This lovely gift and the whole idea behind this workshop is to build bridges between diverse cultures, religions, between East and West at a very simple yet important level. Youths I think are the future, and if we start building such positive relationships between them putting aside all our differences and rather focusing on the essence and qualities our cultures have, then imagine the richness these youngsters obtain. Such actions pave way for solid grounds for further interfaith and intercultural activities between the youth. I think such interactions and achievements ought to be recognized and very well supported. I also would like to thank both Malte Heidemann and Esra’a for creating such platform for youths and for all the children’s efforts.

Here is the link to the podcast and photos of the workshop on Radijojo World Children’s Radio Network.

It is only in the late hours of the night
That I learn more about my sentience
I am aware of my true existence
Those lonely hours with no friend in sight
My only companions are myself and I
I am many yet all in one

I am a soul, mind and body
I lose who I am at times with the chaos of life
It is only in the late hours of the night
Where there is no sound but the beating of my heart
And the swelling of my lungs as air is taken in and out
It is only then three thirds of me transpire

The spiritual

The spiritual lays within me; he connects me to a higher being; God
He takes third of my being; he can take over at times of grace
Through him I realize my berth in this massive universe
A sand grain amongst endless dunes of Sahara desserts
An atom amongst infinite stars and galaxies
A thread of silk in the midst of endless silk cocoons
Through him I learned humility and love
He bonds me to an infinite greater truth
A truth that cannot be seen but is felt
Years of dormant senses are awakened to believe
To a higher level of consciousness I achieve
As the other two in me lay down in sweet sleep

The mind

He is my second third
The mind is a marvelous part of me
He is a maze I go astray in many times
He keeps me on my toes with his wonderful crazy thoughts
Through him I can knit a quilt of endless sleepless dreams
In contemplation I can touch my dreams
If he is given more than third of me
He would not hesitate to conquer me
He is a pillar in mankind’s survival
He is the tool through him we learned and developed
He has taken us to the moon and beyond
To the atom and the cell
Through him we heal, fly and light up the darkness of our skies
Through him we were able to plot, kill and destroy
Yes the mind was able to conquer all
Only when he was given permission to take over all of our beings
Never forget he is only third, never to conquer all

The body

Oh the body the vehicle of all..
She is the third of all three but never the least
Through her all thoughts and feelings from mind and spirit are conveyed
She deciphers all signals to a language one can apprehend
A smile from her can brighten one’s day
A touch from her can stop the throbbing pain
She transports love from a look of an eye to an embrace
Through her she senses beauty all around
And aches with throbbing tearing pain
For she is powerful and ever so beautiful
Endless portrayals of her marvel have been seen
Throughout history, countless artists and poets have described
For the body they became intoxicated and bewildered
For her beauty many have lost their lives
For her strengths many were greedy for more
She has conquered all and will go on doing so many times
Time is always her worst enemy when she conquers all
For time will teach her what true worth is
She is my tool to express love, beauty and pain
But she is never all

All of my thirds never cease to grow
The spiritual can never be close enough
For he seeks humility and love throughout his being

The awakened mind is always hungry for more
He befriends wisdom as he matures and grows

The body, my daily tool
She starts off as weakness and grows into strength
She ends in weakness as a reminder of what she truly is

These are my thirds that lay within
These are the mains of what my life’s aims
Each one stays in his and her designated space
One might take charge in times of need
But the rest are prepared for their times indeed
The spiritual, mind and body
I find myself in three..

As I walk in the journey of life

I come across God’s wondrous beings

At times I would rest for a while

Only to enjoy the beauty of beings

I would contemplate the blessings I have

And whisper grace to God for all his givings..

I learned many things from only seeing..

I learned that to tear a flower from her intimate haven

Only allows me to enjoy her momentarily..

