Nahdlatul Ulama, 100 Years Old Islamic Organisation In Indonesia Appoints Women Onto Its Board
New Age Islam News Bureau
25 March 2022
• Saudi Women Can Now Apply To Be In The Border Guards
• In A First, Woman Appointed Board Member To Saudi
Bar Association
• Syrian Musician Maya Youssef: ‘Making Music Was Like
An Act Of Defiance’
• London Celebrates Talents Of Arab Women In
Glittering Award Ceremony
• UAE Women Entrepreneurs Break The Glass Ceiling
• BBC Complains Over Iran 'Rape And Death Threats' To
Women Journalists
Compiled by New
Age Islam News Bureau
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NahdlatulUlama, 100 Years Old Islamic Organisation In
Indonesia Appoints Women Onto Its Board
by Jessie Tu
For the first time in its 100-year history, the
world’s largest Islamic organisation in Indonesia has invited women into its
top leadership roles.
In the last few weeks, NahdlatulUlama (NU), which has
over 90 million members worldwide, appointed 11 women onto its board for a
five-year term.
Alissa Wahid was one of the women appointed to a
senior role in February. The 48-year old is the daughter of Indonesia’s late
President Abdurrahman Wahid.
“I’m really happy with this change,” Wahid told Al
Jazeera. “Until now NU has been giving more room for women in public spaces [in
the organisation], but now for the first time in history, it gives room for
women at a higher leadership level.”
Wahid says she hopes that having women on the board
will enable NU to improve the wellbeing of female members across the world.
“I hope we can eliminate harmful practices on women,”
she said. “Now we have women in NU on leadership level to fight for these
issues.”
In the past, women in NahdlatulUlama have held
critical roles by leading Muslimat, its female branches for women members, and
Fatayat, for younger women members.
In 2017, women members initiated the first-ever
congress of Indonesian Women’s Ulema, issuing a mandate to challenge all
political parties in the country to stand against child marriage.
Wahid, along with the other newly appointed women,
including East Java Governor KhofifahIndarParawansa, will now have agency to
affect the movement’s various policies.
Muslim leader BadriyahFayumi believes the inclusion of
women on the boards demonstrates the organisation’s spirit of moderate Islam.
“The difference between moderate Islam and the
ultra-conservatives is how they treat women,” she told Al Jazeera.
“The ultra-conservative group sees women as objects,
as reproductive machines, while the moderate Islam sees women as subjects who
can build this civilisation together with men. That’s why it’s important for
women to be in the leadership structure with men.”
Badriyah, who provides assistance to the
organisation’s Supreme Council, notes that at NU’s last national congress,
discussions led by women centred on climate change and the way it
disproportionately affects women and children.
“Women in the central board don’t just exist,” she
said. “There is a meaning and purpose in their existence.”
Source:WomenSagenda
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Saudi Women Can Now Apply To Be In The Border Guards
March 25, 2022
Applications for admission
will be received from Saturday, March 26 at 10 a.m. until Thursday, March 31 10
a.m., through the jobs section on the Absher portal. (AN photo: Abdullah
Aljaber)
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RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Interior announced
on Thursday that it has opened admission and registration for females to join
the Border Guards at the rank of private.
The ministry’s General Department of Central Admission
said that applications for admission will be received from Saturday, March 26
at 10 a.m. until Thursday, March 31 10 a.m., through the jobs section on the
Absher portal.
In February 2021, the Saudi Ministry of Defense opened
the way for both genders to join Saudi Arabia's armed forces.
Military ranks from private to sergeant were made
available for women in the Saudi Arabian Army, Royal Saudi Air Defense, Royal
Saudi Navy, Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force, and Armed Forces Medical
Services.
In September, the first group of female Saudi soldiers
graduated from the Armed Forces Women’s Cadre Training Center, after completing
14 weeks of basic training.
