Mariam Al Astrulabi, a Syrian Muslim Woman: The Female Muslim Astronomer Who Reached For the Stars
New Age Islam News Bureau
10 August 2022
• Iran Releases Iranian-French Academic Fariba
Adelkhah on Furlough
• Mridula Sarabhai and Rameshwari Nehru Led the
Mission to Rescue 30,000 Abductees between 1948 And 1956 After Partition
• Karachi Security Guard Kicks Pregnant Woman, Ghastly
Incident Caught On CCTV
• Injured Palestinian Girl Hopeful for Recovery in
Türkiye
• How Active Lifestyles, Sports and Fitness Programs
Are Enabling Arab Women to Beat Obesity, Manage Weight
• The Economist Draws Ire for Calling Women in Arab
Countries Fatter
• Indian Woman Shares Heart-Warming Story of
Friendship with Pakistani Classmate at Harvard
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/astrulabi-syrian-astronomer/d/127687
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Mariam Al Astrulabi, a Syrian Muslim woman: The Female
Muslim Astronomer Who Reached for the Stars
Artist’s Rendition of
Mariam Al Astrulabi. Source: TRT World.
-----
Mariam Elsayeh Ibrahim
09 August, 2022
We often credit scientific progress to recent
developments, to the near present.
What this fails to take into account are the thousands
of years of scientific research, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age.
Many of the figures involved during that time are then
lost to the annals of history. One of them was Mariam Al Astrulabi, a Syrian
Muslim woman, whose astrolabe sparked the beginning of development in the field
of astronautics and space navigation.
One could logically suggest that the Hubble telescope
wouldn't have existed were it not for Galileo's invention of the telescope in
1609. Through his invention, Galileo, famously, was able to look at the moon,
observe a supernova, spot the phases of Venus and the rings of Saturn and
discover sunspots.
And yet, the Hubble telescope would have still needed
a space navigation system to lead the telescope to said objects. The history of
this system began in primitive ways between 220 BC to 150 BC.
As time went by, astrolabists were able to develop
many versions of astrolabes with Mariam Al Asturlabi one of the pioneers of
this field.
Mariam was born in 950 AD in Aleppo, Syria. She is
credited for developing the first 'complex' astrolabe, with her invention akin
to a GPS navigation tool for the stars.
An astrolabe is, essentially, an ancient, hand-sized
astronomical model of the universe. This tool was particularly useful during
the Islamic ages and was heavily used for trade as a marine navigation tool.
Ibn Al Nadim, "Al Nasab" - a key
bibliographer of the Islamic Middle Ages - wrote that there were 1,000
different applications of the astrolabe at the time. The diversity of this
instrument, therefore, served both astronomical and astrological purposes.
The Religious Astrolabe
Astrolabe development was critical to the Muslims.
Religious applications of the astrolabe helped Muslims know when prayer time
was.
In addition, the qibla: the direction of Mecca, which
Muslims pray direction, and other uses of astrolabes to create the lunar
calendar of this time, helping Muslims to determine when to start/break fast
during Ramadan and when Hajj was.
Given this importance, Khalifas - or Muslim rulers -
used to sponsor scientists during the Islamic Golden Age, encouraging the
pursuit of knowledge through funding schemes.
Sayf Aldawla, the founder of Eimart Aleppo, sponsored
Mariam's scientific studies. The Khalifa's support allowed Mariam to devote
herself to astrolabes and travel to Baghdad to learn more from 10th-century
masters.
According to Ibn Al Nadim, Mariam’s father, Kusayar Al
Ijliyy, was also an astronomer and astrolabist. He used to sell astrolabes to
sailors and other astronomers, resulting in the surname Astrulabi which means
astrolabist in Arabic.
Mariam and her father were apprentices of one of the
renowned astrolabers in Baghdad called Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh Nasṭūlus - "Basṭūlus", who is known
for making one of the oldest surviving astrolabes, dating back to 927/928.
Nasṭūlus astrolabes are now on show in the Kuwait Museum
of Islamic Art and the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo.
After years of neglect, Mariam was finally honoured
internationally in 1990 as an astrolabist by naming the main belt asteroid 7060
Al.' Ijliya after her.