For her place is among the endless fields

Where I can observe her true beauty as the wind touches her body

She dances a harmonized coordinated dance with all other blossoms

I can only observe in silenced awe at the creator’s reverence

I carry on in the journey ahead and bid farewell to the dancing blossoms

For I know I shall brush against God’s allure again in his wondrous livings

Paths cross in the journey of life

And that is the essence of being

But never forget we always must part

And that is the anguish of being human

We draw in the core of beings who joined us in our path

Their true essence never cease.. for we capture them in our spirits

Never forget these are the foundations of living

For you are the only pilgrim walking in your path

Enjoy the entwining of paths while it lasts

For if you don’t enjoy the moment

You will wish you had when there is no turning back

With no regrets look ahead and be aware of paths that cross

For there is always beauty in God’s beings

That is what every little six year old girl dreams of; it’s finding her knight in shining armor! Then reality does this magical disappearing act of such dreams. When things do not go right or as we had dreamed in fairy tales we fall apart because we were not prepared. I don’t believe I am a pessimist rather I would say realistic in my thinking. I don’t believe that a person ought to wait for something to go wrong rather live the moment and enjoy it to the fullest and be prepared for mishaps, it’s a part of life.

In a culture where I come from many girls were prepped into marriage and the responsibilities that come with it from a very young age, from taking care of your husband and fulfilling his every need to cooking, child birth and raising your children. It is interesting how they seem to have disregarded her own needs.

In devoting yourself to your husband you are worshiping God! That is what many have been taught. Don’t get me wrong. I do believe that love is a mutual act that is shared by mates with all that comes with it from respect to sacrifices. However, here we have a giving party and a recipient. The giver is supposed to give even if the recipient does not exchange love, respect and so on.

Women are expected to grant all they are unconditionally even if man remarries or commits adultery! She ought to be patient and continue on giving even if she is abused mentally, emotionally or physically! This is how culture raises women. Through endurance in this life time with what man offers her she seeks salvation in the afterlife. So many women put up with so much for the sake of their children as well.

Women are unfortunate and very weak legally when it comes to their children after a divorce. At a certain age of about seven to nine years a child most likely returns to his father if the dad wished so. The father has the power to forbid the children from ever seeing their mother! Even if he passes away, his brother takes over. It is interesting how the mother has no right what so ever over her own children whom she carried in her womb after she breaks up with her husband.

She can’t enroll them in schools without the father’s approval. She can’t admit them in case of an emergency in a hospital without his presence or signed consent. A mother can’t open a bank account for her own children where I come from.

The Prophet mentioned that heaven lies beneath mother’s feet. This is a clear statement showing the importance of mothers in Islam. He had stated that you will not be able to enter the heavens unless you have done well with your mother. The prophet even mentioned that the importance of a mother is three times the father. This doesn’t seem to be taken to account in our culture.
There have been reports of fathers marrying their young daughters to much older men and it was surprising to see that mothers had no saying in that what so ever. They could not prevent or even speak out in a court of law because they were not LEGAL GUARDIANS!
However, there have been very few cases where such marriages were annulled due to pressures from the media.

There is an alarming rise in divorce rates in Saudi Arabia, however life for single mothers in this country is far from easy. Not only does society look at her differently but an accusing finger is also pointed at her for failing, for not playing her part right, for not taking adultery or abuse with its many forms like a “woman “ought to! (Don’t get me wrong, women can be the cause of many failed marriages as well, some marriages fail because of mismatches…etc) however, women pay the price in the end. They lose so much in a divorce, they usually are the ones who leave their homes and move back to their parent’s or into a new place after all the years of emotional, physical and financial investments they put up in their previous broken homes. Unlike men who get a pat on the back and offers of renewing their bed partner (They even use this same phrase with a man who has just become widowed).

It is much easier for men to move on after divorce but women deal with the children, tiptoeing on eggshells and playing their cards right so as not to lose them. A woman thinks a hundred times before remarrying because if the children were still with her, she would lose custody of them the moment she remarries!

As a single mother I understand what other moms go through. After starting a small support group I have been approached by several ladies who feel caged by society, some misfortunate ladies were abused and had their children taken away from them. It is so hard to imagine that the legal system and society watches silently and approvingly of such cruelty.

These heroines must know they are not alone in this. They must not feel defeated by culture. Praying for change is not enough but actively creating it is the way.. Even if they were tiny little steps.. Speak out.. There might be someone out there who is actually listening..

