tranquilart

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Many people assume I am a feminist - I agree, I am. Only that my definition of feminism is about promoting the rights of women and not necessarily the wrongs of men.

Some 'Muslim Feminists' would hate me as I actually agree with Shariah Law and don't try my best in ripping it apart.

I chose the name Bint-eh Adam though I love the name I was given by my dad's friend all those moons ago.

" Bint-eh Adam or Daughter of Adam implies my true identity: a child of the first human being. The importance of Bint or the word Daughter denoting the female gender signifies the elevation of the status of women by God Almighty. A whole chapter has been named "The Women" in the Holy text (Quran) and for me it is about projecting this in contemporary society where often the female gender is suppressed. "
I attempt to share a little bit about some women I have been fortunate enough to have known .. women who have broadened my own understanding of womanhood:

I know a woman who is a Carer for her sick parent.

I know a woman whose husband left her after she gave birth to a girl for the *th time.

I know a woman who still weeps for her son who was shot in the early hours of one morn.

I remember hugging a woman in her 30s with secondary breast cancer who gave me the most beautiful smile ever, dying a couple of months later and leaving behind 3 children.

I remember catching the plane to Pakistan and sitting next to a woman and her 9 year old girl who lived alone since her husband left her for another woman. The lovely little child growing with just one parent - will her mother ever tell her that her dad spent a little while with her simply because she was brought up in a conservative part of Pakistan and her parents had thought it in her best interests to wed her to this man?

I met a woman who was raped by her father.

I met a woman who lost 4 members of her family through death in a span of some years and is now in a state of depression.

I know a woman whose son takes illegal drugs.

I know a woman who has dis-owned her daughter who ran away from home.

I was introduced to a woman in her late 90s by my nan, who was on her death-bed and touched my head saying she was very happy I wore a scarf in the West. Giving me prayers .. so many years later .. she has now moved on out of this realm but her face is clear in my mind.

I was introduced to a woman who is from a generation of masseurs.. each woman having taught the next, knowing every bone in the body, yet not being able to write her name.

I remember a woman who used to sew clothes for the children in her street a few decades ago.

I know of a woman who works as the bread-winner to provide for her family because her husband is sick and unable to work.

I was taught by a woman who witnessed injustices being carried out on women in an African country (many decades ago).

I know of a woman who is nearing her 80s and has no children; yet her gentle touch reminds me of my mothers' warmth.

I spoke to a woman who left her home in Congo when fighting broke out and is now a refugee.

I love a woman who doesn't know how to use a clock - but uses the position of the sun, the stars and the moon to tell the time.

I wish for a woman who told me guilt is not a healthy emotion.

I pray for the woman who told me never to abandon my prayer.

Bint-eh Adam

*The book was a gift from a friend recently
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