Source: Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2050021/saudi-arabia
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In a first, woman appointed board member to Saudi Bar
Association
Sakina Fatima
25th March 2022
The entry of a woman into
the board of directors of the Saudi Bar Association for the first time. (Photo:
SPA/Twitter)
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Riyadh: For the first time in the history of Saudi
Arabia, a woman has been appointed as a member of the Saudi Bar Association
(SBA) board of directors, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
The Minister of Justice and Chairman of the Board of
Directors of the Saudi Lawyers Authority, Dr.Walid bin Muhammad Al-Samaani, issued
a decision appointing five members to the Board of Directors for the third
session.
The lawyers who have been named as members of the SBA
board are Jasser Al-Jaser, Dr. Osama Al-Qahtani, Anas Al-Zamil, Dr.Luay
Al-Aqas, and woman member Ether Al-Daej.
The Minister of Justice had approved the rules of
professional conduct for lawyers, with the aim of developing the legal
profession and raising its professional standards.
It is noteworthy that the SBA aims to increase the
level of professional practice of lawyers in order to ensure their good
performance, increase awareness of their professional duties and improve the
professional practice of lawyers in the Kingdom.
The country in recent years adopted several reforms to
empower women, including ensuring that women can drive cars, enter playgroups
and stadiums, and pursue occupations that were previously accessible only to
men.
After the transition to allow Saudi women to travel in
the kingdom, from 2019 onwards Saudi Arabian women can also travel abroad without
permission and may apply for their passports, ID documents, and all official
registrations directly without requiring a male guardian (mahram).
In February 2021, Saudi Arabia opened up military
posts for women for the first time which allowed them to report through a
unified portal.
In the first, Saudi female officers were allowed to
guard Islam’s holiest site not just that the women were allowed driving
licenses, and even elected to councils, and so on.
Source: Siasat Daily
https://www.siasat.com/in-a-first-woman-appointed-board-member-to-saudi-bar-association-2296002/
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Syrian musician Maya Youssef: ‘Making music was like
an act of defiance’
March 25, 2022
Youssef always had the
head — or the ears — for music. (Supplied)
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DUBAI: The Syrian musician Maya Youssef was only eight
years old when she was told something that changed her life. Youssef was on her
way through Damascus to a music lesson in a taxi with her mother, when she
heard the intriguing sounds of the qanun on the radio. She asked the taxi
driver what the instrument was and he said that the qanun was traditionally
played only by men.
“I said: ‘I will play it. You’ll see.’ And he just
laughed at me,” Youssef tells Arab News.
It was no laughing matter for Youssef. She signed up
for qanun classes and studied music for five years at the prestigious Higher
Institute of Music in Damascus.
Youssef recalls that time — long before the harrowing
civil war — as a “golden age” for Syria’s art scene; buzzing and full of
opportunities. She joined a traveling ensemble of female musicians reviving
traditional Arabic music. They performed as far away as China. “The qanun has
been my companion ever since,” she says.
Youssef always had the head — or the ears — for music.
Every evening, she and her family enjoyed listening sessions, taking in
African, Western and Arabic classical compositions, from Umm Kulthum to Bach.
“I was humming and tapping all the time, since I was
very little,” she says with a chuckle. She is known today as the ‘Queen of the
Qanun,’ but when she first started out professionally, a few eyebrows were
raised.
“Music should never be gendered,” she says. “But the
reality is that, in Arab (music), women are a very small minority. We are maybe
three to five percent of qanun players. I have a theory about that. I think
because the qanun is such an important instrument — it sits at the heart of the
ensemble — the minute you have a qanun in your lap, then you have the spotlight
on you. Perhaps for somebody who doesn’t accept a woman being in the spotlight
or being powerful, they would find that radical. It’s not very long ago that
somebody called me a radical. It’s a symbol of hidden power, so to speak, which
is why I think we don’t see many women playing it.”
The qanun is held in great reverence in Arabic
culture. It is mentioned in the famed folk tale collection “One Thousand and
One Nights” and its name translates means ‘law.’ With 78 strings, it’s not an
easy instrument to master. Youssef’s qanun is made of maple wood, and was
constructed by a craftsman in Aleppo.