The King reshuffled many of the ministers and changed the makeup of an influential body of religious scholars known as the Grand Ulama Commission. Its 21 members will now represent all branches of Sunni Islam that are more moderate, instead of the single strict Hanbali (Wahabi) sect that has always governed it. This comes after the King promoted moderation and interfaith dialogue in the last year.
Abdul-Aziz bin Humain who is believed to be more moderate than his predecessor will replace Sheik Ibrahim al-Ghaith as head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which runs the religious police that have been criticized so much by the media for their extremism and harshness.
“We will try to be close to the heart of every citizen. Their concerns are ours,” Humain told Al Arabiya satellite news channel yesterday.

The king also removed Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan, chief of the kingdom’s Supreme Council of Justice. Al-Lihedan issued a fatwa in September saying it was permitted to kill the owners of satellite TV stations that were immoral!
Sheik Al-Lihedan, had held his post since the mid 1980s, he had been a major stumbling block for the judicial reforms King Abdullah had hoped for and planned to enact. He was replaced by Saleh bin Humaid, who served as the head of the Consultative Council.

The king has had reforming the judiciary system-which has been supported by forceful extremist clerics implementing Islamic law- as one of his top priorities. Judges currently have complete discretion in issuing sentences as they see fit, except in cases where Islamic law outlines a punishment, such as capital crimes. The latest is the judge who married a little girl to an older man in his late fifties which was criticized by the media in the last few months..

One of the major changes done by the king was in the Ministry of Education; which was also lead by extremists since it was established. The king appointed his son-in law Prince Faisal bin Abdullah as education minister.
Education was believed to be one of the main causes of extremism in the country. The school curriculums were highly criticized especially after the events of 9/11 due to some radical contents which were reviewed.

Last but not least, Noura Al-Fayez, an official at the Saudi Institute for Public Administration, was elevated to the new post of deputy minister of women’s education; the first time a woman has been appointed a deputy minister in the history of this country. Al-Fayez’s appointment appeared to be the king’s response to increased lobbying from women’s rights groups against discrimination.

Other changes have been done in several ministries and hopefully this will be a turning point for this country. However, actual changes do not happen overnight. yet this is a step in the right direction I believe and I hope to see the fruits of all positive changes in my lifetime ..

In an ultra conservative country such as Saudi Arabia, an all female rock band is not exactly the norm! These four college students were brave enough to follow their dreams and stand against the tides of a society that is hardly forgiving to such taboos.

Here is an article about them in The New York Times and you can listen to their song on myspace
I was actually surprised when I heard their music, they are talented.

These girls live in Jeddah, which is known to have a much more relaxed atmosphere than other parts of the kingdom. There are more and more male bands and concerts playing openly for the public, and you can even notice that there is less segregation between the genders in restaurants and shopping malls.
I have visited Jeddah a few weeks back. It really felt as if I had entered another country! People are much more relaxed and women can actually be comfortable in their own skin! unlike other areas of Saudi Arabia where women are made to feel awkward just by their mere presence in public.
But still, an all girls rock band does break so many social chains even in Jeddah. They won’t be able to perform in public unless they do private parties or for all girls only. None the less , their music is being heard and downloaded from inside and outside the kingdom.

I am excited to see such talents from our youths and I look forward to listening to more of their music. I do hope they will be given the chance to continue what they just started.

The government has increased its budget on education and have opened the doors for young girls and boys and sent them on scholarships in both Europe and the United States in different fields of specialty so as to come back highly qualified with fresh, enthusiastic attitudes and outlooks not forgetting of course that the majority of the Saudi population is below the age of twenty!
This all looks good, it seems like there is a light at the end of the tunnel right?!
I question sometimes if there will ever be a candle at the end of this Saudi tunnel!
While all this is in preparation phase, where the outcome, the collection of the fruit of such investments might take another five to ten years, we see the total extreme opposite!

Only recently one cleric stated that women ought to cover the whole body leaving only one eye unveiled! Yes, we super species called women are created by Allah (God) to be invisible. We don’t need two eyes like you men and yes we can see clearly using our one eye super optical vision! Not only that but our super powers can accommodate not breathing fresh air, yes we can breath perfectly through layers of cloth! Our respiratory tract is much too sophisticated and advanced! Our skin should never be exposed to the sun either, not forgetting that women have the power to bring pleasure to men and have the courage to reproduce over and over again. It seems that women love pain, all sorts of pain! Physical, mental and emotional. Yes they are such unique creatures!!
I’ll stop with the sarcasm, but I can’t help it! (I think this cleric and many like him who believe that they are treating women justly should try a taste of their own medicine. I’ll give them less than a week to live out how they think women ought to be. I assure you it will be a life changing experience!)
On a more serious note, let me just add that women in the middle east suffer more from vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis and one of the main causes is the lack of exposing their bodies to the sun although we do have the hottest climate. I will not go through this issue but my only reply would be that perceiving women as sex objects and only that is the cause behind men wanting to hide women away whether by locking them up in their homes or behind such suffocating veils. This is a serious problem that must be addressed to change and reshape societies and their outlook towards both genders, we need to set new realistic expectations and standards for both genders.

