Others Describe Cross-Cultural Nce Raising a Child in the UK

March 11, 2018 13 Special Focus Arab Women

Call on Egyptian Arab mothers describe cross-cultural women to remove experience raising a child in the UK hijab provokes a heated debate

their choice of friends more. it as she feels Arabs judge more she grows up, she can research Hassan Abdel Zaher ures to further their agenda. “My son always preferred non- than English do. My son’s expo- more if she wants.” In the 1970s, the Muslim Broth- English people whereas with sure to the Arab culture is limited Mufti experienced the influence erhood tried to convince female my daughter all her friends are but he practises it much more.” of Islamic extremism with her Cairo university students that covering English. I found my daughter’s Mufti’s daughter is married to son. their hair and body was a sign of settlement and integration is an English-French man and is “I was concerned about the in- book urging women religious piety. The Brotherhood much better than my son. She pregnant. Mufti said she wanted formation that was passed on to to stop wearing the Is- even bought scarves as gifts for accepts the English culture to teach her granddaughter the him by his friends. He said hijab lamic headgear known female university students who without judging. My son basics of Islam. and niqab [are] compulsory but as the hijab is stirring agreed to wear the hijab. judges,” she said. “For my granddaughter, I can I explained this is not the case heated debate in Egypt “We paid for these scarves from “Although my daughter’s only advise but I cannot inter- and he understood,” she said. “I andA unnerving the country’s Is- our own pockets to encourage the exposure to the Arabic cul- fere,” she said. “However, when told him not to listen to friends lamists, especially its ultra-ortho- girls to wear the hijab,” Brother- ture is a lot more than my I have my granddaughter with and they might not understand dox Salafists. hood leader Mahmoud Ghozlan son’s she does not practise me, I plan to pray in front of her, Islam properly. I advised him not In “Urgent Message to Egypt’s said in 2012 at the height of the read the Quran and speak Arabic to search on the internet about Women,” controversial author movement’s political empower- because Arabic is the language of Islam because most of it is wrong Cherif Choubachy says the hijab ment in Egypt. Islam. I want to give her the and not to listen to preachers in became widely worn in Egypt in basics and pillars of mosques. He should pray in a the late 1960s and early 1970s with Islam. Once mosque and leave.” the rise of political Islam and the Asmahan Alkarjosli, a Syrian Muslim Brotherhood movement. Choubachy said mother of three sons, explained The emergence of that attire Islamist movements the importance of perfecting Eng- coincided with the 1967 defeat of use the hijab to exploit lish while living in England and the Egyptian Army by Israel and not letting another language and the occupation of the Sinai Penin- political and economic culture prevent that. sula, entailing the collapse of Arab failures to further “In Syria I was an artist and an nationalism, which was strongly their agenda. art teacher so I wanted to be a propagated by late pan-Arabist teacher when I arrived in Eng- leader Gamal Abdel Nasser. land,” she said. “Before I came “Instead of nationalism, the here my English was really general public, suffering deep Egyptian writer Farida al- bad. I felt people didn’t re- frustration at the time, found sol- Naqqash said the group specifical- spect me because I didn’t ace in religion,” Choubachy writes ly sought poor female university speak English well even in his book. students from the countryside though I was more ed- This retreat from Arab nation- who considered the free headgear ucated than a lot of alism into religion was aggres- a gift they should not miss. them. However, I took sively manipulated by the Muslim “This was how they ensured English courses and Brotherhood and other Islamist that the largest number of women involved myself movements to achieve political would wear the hijab,” Naqqash in English society goals. said. which I love to do.” “One of the objectives was, She said she recalled Mohamed Alkarjosli said of course, for the radical think- Mahdi Akef, the late head of the she was proud ing of these groups to prevail. In Muslim Brotherhood, saying that to be Syrian but this, the hijab turned from a mere the group would only prevail she felt women’s headgear to a political statement,” when all Egypt’s women wore the rights were pre- Choubachy said. hijab. vented there. That Egypt’s Muslim conservatives, Choubachy said he saw more has led her to re- the Salafists in particular, were women wearing the hijab day af- sent the society she angered by the call that those ter day. However, he noticed that, was raised in. who want women to be allowed as the society covered up, sexual “I have always been to show their hair “only want to harassment and unregistered rebellious in Syria. I re- spread vice.” marriages among university stu- ally pushed for women’s They rejected the notion that dents increased. rights,” she said. “Even the hijab was linked to the rise He first called on women to take though there are a lot of things of political Islam. “The hijab was off their hijabs in an April 2015 I don’t agree with about Syrian present hundreds of years before Facebook post, which triggered society, I still consider myself Syr- the world came to know politi- angry reactions including being ian because I spent my childhood cal Islam or the Muslim Brother- called an “enemy of Islam.” there. I tell my sons they are Syr- hood,” claimed leading Salafist In his book, he cites some of the ian even though they don’t know Walid Ismail. “This is less about Facebook messages he received in Arabic and only went to Syria hijab and more about the anti- response to his call. For two years, once. I never let them forget they Islam sentiment some authors are he says, he received virulent and are Syrian.” trying to promote in our society.” often obscene messages, mostly Choubachy, who spent from people claiming to defend an 20 years in Paris working at important tenet of Islam. UNESCO and then for Egypt’s Choubachy said he was not Asmahan Alkarjosli, a Ahram newspaper, said Islamist surprised that his call made him Syrian mother of three movements use the hijab to ex- a nemesis of Egypt’s Islamist sons, explained the ploit political and economic fail- groups. importance of “I expected a shocking reaction to this invitation,” he said. “I was perfecting English considered a disbeliever be- while living in fore, anyway.” England. He specifies that his call is addressed only to women who are co- erced by male family Although Alkarjosli taught Ara- members to wear the bic in England, she did not push hijab. In encouraging her children to learn Arabic. women to revolt against “I was against teaching my chil- male domination he dren Arabic. Even though I taught wants them to be free. Arabic to English people in a “My battle against school, I don’t want my children the hijab is one against to have any influence from Ara- despotism and suppres- bic society. I didn’t want my chil- sion,” Choubachy writes. dren to be split minded about “It is a battle against their identity and I was afraid the coercion of women if I spoke to them at home in and turning them into Arabic, it will hinder their abil- second-class creatures.” ity to speak English well,” she said. “Even though it’s benefi- Hassan Abdel Zaher is a cial to have a second language Cairo-based contributor to in the long-term, I wanted to The Arab Weekly. give my children the choice to learn it when they grow up.” Cover of Cherif Choubachy’s “Urgent Dunia El-Zobaidi is a regular Message to Egypt’s Arab Weekly contributor in Women.” London.