She is also mentioned in 1001 inventions – an
award-winning UK science and cultural heritage organisation which helps engage
over 450 million people around the world to the wonders of the universe and our
inventive capacity.
Astrolabe development after Mariam Al Astrulabi
Ibn Al Nadim noted that the essential features of the
astrolabe came about in the 11th century in al-Andalus when Muslim astronomers
devised the single universal plate, which included markings for equatorial and
ecliptic coordinate systems.
This modification meant that the astrolabe no longer
needed containers/plates for different latitudes and eliminated the need to
re-calculate values at each use.
This technology was not recognised outside the Islamic
world in Al-Andalus at the time. However, Muslim scholars perfected this
technology in Syria around the fourteenth century.
In learning about Islam's role in astrophysics, The
New Arab spoke to Professor Somaya Saad, head of astrophysics at the National
Research Institute of Astronomy & Geophysics in Egypt.
She explained, "Muslims used a primitive version
of the astrolabe with plates. The tool was a two-dimensional planetarium model
showing what the sky looks like in a specific place at one particular
time."
Saad added: "The sky was drawn on the face of the
astrolabe so that it was easy to find celestial positions on it; it was used in
navigation, to determine the angles of elevation of celestial bodies concerning
the observer horizon anywhere, to calculate time and distance from the
equator."
Modern Muslim astronomers
We're privileged to now have a new generation of
female Muslim astronomers. Fatoumata Kébé is a French astrophysicist
specialising in solving the problem of space debris. She is the founder and
director of Ephemerides, a program that provides access to astronomy for
disadvantaged youth. Kébé states, "to go into space is a privilege, and women
are not strictly welcome in this elite club".
Furthermore, Dr Hashima Hasan, a NASA Program
Scientist for NuSTAR, the Keck Observatory and ADCAR, is a deputy program
scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. She also serves as the Education
and Communication Lead for Astrophysics and the Executive Secretary of the
Astrophysics Advisory Committee.
All these astronomers prove that Muslim women were
never reluctant to contribute to science and leave a historical legacy for
humanity.
What has been achieved today is nothing but continuous
historical episodes that are handed over to generation after generation to
build upon - and Muslim women have played an integral role in that journey.
Mariam Elsayeh Ibrahim is a freelance journalist and
story producer currently based in the United Kingdom
Source: The New Arab
https://english.alaraby.co.uk/features/female-muslim-astronomer-who-reached-stars
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Iran Releases Iranian-French Academic Fariba Adelkhah On
Furlough
Fariba Adelkhah is the
latest in a long list of dual nationals detained in Iran. AFP
-----
09 August, 2022
Iran has released Iranian-French academic Fariba
Adelkhah on furlough for five days, her lawyer told the Emtedad website on
Tuesday, a day after Tehran and Washington wound up indirect talks in Vienna to
revive a 2015 nuclear pact.
“We hope it (the furlough) will be extended,” Emtedad
quoted Hojjat Kermani as saying.
Adelkhah, who is a resident of France and was arrested
in 2019 while on a visit to Iran, was sentenced in 2020 to five years in prison
on national security charges. She was moved to house arrest later, but in
January was returned to jail.
Adelkhah has denied the charges. France has called
them “politically motivated” and repeatedly called for the release of Adelkhah,
a researcher affiliated with Paris’s prestigious Sciences Po university.
Iran does not recognize dual nationality, saying the
case is an Iranian domestic legal matter.
In March 2020, Iran released Adelkhah’s partner,
French academic Roland Marchal, who was detained along with her, after France
freed Iranian engineer Jalal Ruhollahnejad, detained over alleged violations of
US sanctions against Tehran.
Source: Al Arabiya
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Mridula
Sarabhai and Rameshwari Nehru Led the Mission to Rescue 30,000 Abductees
between 1948 And 1956 After Partition
Aug
10, 2022
Monumental
efforts of two women helped rescue 30,000 abducted women in eight years between
1948 and 1956 after the Partition.
Mridula
Sarabhai and Rameshwari Nehru, who hailed from prominent families, were
instrumental in rescuing the abducted women on both sides of the border.
In
all, 20,728 Muslim women were rescued — a figure that overshadows the number of
non-Muslims rescued. A total of 9,032 non-Muslim women were saved.