I don’t know if you heard about the Mickey mouse must die fatwa by a well known cleric here in Saudi Arabia! It is soo funny that one can actually cry!
Here is the link (you can watch the video and read the translation)

Here is a summery “mice are Satan’s soldiers” I will not comment on this one. There is nothing I can say! NOTHING..

Another of these fatwas is what sheikh Alhedan, a very prominent Saudi judge who called for the murder of satellite channel owners last Ramadan for broadcasting immoral programmes! And guess who the owners of these satellite channels are? (Saudi princes and the elites of Saudi society!)
This is an article in the guardian about it.

King Abdullah didn’t seem too pleased by Alhedan’s statement; you can actually watch the video of Alhedan shaking hands with the king in Eid al Fotur (the celebration of the end of the fasting month of Ramadan) where the king who is usually very tactful pulled away while shaking hands. But I really expected an apology at least! That’s what I call power.

One calls for the one eyed veil to hide women from men’s uncontrollable animal like lust instead of controlling the lust itself, the other for the killing of mickey mouse (my son will be heart broken if he finds out) and the last for the killing of satellite t.v owners! and yet we talk about reform. I just don’t see it happening, it’s just like mixing water with oil, they can never mix.

I will leave you with that for now.

I noticed that in these few weeks the thought of my gender haven’t crossed my mind; not even once! yet the moment I walked out of the plane coming back home, reality hit me and slapped me hard in the face. I am a woman in Saudi Arabia. The passport control officer hardly looked or talked to me making me feel filthy. At that moment I whispered under my breath welcome back home Rasha!

I didn’t want to read the local news in the first days of me being back, me not wanting to erase what’s left of euphoria I felt from my trip, I rather preferred living in denial for a while. Although following the news between Russia and Georgia had already crushed that euphoric feeling! A few days passed then I decided to face reality as it is and come down from cloud nine and rub my face in the dirt!

I specifically looked for news that relate to the softer gender here in Saudi Arabia and not to my shock I found a handful!
A forty something year old woman in Qaseem (one of the most conservative areas of the kingdom) was arrested for driving. A woman was forcefully divorced from her husband by relatives who went to court and forced her father and husband to sign the divorce papers and why one may ask? yes.. the stupidity again, he was from a tribe of “lesser origin”!

I read several articles about old men marrying young girls either in their early teens or children who haven’t even reached their teenage years. These stories disgusted me. I put the blame on the families/fathers that sell their daughters in such a manner and on the person/sheikh who legalized these marriages. Thank God at least Alobeikan (a leading cleric here in the Kingdom) denounced one of these marriages and ordered for the prosecution of the father.
A legal age ought to be set for marriage for both girls and boys. This is unacceptable and I hope it is being looked into.

An article also discussed all the rights that divorced mothers didn’t have over their children… So what’s new!

A friend of mine had attended a discussion with a scholar and it was interesting to note that the scholar mentioned that a good Muslim woman’s reward in the after life is by being a maiden for the good men in heaven and this ought to be her utmost aspiration. Going to heaven is one of my own aspirations but to be reduced into a sex object for men’s pleasure is not something I would be looking forward to. I would actually rather be sitting on a cloud bored to death than be rewarded by such heaven!

I looked it up and I found similar results. One scholar even mentioned that men are lustful while women aren’t and that is why men were promised virgins in heaven while women were promised beauty because females liked looking pretty! I thought that was demeaning and reducing women to being bubble brains not only in this life but in the heavens as well!

