Text Version:
THIS is the tool of change. Not guns, or bombs, or military coups. THIS is our expressions, our feelings, our culture. We are not violent. We are not the forces of evil. We are all people. There is more than just a woman underneath our burkas. You ask that others judge Islam as more than ISIS. We ask that you judge THIS before you judge us. It will tell you more than our hair or our skin. THIS will tell you we are as strong as anyone, we are human like everyone, and we will always be Muslims.
I chose to write this poem because I was trying to better understand women in Islam. I feel that the poem displays the frustration, anger and resentment that women feel, but also the pride they feel for their religion. Poems like “We Sinful Women” and ” Little Mosque Poems” display how women desire the same treatment as men. They want to be equal so both men and women can truly practice Islam without being impeded by traditional views of gender.
Furthermore, I chose to use poetry to express these sentiments because of the power that poetry holds in Islamic and Arabic culture. Men are constantly writing poems as methods for instituting social change, so when a woman composes the poem, then it not only challenges the current social structure, but also is effective at spreading its message. I chose to write this in pen and paper instead of electronically because I wanted to display how easily it is for people to compose it. All they need is a writing utensil and some surface. In order for change to take place in a culture, the ideas and beliefs need to be spread constantly. It cannot necessarily be one instance or iteration that motivates the change. If women throughout the entire Islamic culture continue to write poetry then that is how they will change the view of gender. Even if the material fades or the copy gets destroyed, the poem can always be memorized and spread.