It is often referred to as ‘the piano of the Arab
world,’ and like the piano it is capable of producing melodies that are
nostalgic, melancholic, and/or cheerful.
“It’s very closely connected to human emotion,”
Youssef says. “It makes me feel everything across the spectrum. All of my music
is a journey through sorrow and loss, but it always goes towards hope and joy.”
In 2007, Youssef left Damascus for Dubai and then
moved to Oman, where she taught music. London has been her home for the past 10
years. When the war broke out in her country, it was a heartbreaking experience
that inspired her to compose her own music for the first time, leading to
“Syrian Dreams,” her debut album.
“Making music was like an act of defiance: I am
playing music, I am alive, I am carrying the tradition of my ancestors in me,”
she says. “If you are in a state of destruction and then you hear a bird sing,
you cannot not feel hope.”
2022 is set to be a busy year for Youssef. This week
she will embark on a UK tour that will last nearly three months. She is also
going to release a new concept album “Finding Home,” on March 25, introducing
some Western instruments to her sound.
“Before, ‘home,’ to me, was a physical place. Syria
will always be in my heart, but now I feel ‘home’ has changed from a place to a
state. A state where you feel at peace,” she explains.
A special commission from London’s Leighton House
Museum also awaits Youssef. She will compose music inspired by the museum’s
interiors, particularly its stunning Arab Hall, which is full of tiles from
Damascus. The refurbished museum is expected to reopen its doors in the summer,
and Youssef will perform her piece in a setting that is emotionally and
physically familiar. It is, in a way, a moment of coming full circle.
Source: Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2050126/lifestyle
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London celebrates talents of Arab women in glittering
award ceremony
Alice Haine
Mar 24, 2022
From a Yemeni human rights activist who escaped two
child marriage pacts to an Abu Dhabi women’s sport advocate and a Kuwaiti eco
campaigner, the Arab Women of the Year 2022 event in London was packed with
talented and inspiring females.
Royalty, politicians, diplomats, show business stars
and leading figures from the Arab business community filled the ballroom at the
five-star Carlton Tower Jumeirah in London’s Knightsbridge for the glittering
event, which was hosted by the London Arabia Organisation, which celebrates the
close ties between Britain and the Arab world, and The Bicester Collection.
In the first incarnation of the awards ceremony —
which started in 2014 — since the start of the pandemic, the talents of women
from across the Arab world were recognised.
The LAO also used the occasion to unveil its Unlock
Her Future campaign which strives to ensure young girls can have access to
basic education and healthcare and are protected from violence such as honour
killings and child marriage.
“No one can deny that our culture gives woman great
respect. Women are highly respected in the Arab world but at the same time, we
often overlook their struggle, as well as their success,” Omar Bdour, chief
executive of the LAO, told guests at the event.
“At the Arab Women of the Year Awards, we have always
tried to give them a platform where their achievement is recognised.”
Star guests included Sophie, Countess of Wessex, as
well as Egyptian actress YasmineSabri, ManarDabbas, Jordan's Ambassador to the
UK, FahyAfana, the founder of the UAE-based Fast Building Contracting Company,
and Lord Purvis of Tweed, a member of the House of Lords.
Guests dined on Scottish salmon and avocado tacos,
followed by sea bass cooked with harra sauce and warm walnut brownies as they
listened to the inspiring stories from across the Arab world.
At the event, the LAO unveiled its Unlock Her Future campaign
which strives to ensure young girls have access to basic education and
healthcare and are protected from violence in the form of honour killings and
child marriage.
Egyptian star Sabri, the LAO ambassador for the
campaign, said the initiative aims to empower Arab girls and help them gain the
skills and confidence to achieve their full potential. She stressed that change
is needed to ensure all females have access to basic rights and education and
to prevent child marriage and violence against women.
