الحركات النسوية في مصر و العالم العربي. تقدم الطحاوي  دراسة مستفيضه من دولة عربية الي اخري عن الوضع القانوني للمرأة و تقود القارئ الي استنتاج ان القوانين في العالم العربي كله تعاني من ذكورية بشعة و تعامل النساء كالاطفال و احيانا كسلع او ممتلكات. نقرأ عن امرأة من دولة الامارات تجاوزت الخمسين، متعلمة و ناجحة و لكنها تحتاج موافقة رسمية من ابنها ذو التسعة عشر عاما للزواج. نقرأ عن رجال الشرطة و الانقاذ في لبنان عاجزين عن دخول بيت زوج عذب زوجته، لم يتمكنوا من دخول "حرمة" البيت لانها مسألة عائلية خاصة بالزوج، ماتت الزوجة و لم ينقذها رجال الاسعاف او الشرطة … مشكلة عائلية خاصة بين الزوج و امرأته! تحدثنا الطحاوي عن غياب قوانين العنف الاسري و المعاملة القانونية للاغتصاب و تشجيع من تقع فريسة للاغتصاب بالزواج من الجاني في البلاد المختلفة مع تقديم امثلة حية و في بعض الاحيان تصريحات سياسية او نصوص من القانون. نكتشف معا ان السعودية و هي رمز للرجعية في الدول العربية نجحت في اصدار قانون لتجريم العنف الاسري قبل لبنان رمز التحرر و التقدم!

تقدم الطحاوي فكرة ذكورية المجتمع و التقاليد كفكرة مستقلة تماما عن الدين. تجنبت الطحاوي الخوض في الدين او التفاسير المتباينة و لكنها قدمت قصة السيدة خديجة كامرأة مستقلة، تعمل بالتجارة و تتعامل مع رجال كمرادف لصورة المرأة التقليدية في الاسلام. اوضحت الطحاوي وجود عملية انتقاء ذكورية فيما يكتب عن  الاسلام. امامنا قصص و تفاسير مختلفة و لكن المجتمع الذكوري يختار ما يناسبه من الاسلام للتشريع و التبني و يتشدق بالقصص و التفسيرات التي تؤيد استقلال المرأة و كيانها و انسانيتها.

تحطيم التابوهات انتقل الي مواجهة الادعاء الشائع بان النساء في الحقيقة يحكمن في المنازل، وان المرأة العربية و المسلمة هي سيدة البيت. الحقيقة كما قدمتها الطحاوي ان النساء في البيت تعملن في خدمة الرجال بدءا من مراحل الطفولة و ان فكرة المرأة القوية في البيت ما هي الا اسطورة يشجع المجتمع المرأة علي تصديقها من اجل الحفاط على الذكورية الظالمة و محاولة لتجنب الخوض في وضع المجتمع الظالم البعيد عن المساواة. كذلك لم تخجل الطهاوي في انتقاد الذكورية في الربيع العربي. رغم المشاركة الواسعة للمرأة المصرية و العربية في ٢٥ يناير و غيرها و رغم وقوف النساء كتف لكتف مع الرجال في الميادين، العديد من الرجال في الحقيقة غاية في البعد عن الايمان بمساواة المرأة لهم في الحقوق و غير مستعدين لقبول حرية و مساواة المرأة للرجل. الاغلبية تريد اسقاط النظام الظالم كأولوية و تري امورا مثل حقوق المرأة ثانوية، تأتي لاحقا.