According
to the official estimate, 50,000 Muslim women in India and 33,000 non-Muslim
women in Pakistan were abducted.
Historian
Ramachandra Guha records the contribution of Mridula Sarabhai and Rameshwari
Nehru in his masterpiece book “India After Gandhi”.
He
writes, “…after the dust had settled down and the blood dried, the governments
of India and Pakistan agreed that these captured women must be returned to
their original families. On the Indian side, the operation to recover abducted
women was led by Mridula Sarabhai and Rameshwari Nehru. Both came from
aristocratic homes and both had sturdily nationalist credentials. Their work
was encouraged and aided by Jawaharlal Nehru, who took a deep personal interest
in the process.”
Rameshwari
Nehru’s commitment to the cause of abducted women was so firm that Shobha Nehru
(wife of former Indian envoy to the US BK Nehru) recalled in an interview
around a decade ago that “Rameshwari Nehru refused to leave Lahore until all
women refugees in the camps were evacuated. Neither Mr Jawaharlal Nehru nor her
son could make her leave. Eventually, the family’s Muslim friend in Lahore
managed this difficult task”.
On
December 6, 1947, at the Inter-Dominion Conference in Lahore, the two countries
agreed to take steps for rescuing and restoring the women to the two countries,
while Mridula Sarabhai was appointed the chief social worker. She continued
with her efforts for the next decade.
Ritu
Menon and Kamla Bhasin recounted the situation in those days in their paper
titled “Abducted Women, the State, and Question of Honour”. They write that
“communal tension and the ensuing violence escalated at such a rapid pace,
especially after March 1947, that on September 3, 1947, leaders and the
representatives of the governments of India and Pakistan met and resolved that
steps be taken to recover and restore abducted persons”.
Between
December 1947 and July 1948, a total of 9,362 women from India and 5,510 from
Pakistan were rescued.
To
speed up the process, an agreement was reached between India and Pakistan on
November 11, 1948, that set out the terms for rescuing women in each dominion.
Ordinances were issued in both countries. These remained in force till January
1950 in Pakistan.
Till
December 1949, a total of 12,000 women were rescued in India and 6,000 in
Pakistan. The official figures make it clear that of those rescued, the
majority were below the age of 35 and primarily from rural areas.
Ritu
Menon and Kamla Bhasin wrote that about 30,000 women were recovered by both
countries over a period of eight years.
A
majority of women were rescued between 1947 and 1952, but the process of women
returning to their countries dragged on till 1956. The agreement was renewed
every year in India till 1957, when it was allowed to lapse. The rescue
operation was more or less abandoned in two or three years prior to this,
largely because Mridula Sarabhai came in for some adverse criticism, and
resigned.
Duo
at the forefront
Mridula
Sarabhai: A freedom fighter and politician, she belonged to the Sarabhai
industrialist family of Ahmedabad. She was sister of scientist Vikram Sarabhai.
Rameshwari
Nehru: An honorary adviser to the Ministry of Rehabilitation, she played a
vital role in rescuing abducted women and children. She married Brijlal Nehru,
a nephew of Motilal Nehru and cousin of Jawaharlal Nehru.
‘Nehru
took personal interest’
“…after
the dust had settled down and the blood dried, the governments of India and
Pakistan agreed that these captured women must be returned to their original
families. On the Indian side, the operation to recover abducted women was led
by Mridula Sarabhai and Rameshwari Nehru. Both came from aristocratic homes and
both had sturdily nationalist credentials. Their work was encouraged and aided
by Jawaharlal Nehru, who took a deep personal interest in the process.” — India
After Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha
Source:
Tribune India
--------
Karachi
security guard kicks pregnant woman, ghastly incident caught on CCTV
Aug
9, 2022
KARACHI:
Pakistan, which has topped all charts when it comes to the ill-treatment of
women, is now catching eyeballs for a shameful act where a security guard
kicked a pregnant woman outside an apartment building, media reports said.
The
gruesome act was captured in Closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage.
The
police arrested the security guard however it reveals that the safety and
security of women is a fantasy in Pakistan. The disgraceful guard was seen
kicking the woman with his boots brutely so much so that she laid unconscious
outside the building.
