I recently came across an article by Hissa Hilal from 2011 on a particular idea of Islam that has come to dominate society. Hissa Hilal may not be famous outside of the Gulf region, however she is the first female finalist of the Million’s Poet competition, based on popularizing Bedouin Nabati poetry across the Middle East. Fully covered and speaking about social problematics she sees in her daily life as a Saudi woman, she exposes her attitudes toward the Salafi way of life that has been taken to be the norm and everything else has been looked down upon.

 

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“It was about 20 years ago when I began to notice a certain air of haughtiness in the attitude of many observant Arab Muslims. Some men with beards and women in niqab started giving everybody the I’m-better-than-you look”, Hilal starts her argument.

The argument that is veiled behind these sentiments reveal the implicit connection between one’s religious belief and external appearance that ought to reflect the internal belief, according to some. Hissa comments on the time when this narrative has been widely used to suck in the masses to outwardly reflect their inner religious belief and look down upon all those who refuse to comply. In the process, those who absorbed the newly-made mainstream way of living life and breathing Islam even benefited financially from it, as their shops would suddenly have more business influx and they would gain on social capital by being more revered and respected in their local communities.

 

For expressing her concern for this as a Saudi woman, her mother and sister scorned her. Hissa expresses her concern through distinguishing pure beliefs and outward representation of it that may not reflect the true intent of the religion. And for her to express such a concern by way of the most popular medium – prime-time television broadcast – and sing about it by using traditional, Bedouin poetry that is respected above all else across the region – well, one can only imagine the strength of her impact. She ended up being the finalist in the Million’s Poet show and took the third place, even being written about in The New York Times, later publishing an article in The National about her view on contemporary Salafism that is kidnapping the purity of religious beliefs.

One of her performances at the “Million’s Poet” show can be seen in the video below.

 

 

What particularly fascinated me in the way she depicted the problematics at hand was the following statement: “I’m a woman, and for an extremist there is no greater sin that a woman’s embrace of literature and poetry.”

I found her honesty and straightforwardness refreshing. She stood out for herself and defended herself at the same time by saying that it is extremism that sees her as being at odds with religion, rather than proper Islamic beliefs. I wanted to take this chance to salute her for the gentle and yet sharp nature of her argument and the persistence of her message in shaping the way women can carve room for themselves in the contemporary narrative on proper Islamic beliefs.

After watching the Burka Avenger (Episode 1), the connection that I found between Hissa’s narrative and the Burka Avenger’s mission was strikingly similar in regards to the power of the female voice in an environment that might be relatively hostile to it. Although the punchline of the first episode of the Burka Avenger is the importance of education for all, females especially, the platform of Hissa’s observations of the community she lives in and the weapons of poetry she uses fulfill the same purpose as the Avenger’s books.  I see both as equally powerful heroins, the Avenger physically using books to strike the same message as Hissa’s poetry on contemporary issues in the world she lives in.

The scene of the physical use of books to morph a metaphorical message of their importance in the hands of a woman can be seen in the scene from Episode 1 below.

 

 

To that extent, Hissa is a real-world heroine that uses words to cut through a world that is hostile to those who share the same sentiments with her, in the same fashion as the Burka Avenger cuts through air with physical books to get at those who cause harm to the world she lives in.

In one of her poems that speaks to the use of words, heroine Hissa writes the following:

I have seen evil from the eyes of the subversive fatwas
in a time when what is lawful is confused with what is not lawful;

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

He speaks from an official, powerful platform,
terrorizing people and preying on everyone seeking peace;
the voice of courage ran away and the truth is cornered and silent,
when self-interest prevented one from speaking the truth

(Hissa Hilal, “The Chaos of Fatwas“)

 

Put concretely, Hissa Hilal challenges the legitimacy of Salafist beliefs as being the only righteous representative of proper Islamic beliefs. She calls for a collective doubting of what has been places in front of the masses as a given. She uncovers what she believes has been disguised under the veil of religious piety and speaks to the inner beliefs of other people who should put more agency in themselves and their rational judgement than in those who position themselves to be the preachers of what those inner beliefs should be. In the poem above, she constructs quite a rational argument for challenging what many are taking as a law of nature in the society around her.

In a time when the unlawful is mistaken for the lawful, both Hissa and the Burka Avenger confront the injustice in an attempt to uncover what they see as societal justice for all members of the society – including women, be it education or the freedom of choice. I found both the poem and Avenger’s missions to save her community quite powerful and inspiring to further uncover the layers of problems that their societies live in and that are, perhaps, urging for changes.

 

References:

 

Hilal, Hissa; “A Particular Idea of Islam has come to Dominate Society” (The National)

Hilal, Hissa; “The Chaos of Fatwas” (poem)

Mackey, Robert; “Female Saudi Poet, Known for Controversial Verses, Reaches Game Show Final” (The New York Times)

Fattah, Hassan M.; “Gulf Culture Emerges as New Voice of Arab World” (The New York Times)

Burka Avenger, Episode 1 (You Tube)