“This is a year-long initiative aimed at providing a
better future for every young girl and presenting her with opportunities for
success,” Sabri told delegates at the event.
“Regardless of her background, we believe in
addressing the harsh obstacles young Arab girls face in the world.”
The campaign's focus on child marriage was lauded by
award winner Nada Al-Ahdal, a human-rights activist from Yemen, who escaped two
child marriage pacts arranged by her parents for her.
Ms Al-Ahdal came to international attention in 2013
when she posted a video on YouTube telling the world her story of child
marriage and exposing the practice in Yemen.
The young campaigner has since set up the Nada
Foundation with the support of the Yemen’s prime minister. It has taught 400
girls English as well as offering educational scholarships and raising
awareness of child marriage.
“I would like to dedicate this prize to His Royal
Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman [of Saudi Arabia] for putting rules to
prevent child marriage and prohibit the stealing of girls under the age of 18
and the president of Egypt for also protecting girls from being victims in
child marriage,” Ms Al-Ahdal said, ripping up a piece of paper on stage with
the words “Stop Child Marriage” on them, as she accepted the award for
Achievement in Social Awareness.
“I hope this will pave the way for other countries to
do the same.”
Other award winners included Abu Dhabi’s Sheikha
Fatima bint Hazza, an ambassador of cultural development in the UAE and patron
of art.
As chairwoman of the Fatima bint Hazza Cultural
Foundation and the Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Ladies Sports Academy, she
empowers women to be successful in sport and in their communities — work that
secured her the prize for Achievement in Culture.
Meanwhile, Jordanian journalist Caroline Faraj, the
CNN vice president and editor in chief for Arabic Services, was awarded the
Achievement in Media prize. Bahrain’s ShaikhaRanaAlKhalifa secured the
Achievement in Social Leadership award for her role as secretary general of the
country’s Higher Education Council.
The Achievement in Business award went to Oman’s
AreejMohsinDarwish, the chairwoman of the Automotive, Construction Equipment
and Renewable Energy cluster of MohsinHaiderDarwish LLC.
And 25-year-old Fatema Al Zelzela, the founder of the
Eco Star Project in Kuwait, was given the Youth Achievement in Environmental
Impact accolade for her efforts to boost recycling and sustainability in the
Gulf state.
The Achievement in Community Service trophy went to
Magi Gobran, known affectionately as 'Mama Maggie', for her dedication to
helping needy children gain access to education and lead dignified lives
through the Stephen’s Children’s Foundation, which she set up in Egypt in 1988.
Separately, Morocco’s Dr Leila Benali, a former Saudi
Aramco energy policy leader and now the Minister of Energy Transition and
Sustainable Development in the African nation, was awarded the Achievement in
Sustainable Development Leadership, while SheikaAlanoud al-Thani, the chief
executive of Qatar Financial Centre, received the Achievement in Financial
Services accolade.
Source: TheNationalNews
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UAE women entrepreneurs break the glass ceiling
DANA ALOMAR
March 25, 2022
DUBAI: Women entrepreneurs in the UAE are creating
ripples in the economy, empowering other women, and breaking stigmas by
building thriving businesses in a male-dominated world.
One of the leading lights of this movement is
UAE-based woman entrepreneur, the CEO and founder of Tashas Group, Natasha
Sideris. A psychology student and a culinary specialist, Sideris has been
spicing up the UAE’s food scene since 2005 when she launched the company.
The company owns four restaurant brands: Tashas,
Flamingo Room by Tashas, Avli by Tashas and Galaxy Bar. These brands are guided
by three core principles: Beautiful food, stunning environments and engaging
service.
Sideris’s journey was nothing short of a miracle
because she had no track record or proof of concept to claim while she was
setting up shop and the lenders were generally hesitant to release funds. She
persevered for 23 years and reached a position that inspires many other women
to follow.