Closed-circuit
television (CCTV) camera footage of the incident shows the security guard
arguing with the woman just before slapping her. The woman fell to the ground
and kept trying to get up, but the guard kicked her in the face, the footage
showed, as per the media portal.
In
the first information report, the woman was identified as Sana who said that
she works as a maid at an apartment building in Noman Grand City situated in
Gulistan-e-Jauhar block 17 in Karachi.
According
to her, at 3 am on August 5, she asked her son, Sohail, to deliver food to her.
However, when he tried to enter the apartment's premises, the union's office
bearers -- Abdul Nasir, Adil Khan, and Mahmood Khalil -- prohibited him from
entering.
"When
I came down to inquire, Adil got angry and started abusing me. Then, he asked
the security guard to beat me. I am 5-6 months pregnant. When he hit me, I
became unconscious due to the pain."
The
police have registered the FIR under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to
woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 337Ai (Engaging in any act with the
intention of causing hurt to any person), and 354 (assault or criminal force to
woman with intent to outrage her modesty).
Sindh
Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah taking cognizance of the matter gave instructions
for steps to be taken against the guard. "How did the guard have the
audacity to raise his hands at the woman and be violent?" the Sindh CM
questioned.
An
inquiry has been initiated and the guard has been taken into custody.
This
latest incident is another grisly incident which exposes Pakistan when its
comes to womens' safety. A total of 157 women were kidnapped, 112 women were a
victim of physical assault and 91 women were raped across Pakistan in the month
of June, according to a report.
More
sadly, the women are just as misogynistic largely due to lifetimes spent under
the patriarchal spell. Be it women professionals, female lawmakers or ordinary
countrywomen walking on the road, no one is safe from the hands and eyes ever
ready to assault them.
Source:
Times Of India
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Injured
Palestinian girl hopeful for recovery in Türkiye
Nour
Abu Aisha
09.08.2022
GAZA
CITY, Palestine
The
family of an 11-year-old Palestinian girl, who was injured in an Israeli
attack, has pinned hope on the treatment she will receive in Türkiye.
On
Tuesday, Palestinian group Hamas announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan agreed to receive Rahaf Salman for treatment in Türkiye.
"The
Turkish president graciously agreed to receive injured girl, Rahaf Salman, and
her family for treatment in Türkiye," Hamas said in a statement.
According
to Hamas, Rahaf Salman appealed on Monday for help to transfer her to Türkiye
for treatment.
An
Egypt-brokered cease-fire came into force last Sunday to end three days of
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and retaliatory rocket fire.
The
Israeli offensive left at least 45 Palestinians dead and injured over 360
others, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The
girl's mother, Manal Salman, told Anadolu Agency that Rahaf Salman and her
13-year-old brother, Mohamed Salman, were "injured Saturday by an Israeli
rocket that landed in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip."
Manal
Salman also said the girl's feet and right hand had to be amputated.
She
also suffered an abdominal injury, broke a collarbone and dislocated her
shoulder. She also complains of eye problems.
Her
brother was injured by shrapnel in the pelvis and chest. He also broke a knee
and suffered a hand injury as well, the mother said.
The
treatment in Türkiye, the mother said, will help Rahaf Salman become
self-reliant through prosthetic limbs.
Life-changing
moment
The
girl went to look for her brother on Saturday evening to tell him the family
will eat dinner together, the mother said.
The
family decided to gather for dinner to ease the anxiety caused by the Israeli
attacks.
"We
heard the sound of an explosion very close to our home," the mother said,
adding that she rushed to the blast site.
She
saw her son bleeding, but could not locate her daughter.
Over
the course of two hours, family members searched for Rahaf Salman.
Little
did the parents know, their daughter was rushed to hospital by bystanders.
My
husband “searched for her in the hospital and could not recognize her due to
the terrible injury that she suffered," she said.
Upon
arriving at the hospital, Rahaf Salman's face was covered in blood because of
the shrapnel wounds, while the rest of her body "was shredded,"
according to her mother.
Despite
being in immense pain, the girl greets visitors at the hospital "with a
smile and thanks."
My
daughter wants to study medicine when she grows up, the mother said. "But
how can she study when she is in this condition?"