اعجبني في الكتاب طريقة الطحاوي في تقديم آرائها بوضوح و الاستدلال بالحقائق لتأييد قناعاتها. و لكن هناك نقطة مركزية في الكتاب وهي استحالة نجاح الثورات السياسية بدون ثورة نسوية  اجتماعية لتحقيق المساواة، تري الطحاوي ان ثورة المرأة و المساواة ضرورية لنجاح الثورة السياسية. في هذه النقطة المركزية فشلت الطحاوي في تقديم ما يساند هذه الفكرة. ربما نظرة سريعة الي تاريخ الثورات في العالم ترينا موقف مغاير للطحاوي. دعنا ننظر الي توقيت حصول المرأة على حق التصويت في الولايات المتحدة او بريطانيا، قرون عديدة بعد ثورات سياسية ناجحة. رغم تاييدي لرغبة الطحاوي الا اني ارى هذا الاستنتاج مشابه للفكرة المثالية القائلة بأن الظلم لا يقيم الدول و المجتمعات … الحقيقة مختلفة و التاريخ لا يؤيد هذه المثالية االروحانية لجميلة، الانظمة الاستعمارية، تجارة العبيد و نظام العبودية، الدولة الرومانية، دولة المماليك، احتلال الصين للتيبت، اسرائيل … كلها ادلة على ان الظلم قادر على النجاح و الاستمرارية. ربما تكون هنالك نقطة اخري و هي استغلال مناخ الثورية السياسية في تشجيع النساء على مواجهة الظلم الذي يتعرضن اليه في أسرهن و المجتمع و لكن اشارة الطحاوي لها كانت عابرة و لم تطورها كفكرة متكاملة مستقلة.

شجاعة الطحاوي في الدفاع عن قضيتها، الحرية و المساواة الكاملة للمرأة استمرت في الغرب و ليس فقط في الشرق.  تنتقد الطحاوي صمت الادارة الامريكية عن انتهاكات حقوق النساء في الدول الاسلامية بحجة أنها نوع من الاحترام للتقاليد الدينية و استخدمت موقف الوزير جون كيري اثناء زيارته للسعودية و رفضه الحديث عن حق النساء في قيادة السيارات. كذلك لم تصمت الطحاوي على البعض من التيارات اليسارية في الولايات المتحدة الذين يختارون الصمت على انتهاكات بشعة بحجة تقبل ثقافة الغير. قدمت الطحاوي تحد واضح لمن يسكت على الظلم و أسمته بالعنصرية و الاستشراق الجديد. هولاء اليساريين يقيمون باختيارهم أسقفا لحقوق المرأة في المجتمعات العربية، الشرقية، الاسلامية و يعتقدون أنهم بهذا الاسلوب تقدميون و لكنهم في الحقيقة يشاركون في رجعية بشعة و يمارسون العنصرية النسبية.

الحجاب و غشاء البكارة كتاب هام بقلم كاتبة شجاعة. يتهم العديد منى الطحاوي بانها تكتب للغرب و ربما عدم نشر هذا الكتاب الى الان بالعربية هو افضل دفاع. حقق الكتاب نجاحا واسع من نيجيريا الي الهند و تشارك الطحاوي في منتديات فكرية في شتي بقاع الارض و لكن لا يوجد منبر متاح لها في مصر و العالم العربي. الكتاب يكشف الكثير من القبح في مجتمعاتنا و يسلط الضوء على ما نخشاه و يناقش قضية غاية في الاهمية من عدة جوانب بجرأة و شجاعة و لكنه ايضا يحتوي على الامل في مستقبل افضل. آلطحاوي تقدم لنا العديد من الأمثلة  من المغرب الي السعودية عن شجاعة المرأة في السعي للحرية و المساواة. السكوت عن الظلم هو الاستسلام له، الاستسلام لذكورية و ظلم المجتمعات و النساء الشجاعات اللاتي يرفضن الصمت و يتحدثن و يكتبن و يقدمن البلاغات و يرفعن القضايا و يقصصن قصصهن و يحكن حكاياتهن يتحدين بالكلمات الظلم و يقلن نحن هنا .. بكلماتنا نقول: نحن هنا!

أيمن سعيد عاشور

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Dear Western Liberals! ..mind your business or read a bit more first!

Lord Cromer was a founding member of the Society Against Women Suffrage and at the same time, he was also advocating that, British rule over Egypt was justified to help liberate its women. A lot of British women at the time, supported British colonial activity because they bought into his argument! Needless to say, under British occupation (1882 – 1922) education in Egypt declined severely and numbers of graduates fell. I am reminded of these contradictions as I read and hear of those western liberals who are decrying the removal of Morsi and speaking out against the will of the Egyptian people forcing the removal of the Fascist regime of Morsi and his gang. So, while they happily push forward the boundaries of freedom in the west, Egypt receives its most restrictive constitution ever with less than 20% of the voters approving it.

