Like everyone else I am bound to have an opinion about the terrorist attack at Nairobi's Westgate mall that brought Kenya to its knees. I do, and strong opinions indeed. What happened in there, the slaughtering of innocent children, women and loving fathers, is still fresh in my mind.
But first let me get the sequel of the previous story out of the way.
I sort of believe the two are somewhat linked. I believe its upon every Muslim to seriously question their own faith, if that faith by extension, is used by heartless criminal terrorists to front an agenda that threatens the very fabric of humanity.
Why every Muslim woman ought to fight an internal battle to free herself from those that abuse her rights, in the name of religion, is my focus for now. I am on the journey of my own freedom. I have made a few choices that are not so popular among the 'righteous' and ''pious' sheiks of my time.
The background to why I feel women need to this, is motivated largely by what happened to me growing up as a Muslim/Somali child. In the previous article, I stated my stand on things Muslim and Islam and I justified this stand by the chronicles of my own experiences.
When I finished high school, I joined Journalism school. By now, I was beginning to gain more confidence in speaking my mind. I studied hard and by the end of my three years in college, I was a total rebel.
As soon as I got my first job, I announced to my family I had plans to move out and live on my own. In the secular world, this is another step in one's path of life. But not in a Muslim/Somali house. No, no.
This move elicited all manner of hostility both from my family and the community at large. You see, it is unheard of, for an unmarried Muslim woman to want to live alone. In fact, it was widely assumed that the only thing that would motivate a woman to leave her parent's dwellings before getting married, was for the 'freedom to fornicate'. I know, such an absurd mentality right? That mentality, by the way, is alive in every closed society. Ask the Indians they know a little thing or two about it.
In approaching my family with this 'unheard of' idea, I believe I used the most diplomatic means to negotiate why I needed to move. I explained to my family that I just wanted to decide my own fate. I just wanted to figure things out on my own.
They were unreceptive, in fact, utterly hostile to the idea. To an extend where a clan meeting was called to 'tame' me. I was beaten, tied up and monitored whenever I stepped out to go the shop.
When they couldn't 'tame' me by this, they performed a cleansing ritual on me. This entailed, reading the Qoran so loudly in my ear, to 'exorcise' me of evil spirits. This also entailed some more Sheiks lashing me in pretext of lashing the 'djinn' in me. To the Sheikh, and by extension anyone who believed there was a 'djinn' in me, they were not whipping me, but the 'djinn' inside me. However, the bruises were on my body and not on the djinn's.
When they were finished, I stood my ground and went on with my plans. Instead of 'taming' me what these did for me was, to thrust me further into my quest. I had had enough of being told what to do, how to dress, who to talk to and who not talk to. I wanted to make the choice of what I wanted, how I wanted and in whatever manner or form I wanted it in.
Thus began the journey of my freedom. I was 22 at the time. So for 10 years, I have been dressing in denim, drinking my wine and smoking my cigarettes. I do not regret one bit that I made this choice for myself. I believe that such choices should not be taken away from any woman.
If one chooses not do these things; then that in itself is the freedom to choose to or not do, which is entirely being decided by one's self, and not by someone else's interpretation of 'how you ought to behave'.
But first let me get the sequel of the previous story out of the way.
I sort of believe the two are somewhat linked. I believe its upon every Muslim to seriously question their own faith, if that faith by extension, is used by heartless criminal terrorists to front an agenda that threatens the very fabric of humanity.
Why every Muslim woman ought to fight an internal battle to free herself from those that abuse her rights, in the name of religion, is my focus for now. I am on the journey of my own freedom. I have made a few choices that are not so popular among the 'righteous' and ''pious' sheiks of my time.
The background to why I feel women need to this, is motivated largely by what happened to me growing up as a Muslim/Somali child. In the previous article, I stated my stand on things Muslim and Islam and I justified this stand by the chronicles of my own experiences.
When I finished high school, I joined Journalism school. By now, I was beginning to gain more confidence in speaking my mind. I studied hard and by the end of my three years in college, I was a total rebel.
As soon as I got my first job, I announced to my family I had plans to move out and live on my own. In the secular world, this is another step in one's path of life. But not in a Muslim/Somali house. No, no.
This move elicited all manner of hostility both from my family and the community at large. You see, it is unheard of, for an unmarried Muslim woman to want to live alone. In fact, it was widely assumed that the only thing that would motivate a woman to leave her parent's dwellings before getting married, was for the 'freedom to fornicate'. I know, such an absurd mentality right? That mentality, by the way, is alive in every closed society. Ask the Indians they know a little thing or two about it.
In approaching my family with this 'unheard of' idea, I believe I used the most diplomatic means to negotiate why I needed to move. I explained to my family that I just wanted to decide my own fate. I just wanted to figure things out on my own.
They were unreceptive, in fact, utterly hostile to the idea. To an extend where a clan meeting was called to 'tame' me. I was beaten, tied up and monitored whenever I stepped out to go the shop.
When they couldn't 'tame' me by this, they performed a cleansing ritual on me. This entailed, reading the Qoran so loudly in my ear, to 'exorcise' me of evil spirits. This also entailed some more Sheiks lashing me in pretext of lashing the 'djinn' in me. To the Sheikh, and by extension anyone who believed there was a 'djinn' in me, they were not whipping me, but the 'djinn' inside me. However, the bruises were on my body and not on the djinn's.
When they were finished, I stood my ground and went on with my plans. Instead of 'taming' me what these did for me was, to thrust me further into my quest. I had had enough of being told what to do, how to dress, who to talk to and who not talk to. I wanted to make the choice of what I wanted, how I wanted and in whatever manner or form I wanted it in.
Thus began the journey of my freedom. I was 22 at the time. So for 10 years, I have been dressing in denim, drinking my wine and smoking my cigarettes. I do not regret one bit that I made this choice for myself. I believe that such choices should not be taken away from any woman.
If one chooses not do these things; then that in itself is the freedom to choose to or not do, which is entirely being decided by one's self, and not by someone else's interpretation of 'how you ought to behave'.
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