Source:
Anadolu Agency
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How
Active Lifestyles, Sports and Fitness Programs Are Enabling Arab Women to Beat
Obesity, Manage Weight
RAWAN
RADWAN
August
09, 2022
JEDDAH:
Obesity rates worldwide have been steadily rising over the past half-century,
reaching a point at which experts say many nations are way off schedule to meet
the World Health Organization’s 2025 global nutrition targets.
Mindful
of the pressures that high obesity rates place on local healthcare systems, to
the detriment of quality of life, countries such as Saudi Arabia are working
hard to promote fitness and challenge people to change their sedentary
lifestyles.
According
to a recent study by Ohio State University College of Medicine, obesity and the
associated health implications cost the Saudi healthcare system $3.8 billion in
2019 alone, equivalent to about 4.3 percent of the Kingdom’s total annual
health expenditure.
Excess
weight and obesity — defined as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that can
impair health — is not only a concern in the Arab world. More than a billion
people worldwide are classified as obese, which means that they have a body
mass index (a measure of body fat based on height and weight) of 30 or higher,
and the number is rising.
According
to the WHO, obesity is more prevalent among women than men, with factors such
as sociocultural issues, economics, genetics and biology all contributing
factors. Worldwide, obesity affects 15 percent of women and 11 percent of men.
In the Middle East and North Africa, this gender gap is even wider, with 26
percent of women classified as obese compared with 16 percent of men.
A
recent article published by The Economist attributes the problem in the region
to two key factors: Socioeconomics, on the grounds that the cheapest local
foods are usually the most unhealthy, such as bread and rice; and culture, on
the grounds that pervasive social conservatism in the Arab region can prevent
women from participating in outdoor exercise or shedding calories passively in
the workplace.
The
reality is, of course, more complex than that. The perception of Arab women as
mere sedentary housewives appears grossly outdated as women in the region
increasingly enter the labor force, take charge of their diets, and seize new
opportunities in the worlds of sports and fitness.
Keeping
body weight under control, in any case, is easier said than done in the age of
globalization. Arab countries, too, have experienced significant lifestyle
changes and rapid urbanization that have introduced many additional high-fat
foods to the market alongside the pre-existing unhealthy eating habits,
including the traditionally carbohydrate-rich Arab diet.
Populations
of the Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, have found themselves at the sharp
end of these developments. Notably, obesity levels have soared in recent
decades owing to a mix of unhealthy eating, inactivity and keeping “fat in
fashion” — a stereotype associated with Gulf nationals on account of their
perceived affluence.
Globally,
the perception of obesity varies widely. In many high-income and, increasingly,
middle-income countries, weight gain carries a social stigma that fuels a
perception of individual weakness that undermines the support for comprehensive
prevention, treatment and management measures.
Different
ideals associated with weight and body shape can found in various cultures.
Specific cultural pressures to be tall and thin are postulated to cause people
to misreport their height and body weight in an attempt to appear what is
deemed more socially popular and desirable.
A
similar situation exists in some places in terms of attitudes to excess weight.
Many African and Polynesian, and some Arab, cultures associate overweight women
with affluence, health, strength and fertility. In the Gulf region at least,
however, being fat is certainly no longer in fashion.
Sulafa Kurdi, a photographer and cafe owner,
has been overweight almost all of her life. In August 2020, she took the first
steps on a nearly two-year journey to get fit and healthy by signing up with a
gym. She chose Sweat Army in Jeddah and began her transformation.
“I
was waiting for the right time to make the move and turn my life around,” she
told Arab News. “Breaking down that wall was tough but, with the support I
received from my coach, the journey was what I needed. I wanted to lose weight
the healthy way, the right way and the difficult way.
“Within
three months of signing up, I found the discipline to maintain a healthy
lifestyle that I still stick to as best as I can. Yes, we all fall off the
wagon and feel sluggish at times. With the right support, I’ve managed to get
back again and move, breaking my own records.”
Indeed,
contrary to the assertions in The Economist’s article, anecdotal evidence
suggests more and more women in the Arab world are taking control of their
physical lives and setting off on a journey to improved their fitness. This has
in turn motivated many to pursue their dreams of becoming professional
athletes.