Please take sometime to look through the web pages of Ikhwan or Muslim Brotherhood to see their own pride in their history of discrimination  violence, assassinations and oppression. Educate yourselves a bit before you opine on something that you know little about and understand its subtleties even less. 

Finally remember this, normally sedentary Egyptians, who almost all smoke and hate exercise (I'm Egyptian, so I am allowed to stereotype!) do not march several kilometers for no good reason, we are normally as apathetic as they come, but we watched what happened in Iran since 1979 and we watched Europe in 1930's and 1940's; we learnt a thing or two about where fascism leads. So support the will of the people of Egypt or mind your own business and spare us the lectures about how democracy work, you couldn't get more direct democracy than what is happening in Egypt! Just while we are at it, remember what happened to the Prime Minster of Egypt who declared war on NAZI Germany and Fascist Italy? He was assassinated by the Muslim Brotherhood ..bet you never knew that!

AA

July 4 (Independence Day)

On Eve of Morsi's departure, what's going on in Egypt!

OK people ..Obama and US Administration want to be seen standing with Morsi to the last minute, the US does not want to be seen as an enemy of Islamists again, you want Caliphate again, have it, but don't bomb New York. Obama knows Egyptian Seculars and liberals are angry, but he knows those don't bomb buildings in America, they just have the same hate/love/envy thing with America as the European left does.

Morsi does not want to resign and admit mistakes, because Muslim Brotherhood makes no mistakes and prefer to have his kids, his followers, all believe that only a small minority of the people of Egypt was against Ikhwan and that the Army and the Americans forced him out, so he can then be a victim and start rebuilding Islamist popularity and credibility again as victims of American Zionism and army etc. etc. 

The army in Egypt just wants to have peaceful life and make money, they don't care too much about US Aid, which is only $1Billion and all of it gets spent on US arms, much more important for them is their budgets in Egypt, the amazing control they have over land, industry, trade, etc. etc. The army does NOT want to run the country, does not want wars or trouble, they just want to get on with free entreprise, make money. 

Islamist masses mainly want to keep their womenfolk under their control and away from any possible dishonor and of course they enjoy seeing Christians and minorities suffer a bit, other than that, they want cars, iPads and sex in that order!

AA
July 2, 2013

The Hymen Obsession: Inequality & Harassment in Egypt

Some ten years ago I went with my family to an Arab American convention in Washington DC, at the dinner table there was another Egyptian American family and their late teenage son & daughter who told us of their experience moving back to Egypt for a couple of years. The son loved it but the daughter complained bitterly of her experience in Egypt; I am sure you can guess why: sexual harassment! A year or so later, while on holiday in Egypt some total stranger scolded my daughter and her friend for their lack of head cover, he walked almost 50 Meters on a relatively deserted North Coast beach to deliver his little charming playful lecture leaving my daughter who was just recovering from major brain surgery and her, fresh off the plane American friend, distraught.

It is the same story over & over again everywhere in Egypt, sexual harassment! You can read warnings about it in guide books and we hear about it in the news and you could see it in sickening details in movies like Cairo Time with young men chasing a woman the age of their mothers’. Egypt is ground zero for sexual harassment! ..but why? This is a question that perhaps trained sociologists are better qualified to answer. I can only throw few guesses, from the move to separation of boys & girls in education, increased religiosity and delays in marriage age to the general oppression that Egyptians have & continue to suffer from. As an Egyptian American I can see how I am treated in Egypt depending on which passport I produce be at an Airport or hotel. We Egyptians are treated with no dignity & respect by our police, our schools, our sport coaches and in turn we treat others with little or no dignity and respect. Often times the perceived weaker sex gets the worst of it.

