Down the memory lane
Other Voices
ABy Ahmad Al-Sarraf
s I look at the past, the first thing that comes to my mind is the collection of personal and family photographs printed on slides that can be seen through the lens of the projector on the screen or the wall. Although they date back to the 1960s of the past century, which is not very far away, I was shocked to see the tremendous change in our attire as to what we wear, how we wear, our customs and traditions, even our hairstyles and the way we were compared to now which is just ‘frightening’ if I can use that term.
It is a wellknown fact that the status and prestige of women in any society or state is an indicator of the backwardness or progress of that particular state. The countries in which the status of women – be it a mother, sister, daughter or wife – has gained prominence means the society has progressed from the humanitarian, industrial and moral points of view unlike societies where this status has remained stagnant or even worsened over the ages, as we are in most Arab and Muslim countries and Kuwait is no exception.
The more backward a state is means decline in the women’s status and vice-versa. Unfortunately, this rule has no exception. This is a dangerous sign, especially when we know that the number of underdeveloped countries is much bigger than the developed nations.
Even the developed countries sometimes are against women. In Switzerland, for example, women were granted political rights only in 1971 and this was preceded by a majority of European countries, especially after the end of the Second World War.
The religious beliefs often played a big role in preventing women from acquiring their rights in full including political. This is in addition to social equality.
Again, in the late 1980s, some of the most prominent clerics issued fatwas forbidding photography which even stretched to family photos. Many have ended destroying their
Al-Sarraf
personal photos and removed the frames that once adorned the walls of the house, destroyed them or set fire to them.
The fatwa did not spare the house of my father. The only difference was the photos from the wall were removed but not burned. They were stored in safes but ‘got lost’.
Twenty years later, the influence of these fatwas gradually faded. Recently we saw one of those who had earlier declared the sanctity of photography and the acquisition of personal photos using his cell phone to take selfies of himself with a group of clerics -- clerics who are strict with others but gentle to themselves.
This contradictory behavior was seen in dozens of other positions that now have been abandoned, or ignoring earlier fatwas following the change in “time, circumstance and place,” or at the request of the “guardian”.
With the beginning of the awakening movement, and the flow of petrodollars to the Mujaheddin, and other religious movements, the Salafist in particular, the religious elder forbid participation in any ‘democratic’ political movement, under the pretext it is a sin and imitating the West.
After seeing the luxury, wealth and social status of the opponents of other religious parties, they issued fatwas other than then previous ones, leaving the choice to their followers to participate in the elections.
Later they demanded that everyone should participate, after discovering the extent of their personal and partisan benefits and became active participants in the political process, and ministers, deputies and political activists of the Salaf, who until yesterday were against all these worldly matters.
They strive to follow others and falsify their higher education certificates to gain greater religious status and greater influence. They have also the power to decide who has the right to succeed in the parliamentary elections despite the fact that earlier they were against rivalry in such fields.
Of course we are not against development and change, especially if it is for the better but this must include everything. We also warn against blindly following the backward people.
e-mail:
habibi.enta1@gmail.com