Studies
have found that engagement in sports and physical activity has been lower among
women than men. Now various government-led and private programs are providing
women and girls with access to sports facilities, encouraging them to become
athletes and even role models for younger generations.
This
has challenged outdated stereotypes about women in Saudi Arabia and the wider
Arab region and the incorrect notions about social conservatism preventing them
from going outdoors both to exercise and to take part in organized sports.
Dubbed
“Cleopatra Squash,” Egyptian Nuran Johar has won padel tournaments such as the
England Open Junior Championship five times. Meanwhile, Ulfah Alkaabi, one of
the UAE’s top padel players, has been making her mark on the court.
Halfway
around the world, Saudi Arabia’s female national football team won a silver
medal at the Special Olympics Unified Cup in Detroit, Michigan this month.
Although
Saudi sprinter and first-time Olympian Yasmeen Al-Dabbagh fell short in her
first race in Tokyo 2020, she has set her sights on bringing home a medal from
the next Games in Paris in 2024.
By
all accounts, women’s participation in sports and fitness boils down to a
supportive community. In the Kingdom, the Sports For All Federation has been
building community-driven programs to improve overall health through community
sports programs, a powerful tool to create a healthy society in line with the
Vision 2030 Quality of Life objectives.
SFA
says its programs and initiatives are created based on a community’s specific
needs and what motivates them, and can be incorporated easily into their daily
routines such as walking, running, cycling and other activities. It says the
number of female participants in community sports has increased dramatically.
“Since
2018, we’ve seen the numbers reflected across our programs,” an SFA
spokesperson told Arab News. “SFA wants to provide women with the right
programs and female-driven initiatives to encourage them to go further.
“We
provided a special course for ladies in our Spartan race, there was an area for
women at SandClash to compete, and the same goes for our Neighborhood Clubs
across the Kingdom for women who prefer to have their own spaces.
“SFA
has also hosted the Global Goals World Cup, a five-a-side women’s football
tournament, and is the first country to add basketball to the games. One of the
main objectives of SFA is to enable them, provide them with access to
facilities, motivate them and feel that they are part of the community.”
Underscoring
the importance of community-based physical activity programs, Haya Sawan, a
fitness trainer and the owner of SheFit Gym in Jeddah, told Arab News that
having such programs is helping to build a strong fitness culture among women.
“There’s
been a huge jump in the past five years and you can see more people engaged in
some sort of physical activity than ever before. It’s not just a matter of gyms
opening, it’s more about changing the mindset and changing the lifestyle,” said
Sawan.
“The
region’s climate and unique environment restrict us from walking for miles, so
we need to put in extra effort just to stay active all day. We utilize the
space that we have and create programs fitting for the space, and using vast
spaces such as malls and outdoor pathways designated for walking or jogging is
a great way to engage the public.
“Initiatives
such as the ones launched by SFA where they cooperated with malls makes it so
much easier for people to be active. It’s accessible and you can count your
steps. It’s a small gesture that makes a difference in the long run.”
That
said, personal motivation remains an integral part of any fitness journey, and
changing perceptions among Arab women — and wider society — about their role,
status and body autonomy no doubt has a part to play.
“I
am a strong believer that your thoughts can really control your life,” said
Sawan. “A positive mindset will always believe that there’s room for
improvement, and look at challenges as a source of motivation to overcome,
rather than challenges that would stop you from moving forward. Everything
changes.”
Source:
Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2139551/middle-east
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The
Economist draws ire for calling women in Arab countries fatter
8
August, 2022
On
July 28, The Economist published a report on the Body Mass Index (BMI) gap
between the genders in Middle Eastern and African countries, for which it has
been receiving criticism. In the report, the author suggested that the women in
these regions often do not get a chance to indulge in physical work or sports,
which leads to obesity. On the contrary, men in these countries enjoy sports,
do labour-extensive work and go out frequently, shedding calories.
The
Economist, which is a British weekly newspaper, is on the receiving end of
criticism because of its report titled “Why women are fatter than men in the
Arab world”. Twitter user Sarah Mahmoudh said, “It is absolutely appalling and
shameful that the West is being fed by this orientalist, sexist nonsense
regarding Middle Eastern women. As an Arab woman who has lived in an Arab
country, I do not feel represented but rather degraded. The Economist needs
some serious reform!”