Is it just that, or is more to it? My guess is that there is more to it, there is a fundamental, at best discriminatory, aspect to position of women in Egyptian culture; we are brought up with it, rich and poor, educated and illiterate, Muslim and Christian alike. It is a view of women as cross between a pet, object and a lesser being. I have memories of my mother pleading with A’am Naguib the father of our Christian servant child not to take her home to their village in south of Egypt to perform the “tohor” on the then 9 or 10 year old Attiat. “tohor” is a word meaning purification, the same word used for male circumcision. Few days later after that Coptic Easter little Attiat came back not able to walk, constantly bleeding after her “purification” I remember my mother scolding the father, but his face was beaming, he achieved something important. Genital mutilation has been imposed on most Egyptian women, to my knowledge only Bedouin Arab tribes representing about 1% of the population of Egypt have normally not engaged in mutilation of their women. Many of the brave Egyptian women on Facebook & Twitter and on the streets during the protests standing up to Mubarak’s police & thugs were mutilated as children and some of the children of the current Facebook generation are destined to the same fate.

In Pre Islamic Arabia baby girls were buried alive at birth for fear of the shame they may bring upon their families as adults, was genital mutilation the Egyptian answer to the same dilemma? The shame that can be brought upon a family if their daughter or sister got pregnant could be averted by interfering and reducing the sexual pleasure of women through mutilation, so instead of burying newborn baby girls, keep them for cleaning and cooking and also be available for man’s sexual pleasure; perhaps the word “tohor” or purification now make a bit more sense. While men often complain of the sexual desire of their wives I suspect Egyptian men are not just whining, Chinese women had their feet forcibly molded to small size, Egyptian women have their sexual enjoyment forcibly curtailed or removed.

Egyptians, Muslims and Christians alike tend to be pious, devout and the vast majority highly observant of religious practice. To my knowledge Islam and Christianity both disapprove of sex outside of marriage and premarital sex is prohibited. I am, however, unaware of Islam or Christianity imposing stiffer bans or punishment on women than on men. Why is it that Egyptian families are happy and readily willing to send their young sons abroad for a semester or a post graduate education and more hesitant to send their daughters? Why do we Egyptian Americans tolerate or even approve our sons having girlfriends but freak out about our daughters having boyfriends? How many of us heard of Egyptian families shipping their daughters back to Egypt because they got “boy crazy” or were getting into that boyfriend stuff? In some cases whole families went back to Egypt or moved to some Arab Gulf country to escape the scary syndrome known as daughter’s boyfriend! The unequal application of what are essentially equal prohibitions is interesting to explore and dig into more to understand where it comes from; it is fundamental inequality drilled into us from birth.

In my own extended family over many years I have seen examples of discrimination against women as daughters, sisters and wives both dished out by men from my family and more often I have seen women relatives suffer at hands of husbands denying children visitation rights, denying divorce even where the husbands have taken second wives. Many Egyptians feel ashamed of discussing these horrible facts especially in English for fear it would damage the image of Egypt or Islam. Ask most non Islamist Egyptians on Twitter and they tell you they believe in equality, ask them if they are willing to marry a non virgin and then ask them if they have a problem with their sister or daughter having the same exact rights they had. We are not talking religions here, we are talking culture.

As a young father some 15 years ago, I was once about to leave on a long trip, I told my then 5 year old son, come on you are now the man of the house! The look on my daughter’s face, always competitive and nearly 18 months older stayed with me. I never repeated the words again; I caught myself falling into the trap of gender discrimination, what did I mean by “man of the house” was this innocent saying a harbinger for a new generation that discriminates against its women?

The Egyptian Jan25 Revolution showed amazing courage from Egyptian women starting from those who blogged and called for the protests to those who were in Tahrir for the 18 days that brought down Mubarak. Of the many amazing aspects of Jan25 was the reported absence or near absence of harassment in Tahrir; Egyptian women found their voice and place. Yet at the very same location, Tahrir Square, and almost one month after the fall of Mubarak, some 16 Egyptian women, who were protesting peacefully, were arrested, tortured and here it comes: subjected to the ultimate humiliation, state conducted mandatory virginity tests. CNN reported an army officer stated that the tests were conducted to avoid accusations of rape against the army and that that none were found to be virgin. I would have thought that showing all of them to have been virgins, even if one or two were married, would have been the exoneration the army needed to show that no "rape" per se occurred, but clearly that was not the real objective of the cruel tests. The objective was the sexual humiliation and ultimately the shame of these women. Those who conducted this shameful operation were well aware of Egyptian hymen obsession. the term counter revolution has been used a lot in Egypt recently, rarely have I seen such a clear example of blatant criminal counter revolutionary behavior, a cruel and violent attempt to take back Tahrir from these brave honorable women.

