Burkha wearing housewife poised to win Middle East 'Pop Idol'

A Saudi housewife who wears full Burkha while delivering poetry denouncing attitudes to women in her country is poised to win the Middle East’s equivalent of Pop Idol. As a televised show-case for Arab culture, “Million’s Poet” marries modern life to a thousand-year-old tradition.

Modelled on the ITV television show Pop Idol, with prize money of almost a million pounds, it was supposed to bring a touch of glamour to writers of Bedouin verse.

Hissa Hilal has become a heroine to many across the Arab-speaking world for her stance, made all the more dramatic for being delivered from beneath a niqab – the all-black face-veil worn by ultra-traditional Arab women.

“I have seen evil in the eyes of fatwas: now the lawful and unlawful are confused,” she said in one poem. “When I unveil the truth, a monster appears from his hiding place; barbaric in thinking and action, angry and blind; wearing death as a dress and covering it with a belt.”

Million’s Poet was devised in Abu Dhabi four years ago, and has been a surprisingly successful addition to the Gulf’s fast-changing, satellite-led television landscape.

Mrs Hilal is no novice – she was previously a journalist and poetry editor for a Saudi newspaper.

Nevertheless, she was not a favourite in this year’s show until newspapers and websites began discussing her radical poetry.

Many pointed out that she was drawing a direct line between the fatwas of some of Saudi Arabia’s leading clerics – including one who was alleged to have said that men and women found in each other’s company should be killed – and the suicide belts of Islamic terrorists.

She has even been threatened with death by some extremists for speaking out, saying in interviews that she was not afraid.

“This is a platform that can help you to reach the world,” she said. “There are some people who constantly look for a target.”

She also defended wearing the face-veil, saying that she wanted to spare her husband and family from further criticism.

“When I went to some open (Muslim) countries, I noticed that western people looked at me suspiciously because I was wearing the niqab, but they would not do the same when they see a Sikh wearing the turban,” she said.

“Who is responsible for this suspicious look? Who made it happen? It was this kind of people – extremists – who have given us a bad name. Muslims, instead of being respected, are a source of fear and suspicion because of these people.”

She followed up her attack on fundamentalism with another attack on press censorship.

Both positions are less dangerous than they would have been ten years ago.

King Abdullah, who came to the throne in 2005, has begun a sweeping attempt to modernise Saudi life, including appointing a woman minister, and allowing mixed-sex teaching at a newly opened science university.

Reem Asaad, a finance lecturer and women’s rights campaigner, said Mrs Hilal’s success was a sign of the increasing scepticism over clerical decrees.

“The fatwa department has lost a lot of credibility,” she said. “A lot of people still believe them, but when there are too many fatwas they lose their force.’ (UK Telegraph)

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.