Another
Twitter user, Amad, said, “And again, the racist Western stereotype of Arab
families. Arab women aren’t fat because they are at home all day, they are
because our entire culture and society are about food and hospitality. Try to
visit any Palestinian home and not feel like a stuffed turkey afterwards!”
Islamist
and terror apologist Lucknow resident Irena Akbar said, “A pile of racist
filth. Will this trashy publication do an article on why women in the West are
fatter than men? The article itself says women everywhere are fatter than men.
As if they should be slimmer than men in the first place! Misogynistic garbage
with latent Islamophobia.”
Balsam
Mustafa pointed out that the feature image used by The Economist is of an
actress who has worked extensively in the field since the 1990s. He said, “The
lady in the lead image is an Iraqi actress who started her career at a very
young age in the 1990s, breaking many taboos in her TV drama roles. She
deserves a piece that honours her career, not one that body-shames her &
other women in Arab majority countries.”
Twitter
user Apex_Pretty said, “The Economist is trash. The US & UK obesity rates
outdo other countries. I think we shouldn’t talk.”
What
does Economist say about the BMI gap in Arab countries?
In
its report, The Economist suggested that after a certain age, females are not
allowed outside homes in Arab countries. However, in adolescence age, girls do
play with boys. The women in these countries are allegedly deprived of
participating in sports and passive exercise, which leads to obesity.
The
report started with a story of a woman from Baghdad who could only meet the
ends as the owner of the restaurant where she worked gave her leftovers. The
food that she gets is high in fat resulting in obesity in her and her children.
It
read, “Only a fifth of women in Arab countries has paid jobs, says the World
Bank. In Iraq, the share is one in ten. This means that most Arab women spend
most of the day indoors, missing out on passive exercise. Working women in
other regions bustle around in hospitals, classrooms and restaurants. But in
Arab countries, many such jobs are done mainly by men. In Gulf countries, many
of the heavier menial household chores are done by foreigners.”
It
further stated that poor families in Arab countries are less likely to let
women out of the house. As a result, women in poor families are fatter compared
to women in rich families. Furthermore, the report suggested that a
carbohydrate-rich diet of the Arab people is also a reason for obesity,
especially in women who tend to stay at home.
Source:
Opindia
https://www.opindia.com/2022/08/economist-ire-arab-women-fatter/
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Indian
Woman Shares Heart-Warming Story of Friendship with Pakistani Classmate at
Harvard
Aug
10, 2022
By
Trisha Sengupta
People
often have various perceptions and prejudices about people staying across the
border. However, the walls of misconception often come down when people get to
know citizens of their neighbouring country a little better. One such story is
posted by a LinkedIn user Sneha Biswas from India. In her tale she shared about
her friendship with a woman hailing from Pakistan.
“Growing
up in a small town in India, my knowledge about Pakistan was limited to
cricket, history books and the media. All revolving around rivalry and hatred.
Decades later I met this girl. She is from Islamabad, Pakistan. I met her on my
Day 1 at Harvard Business School. It took us 5 seconds to like each other and
by the end of first semester she became one of my closest friends on campus,”
she wrote. That is not all, she also added how their friendship grew.
“Over
multiple chais, biryanis, financial models and case study preps, we got to know
each other. Her stories of growing up in a conservative Pakistani backdrop, but
blessed with supportive parents who gave her and her younger sister the courage
to break the norms and chase their dreams, resonated with me. Her stories of
fearless ambitions and bold choices inspired me,” she explained. She also
shared an image that shows them flaunting the flags of their countries with
huge smiles on their faces.
The
video has been posted a day ago. Since being shared, the post has received
nearly 38,000 likes and it is only increasing. The share has also prompted
people to post various kinds of comments.
“This
is what people must know… before anything else we are human beings and our
nature has different type of characteristic, it depends totally on us which one
we wanna show the society. ..great going. All the best,” expressed a LinkedIn
user. “We built walls between each other, and thus, it's up to us to bring them
down,” commented another. “Exactly, across the man made LOC we are the same
people. Surely you two share a lifelong friendship that may bring changes
across the borders for girls on both sides and be inspired to lead,” posted a
third. “Such a lovely message!” wrote a fourth.
Source:
Hindustan Times
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