A sexual revolution in Egypt is most certainly not a goal of mine, neither am I writing to advocate premarital sex and promiscuous society. Egypt has too many pressing problems to deal with and the damage of promiscuity in terms of teen pregnancy, single parent struggle, sky high divorce rate and family disintegration are there for all to see in US and elsewhere. What is my goal then? In simple terms it is equality and real fundamental women rights, not a sexual revolution but rather an honesty revolution that allows us to get into the roots of our social ills. No society can move forward without advancement for its women, no equality is possible without owning up to the current highly unequal status of those fellow humans born with hymens. It is thought leaders of the society, men and women, young men and young women those who made Jan25 possible, the Facebook & Twitter people who can lead the change, towards real equality, not lip service equality and certainly not promiscuity.


Ayman S. Ashour
June 3, 2011

Tremendous Insight into Egypt Bedouins -- Book Review of Veiled Sentiments by Leila Abu Lughod

Lila Abu Lughod, an Arab American woman, lived among the Awlad Ali tribes of the North West of Egypt for two years. Veiled Sentiments is the book she wrote on the lives and poetry of Awlad Ali. Abu Lughod field work was clearly not carried out from a "superior" stance; she sympathized with her subjects and dealt with them as equal human beings rather than inferior specimen or cultures. Abu Lughod attitude, intelligence, training and tremendous analystical ability helped her in developing great insight and understanding of this fascinating culture.

Abu Lughod analysis of concepts such as "hishma" was truly incisive and shed a great deal of light on the nature of modesty between women and men and amongst men and women. The analysis seems to explain behaviors and norms witnessed elsewhere in Egypt and indeed other parts of the Middle East.

An important thesis of Abu Lughod is that the Awlad Ali people often communicated in very conservative and modest way directly through words; they only said what was proper and fitted the norms. Yet a second mode of communication far more true and expressive was found in their little songs or poems.

Abu Lughod discussed gender relation amongst Awlad Ali at length and the relationship between women and the families of their husbands and the society at large. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it. For an excellent work on veiling and gender issues, I would recommend Leila Ahmed's Women & Gender in Islam.

Faith Restored: Reclaiming Islamic Jurisprudence - Review of Speaking in God's Name -- by Khaled Abu el Fadel

This is a phenomenal work, it presents the intersection of knowledge from three different dimensions that rarely come together, especially when addressing Islam. Khaled Abu el Fadel masterpiece, Speaking in the Name of God, builds on his deep knowledge of traditional Islamic jurisprudence, western thought on divergent topics such as philosophy, anthropology and linguistics and finally scientific research methods.

In this book Abu el Fadel sets about discussing basic fundamentals of the basic text of the Quran, he argues persuasively that the actual text of the Quran is authoritative whereas its interpretations are not necessarily so. Abu el Fadel proceeds to cover the concept of "agency" and the responsibilities that must be assumed by anyone who claiming to interpret Islam and produce responsa or "fetwa". A tour de force of traditional Islamic Jurisprudence is presented setting the rules of how a fetwa can be reached, rules of evidence, weighing of multiple or contradictory indications, method of reasoning and ultimately presentation of results or fetwa.

Sharia Law as presented by Abu el Fadel is a far more nuanced and complex legal code. It is very different from how it is commonly interpreted today in both the West and the Muslim World. A number of examples of Law from Saudi Arabia are presented in particular in relation to the restrictions imposed on women. Abu el Fadel presents the official Saudi Islamic rulings and sets about dissecting them in great detail and examining them under the microscope of traditional Islamic jurisprudence with its restrain and extraodinary care not to usurp the intent of God and force one's own will on Islam.

