THE POWER ISSUE
‘’I never felt as a child that I had a family, I felt that I was living in a prison. I was trapped’’
MUSLIM WOMEN FINDING THemSELVES WHEN THEY MOVE AWAY The Muslim Power issue
Yasmine Jessy Amr is 21 and living in the UK. She moved from Egypt to Newcastle three years ago to study Fine art at Newcastle University. Yasmine: remembered. ‘’Growing up in Egypt was very hard for me, my both parents are from Egypt and they are both Muslims. But my parents now live apart, my mother lives in Cyprus and my dad in Egypt. I don’t speak with my dad anymore because he has got another wife.’’ ‘’My dad was really strict with my mother when I was a kid and she wasn’t allowed to go out from the house. I never felt as a child that I had a family, I felt that I was living in a prison, I was trapped. She paused. Women weren’t allowed to drive in Egypt, so my dad hired a private driver to drop me and pick me up from school every day. Yasmine added: ‘’Malala was 19 years old when stood up without fear saying I want to be educated, so now I had the chance to educate myself and become an independent woman.’’ Yasmine goes on to explain ‘’As soon as I left Egypt I felt so comfortable within myself and I wanted people to stare at me.’’ The traditional system, South Arabia and Turkey are stricter. Writing for Muslim women who live under pressure by their husbands and fathers, women take the role of being a housewife very seriously, involving roles such as doing the cleaning, washing up, they are even supposed to avoid everyone looking at them. It is prohibited for women in Saudi Arabia to drive a car and in 2011 the ‘’women2drive’’ did a campaign for Muslim women to take a selfie or a video in the car, but it was not successful. In Tradition, some women were not allowed to wear make-up, twist their eyebrows, wear nice clothes, or even go for a swim. Things are gradually progressing because a lot of European people visit Islam. Some women In Egypt decide to wax themselves and some don’t, and some women still wear their hijab because of their strict family rules and traditions. ‘’I have read the Qur’an and nowhere says that a woman’s face and body must be covered in heavy black cloth. Muslim women should dress modestly, covering their arms and legs,’’ Yasmine said. ‘’If Muslim women decide to leave Islam, it can be really hard as it depends on their country and their family and can usually be a reason for someone to be put to death. Leaving Islam also is a choice to become stronger and independent as they don’t get married from a young age and can enjoy themselves as a strong independent woman.’’ Some Muslim women are not happy, but some of them are very proud of their religion. Yasmine added. ‘’In France two women were shouting for a Muslim woman to take off her hijab and I was shocked, I believe wearing a hijab is a choice.’’ Yasmine said. ‘’Today in Egypt the Egyptian households are women and the way people look at me in England is different, everything has changed now and no one is afraid of telling me to go home.’’
Yasmine ‘‘Nowadays some of them still wear the hijab and underneath they are wearing expensive clothes especially brands. I want to explain to people that fashion is a massive influential in our lives, some Muslim women gets negative comments on social media by following fashion trends but I’m sure there will be a positive part of this as well, but choice is more important.’’ Muslim women change in Europe, they are taking their hijab off which is a risk by doing that for their religion. ‘’People may look at them differently and not everyone has punishments for taking off their hijab in other countries. Muslim women who live in the UK feel stronger and it makes them question whether Islam is the right religion for them or not.’’ Yasmine said ‘’I don’t feel scared in the UK and no one will make me wear the hijab again. I went to Dubai and it was strict, I wanted to wear flip flops and shorts and I couldn’t. That’s not fair,’’ She added. However, Yasmine added. ‘’Finding a job in the UK is hard they don’t want us with a hijab on but they won’t tell us they don’t need us because we are wearing the hijab, instead, they make up different excuses. Muslim women have got power and talent in their jobs, the reason why? Because they suffer and fight for their rights. Some Muslim women are much less likely to have a graduate level job and are also less likely to receive replies to job applications.’’ ‘’On the other hand, it is not easy at all for some Muslim women making friends at university. They might be scared that people are going to judge them. Students don’t really accept them and they are not really friendly because they think Muslim women are out of fashion and they don’t want to drink on a night out.’’ ‘’Religion can also be considered as a knowledge’’ Yasmine says. Many ethnic cultures are massively influenced by religion. These rules had been passed down through the family from generation to generation. Muslim women found that their religion was based to create their ethnic identity of Islam were a real mentor in the women’s’ lives. However, their religion was a large source of knowledge and socialisation, also women were also an influence on their ethnic and gender identity. We believe that the British influence gave those girls choices and freedom in expressing their identity.
‘‘I have read the Qur’an and nowhere says that, a woman's face and body must be covered in heavy black cloth’’