“We now have 21 restaurants across South Africa and
the United Arab Emirates,” said Sideris while adding that it’s not an easy path
for young women interested in business because of the long hours. Still, the
industry is rewarding if one could break the glass ceiling. Sideris will soon
be widening her circle of influence by launching her restaurants in Saudi
Arabia.
In fact, Sideris is not the only one. Among the scores
of women in UAE who successfully lead businesses and realize the full potential
of their entrepreneurial dreams is a cancer survivor and immensely confident
woman: EmaanAbbass, the CEO and founder of Ketish, a leading feminine wellness
brand.
The company offers luxurious products that educate
women, help them understand their bodies, and give them a sense of awareness,
motivating women to open up and normalize the conversation around feminine
health.
“While undergoing cancer treatment, I vividly remember
scouring the pharmacies and drug stores because that’s the only place you could
find anything connected to intimate care,” said Abbass, a lady who has made a
name for herself after battling cervical cancer and hormonal problems
throughout her 20s.
Her vision is as clear as her personality. When asked
the reason to launch Ketish, she said: “I wanted to create the brand I wished I
had throughout my journey. I wanted to create something that women like me
always needed but never existed in this way.”
But her fight hasn’t been alone. She had tremendous
support from fellow women, especially the female founders’ community that may
be small but powerful and incredibly supportive.
“I see how essential it is for us women to have a seat
at the table, a voice, the ability to create change within spaces and take on
the issues we find important. I’ve also seen how important it is to leave the
door open for women coming through behind us,” said Abbass.
Her words of advice to young women aspiring to be
entrepreneurs: “Keep going and never lose sight of your mission. It’s really
important never to lose sight of what anchors us as to our brand or our
company.”
A hopeful development for all these women is the winds
of change in the region. Women in the UAE are already turning the tide in
several businesses, including F&B, beauty, and health. And entrepreneurs
such as Sideris and Abbass are driving this change and creating equitable
spaces for both men and women.
Source: Arab News
https://www.arabnews.com/node/2049956/business-economy
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BBC complains over Iran 'rape and death threats' to women
journalists
Paul Peachey
Mar 24, 2022
The BBC has sent a new complaint about Iran to the
United Nations after women journalists allegedly received death threats and
were targeted with smears about their private lives.
Women working for the BBC’s Persian service reported a
series of incidents of online harassment including one presenter whose picture
was digitally manipulated to appear on a pornographic image that was sent to
her 14-year-old son in London.
Other harassment included a fake story about a presenter
being raped by a colleague and an invented blog in the name of another
presenter giving salacious details of her love life in London that was picked
up by an Iranian newspaper. Some women staff members had been threatened online
with rape, it said.
“We absolutely deplore the violent, misogynistic and
gendered harassment our women journalists have to face every day,” said Liliane
Landor, senior controller of BBC International News.
The British broadcaster said that its staff had
removed their profiles from social media and suffered significant mental trauma
as a result of the harassment.
The BBC said the attacks had featured in state media
and included false stories about their private lives, their relationships with
contributors and criticisms of their clothing, as part of attempts to discredit
the women.
Personal information had been retrieved by hacking or
phishing — whereby someone is tricked into divulging personal data — which
later appeared online and was used during the interrogation of family members
in Iran, the BBC said.
The appeal to the UN calls on Iran to prosecute those
responsible for the online threats. Lawyers for the corporation said Iran had
international obligations to take action against them.
Paul Siegert, of the National Union of Journalists,
said more had to be done to tackle the “appalling online abuse”.
“Iran must do more to stop and prosecute the people
responsible. It’s truly chilling when you hear about some of the threats that
women journalists are exposed to on a regular basis,” he said.
The complaint is just the latest made to the UN by the
BBC since 2017 following intimidation and harassment that dates back to the
start of BBC News Persian TV in 2009.
Tehran has frozen the assets of BBC staff in Iran and
its London-based staff cannot return because of the risk of arrest and
prosecution. BBC's Persian service has no staff in Iran.
Source: TheNationalNews
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