Abu el Fadel goes to the root of some of the "Hadith", Prophet Mohammad sayings, that have been used over the years to limit the role of women in Islam. Abu el Fadel presents, through detailed analysis of history and Islamic Jurisprudence, different versions of a specific Hadith that mandates duty of obedience on women towards their husbands. Abu el Fadel argues persuasively, with evidence that he established, that this commonly accepted Hadith is indeed fake. Abu el Fadel also presents the motives that could lay behind the number of fake Hadith's specially in relation to the split between Sunni and Shiite Islam. Consistent with his basic thesis Abu el Fadel, presentations and conclusions are reached through rigorous examination of all evidence, weighing of the evidence, balancing of the various factors in accordance with the established rules of Islamic Jurisprudence.

Khaled Abu el Fadel's modesty and "scientific humility" comes across in his restraint in drawing conclusions and in his constant attempts at presenting counter arguments to his own conclusions.  Abu el Fadel's  uses a tentative, non confrontational approach towards building up his conclusions. Abu el Fadel displays a tremendous example of what non authoritarian behavior is all about through his own care not to fall into the common trap that has become the standard approach to Islam today.

The Lord Cromer and President Bush Connection: Touting Freedom Abroad While Suppressing Them at Home

At the turn of the Twentieth Century when Great Britain was the undisputed global power, with vast colonies stretching across the whole world, Britain saw itself as a force for good. British colonialism was relatively unabashed about the economic benefits of its empire and often justified its ruling of other people as a way of protecting its economic interests from other colonial powers, specially France. Britain feared for its trade routes into India and on these grounds justified its occupation of Egypt, an occupation that lasted from 1882 to 1954. Yet Great Britain also viewed its colonial activities as civilizing missions.

Lord Cromer was perhaps the most famed British colonial ruler of both Egypt and India. While Egypt was nominally an independent country loosely affiliated with the Ottoman Empire, India was an outright colony of Great Britain. Lord Cromer's role in each country was similar—he was the central authority, the supreme leader.

Lord Cromer viewed Britain's control of its various possessions with an almost missionary zeal: yes trade was important and the supply of raw material for British factories had to be secured, but it was also his duty to "civilize" the natives, lift them from their centuries of social decay and laziness, and liberate their women.

Cromer generally looked down on his Egyptian subjects; he still viewed even those who were educated in England and France as inferior. Cromer was very articulate in his assessment of the failures of the natives and their culture and he often justified harsh tactics against Egyptians as the only means to be understood by a backward culture, a "cruel to be kind" justification. Cromer was very critical of the subservient status of women in Egypt and often invoked examples of abuse of women in Egypt to illustrate how Egypt needed Britain's firm guiding hand. Polygamy and veiling, along with other examples of women's subjugation, were cited by Cromer as evidence of the backwardness of Egyptian society.

A hundred years later, the West is, once again, engaged in the Middle East. Great Britain plays a supporting role in other occupations, now starring the USA. Unlike the primarily commerce driven colonial occupation of the previous centuries, the current American interest in the Middle East is driven more by claims of self defense and the need for social reform. Yet, many opponents of America's policy characterize its interest in the Middle East as primarily economic, focused on oil wealth. Indeed some supporters of America's role in the Middle East use security of oil supplies as a justification for intervention. While debate rages over the pros and cons of America's policy and the presence of American troops in Iraq and, to a lesser extent, Afghanistan, there is considerable backing across the political spectrum for the American efforts to liberate women from the shackles imposed on them by local customs and laws.

The interim governments in Afghanistan and Iraq included women; American media was full of stories of the near total subjugation of women under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan. While in practice women's rights may have actually eroded in Iraq after the US invasion, most Americans believe that the American presence will result in an improved life for Iraqi women. This view is questionable, given the rise to power of Iraqi theologians as the ultimate guarantors of Iraq's stability following the eventual transfer of true sovereignty back to an Iraqi Government.

Lord Cromer justified British tactics in Egypt on the ground of backward culture that oppressed half of the society, a culture that needed modernization. However, following the British occupation, women's education in Egypt suffered and enrollment fell under the guidance of the West's liberating influence. Yet many liberal minded British people, unaware of the facts, supported Cromer and the British occupation because of the "good" that Britain could do for backward societies. A hundred years later, Americans searching for some positive aspects to the liberation and occupation of Iraq may disagree with the American intervention, but, as with Afghanistan, look for some "good" to come out of it for Iraqi women.