Not forgetting to mention that women have been considered as the devil’s intermediaries and the cause of spread of corruption on so many occasions and in several religions. Some go as far as condemning all women for every sin in the same manner that Eve was condemned for seducing Adam into eating the forbidden fruit! A woman leaving her home going about her business is considered evil by some clerics while the man who is “seduced” by her mere presence is the innocent bystander who’s ”genetics” are responsible for his ensuing sexual behaviors!!!

One scholar even mentioned that a good woman who dies while married will be married to her husband in heaven, a woman who dies single will be rewarded by being given to a new husband in heaven, a woman who had several husbands during her life will be married to the last one she was with in heaven. I could only think of one phrase ” I hope women are allowed to divorce their husbands in heaven!” What if she hated her husband during her life, poor thing, does she have to stand him in heaven too? It seemed bleak to me, too bleak to imagine such a wise merciful God would do that.

I can’t imagine a woman who has a minimum self esteem and self respect can look forward to such a heaven where she has been reduced yet again to a mere object of pleasure for man?! A heaven that is an absolute segment of a sexually oriented male imagination.

A woman has been raised to believe that in being a servant and a sexual pleasure for her husband she is a servant of God and that is the road to heaven.

By now I am positive that you realize that I have left cloud nine far behind and have immersed in my reality yet there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.. but oh my this is going to be a very long one!

I believe there is a plan for this country to reform but it seems like it will take forever if we wait for rigid mindsets that are inherited from one generation to the next to change! And how is it supposed to change if there is no implementation of change from within the country?

It is interesting though to note that king Abdullah is spending much more on education and sending Saudi students from both genders on scholarships than ever in the kingdom’s past years for the sake of bringing back a young hard working generation, with fresh minds that might open the doors to a more tolerant country.
In 2003, Saudi Arabia had only 8 universities that catered for about 22 million people but several universities and colleges opened since king Abdullah was handed the throne only three years ago. There is a plan to open one of the strongest universities in the region in the western province of the kingdom. It is said that it will be detached and free from any of society’s rigid ideologies!

I read a few days ago that new traffic laws have been released here in Saudi Arabia advocating for more strict laws and regulations, but what I found interesting is the removal of the gender male from these laws as Al-Bishr director general of Saudi traffic department stated in a press conference ” The new law speaks only about driver of the vehicle, and there is no specification of either man or woman. As far as driving of women are concerned, we are not bothering about it,” he said.
And here is an article about it.

Some say that stricter rules pave the way for women driving in the near future. This came at a time when three women drove separately in the kingdom in the last week.
A young twenty something year old girl in Riyadh who passed away due to an accident early last week and another lady from Jeddah who was arrested and a 69 year old lady from Hail who passed away yesterday due to an accident that took place with a 14 year old boy !

Another interesting piece of news is that there is a new law that will omit tribe names from passports and identification cards and that is to lessen tribalism between people.
I don’t believe that this alone will ever work on a tribal based society where such beliefs are engraved in people’s minds, knowing that it defies Islam’s ideologies and teachings in the first place.
Islam clearly stated that there is no difference between an Arab and a non-Arab and the only difference between people is righteousness. Not forgetting that Islam was first introduced to a tribal/Arabic society. But we decided to carry pre-Islamic ignorant beliefs instead!
On that subject, let me remind you of the judge “a man of God” who divorced a married couple from each other by force after years of marriage and having children for tribal issues a short while ago.

On a happier note, for the first time in the history of Taif which is a city located on the mountains of the western province of Saudi Arabia, women will be allowed into king Fahad’s football stadium to attend the summer festival there (women will be seated in the ladies section so as not to mix with men of course! But at least it is a step).

But on the other hand, the ministry of health stated that women working in hospitals are working amongst men so they must wear proper hijab and should not apply any makeup at work. It also stated that women are only allowed to wear white long skirts or white trousers underneath their closed white coats!
There has been an acceptance for Saudi women working in hospitals which is a mixed environment (where men and women work together) in the last ten years or so and this statement treats women like school girls and takes us a couple of steps back.
By such a statement, they were able to reduce all these female doctors, scientists, nurses and technicians to a piece of flesh!

This has been an eventful week but the changes I see are more like a yoyo. I try to balance my self on this shaky ground. I worry one day that this surface might just collapse.. I would like to see my self and other women standing stable on solid grounds but we must hang on and be patient, what else can we do?!