While Lord Cromer talked the language of social reform and justice in Egypt, his record at home was poor. He was a founding member of a leading British organization that opposed women's suffrage in Britain. Cromer worked on gaining the support of women's groups in Great Britain for the British colonial expedition in Egypt using their language of social justice, yet fought against the cause of social justice at home.

George Bush has recently launched the Greater Middle East Initiative, an initiative that focuses on social and economic reform in the Middle East. Many who oppose Bush's policies rally to his side when he talks of social justice in the Middle East, of the right of little girls to go to school and of the rights of women. While the vote for women in America has been achieved long ago, there remain parallels from a hundred years ago. President Bush's sense of social justice has propelled him to call for an amendment to the US Constitution to restrict gay equality and is determined to curb women's rights in other areas such as the choice to end pregnancy. Bush's effort to roll back civil liberties through the Patriot Act have been widely condemned by virtually all civil rights institutions, American and foreign alike! Somehow had President Bush shown more commitment to the issue of social justice and civil rights at home, his stance in the Middle East could be more plausible. Rather than seek to re-launch the Equal Rights Amendment for women in America, President Bush is actively rolling back human rights in at home and fighting diligently for unlimited detention and for new limits on privacy and individual choice.

President Bush is talking the language of democracy and social justice in the Middle East, but much like Lord Cromer, back home he is actively working on limiting both by all available means, from legal maneuvering to the Patriot Act and now a new discriminatory Constitutional Amendment. Lord Cromer would have been proud of President George W. Bush; he could well have been a co-founder of the Society Against Women Suffrage and would have been great fun to chat with in the beautiful gardens of British Embassy on the banks of the Nile in Cairo, the capital of the sovereign, yet occupied, Egypt over one hundred years ago.

AA, Nov 1, 2004

A Border Passage - by Leila Ahmed - Book Review

A Border Passage is not a typical autobiography. It has many elements of an autobiography, but it is also a book of well reasoned essays on some of the most difficult aspects of the history of Egypt and its culture. Essays on Islam, imperialism and on the identity and language of Egypt.

Leila Ahmed recount of her childhood and upbringing in Cairo and Alexandria is beautifully written. Her complex relationship with and her views of her mother are an important theme in the first half of the book. Her analysis of the social impact of the colonial and post colonial on her own family and the events that surrounded her is particularly insightful.

In writing this book Leila Ahmed clearly has done a considerable amount of sole searching with objective detachment. She describes that process and articulates clearly her reasoning. You can actually sense the struggle and pain she went through to reach a particular conclusion. This is the work of a sensitive person with a superb analytical mind and an ability to reflect. I particularly enjoyed her pointing out of what was a recollection and knowledge in retrospect, in her process of understanding an issue or an emotion.

The book contains a very well researched and argued section on the "Arabization" of Egypt. Here, she presents why she is not an Arab, but rather an Egyptian, from a historical, cultural, linguistic and social viewpoint. She illustrates with significant historical substantiation Arabism in Egypt as a colonial invention. Yet, she appears to be willing to accept an Arab identity as well as an Egyptian one in the west, because of what she shares with Arabs in the west. She talks of two "Arabnesses", I think I understood her correctly, but I am not sure. If you are interested in the subject you will find this part very rewarding, and if you couldn't care less, it will still be fascinating. It is her search for an identity, and her willingness to accept an additional identity in the west so as not to see herself escaping, in vain, the negative connotations that she has dedicated her life to fight.

A Border Passage is remarkable in its political correctness. This, largely, comes across as natural political correctness, not forced or contrived. It comes across from Leila Ahmed's own suffering from racial, religious and gender discrimination. She tells of stories of a teacher giving her no grades, because he couldn't believe an Egyptian could do in English what she did. She tells of man a spitting in her face in England once he found out she is Egyptian not an Israeli. She also tells of American feminists not taking her seriously because she is a Moslem. As a result of her own experiences, she was very careful not to offend sensibilities particularly in the West.

This is a truly wonderful, sensitive, insightful, lyrical and brave book.