Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser’s Speech at the opening of the Al-Mujadilah Center and Mosque for Women

May the peace, blessings, and mercy of Allah be upon you.

We have just listened to verses from the Holy Qur’an that explain the concept of dialogue. In philosophy, it is said that the evolution of civilization originated in dialogue. Through these verses, we have seen how Khawla bint Tha’labah, may Allah be pleased with her, argued well, in accordance with her values. Through her advocacy, she solved her problem. She went to the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), to contest the injustice of the pre-Islamic customs that had separated her from her husband.She asked for her family to be reunited, and her dilemma to be resolved, pleading for her rights as a woman, wife and mother, hoping for Allah’s justice. The Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him), had no issue with her argument. And she received an answer from Allah, in those noble verses to which you have listened. Khawla bint Tha’labah had demonstrated, through her initiative, courage, personal strength and awareness, that religion eases life and does not complicate it. She did not stand idly by, but rather sought a solution to the problem from within her religious value system. Intending to uphold the boundaries set by Allah for herself and her family with reason and insight, she went to the bearer of the heavenly message Himself to ask Him about her problem and to seek a solution, and Allah responded to her appeal. So, what does this mean for us?

What have we prepared and provided for women today that allows them to achieve this distinguished level of awareness? What Khawla bint Tha’labah did out of concern for the future of her family raises persistent questions about the roles of women, roles on which the present and  future of the family rests.

As Arabs and Muslims, our cultural values are founded on the sanctity of the family structure, its social cohesion and unity, and its protection from harmful outside influences. Perhaps many of our contemporary issues result from us being mere consumers and reproducers of Western thought, and our crisis is fundamentally an intellectual one. Those who do not think independently cannot be subjective or defend their identity. And this calls for an intellectual and cultural renaissance that fortifies us and allows us to participate in cross-cultural exchange rather than passively consuming the ideas of others. I am imagining our glorious Baghdad and Andalusian eras, when we produced knowledge and thought, exporting them to those whose knowledge and thought we import today. So, and with reference to the well-known saying that the family is the nucleus of society, and that women are at the heart of this nucleus, to resolve questions of identity, we must return to the family as the foundational unit. On this foundation, we can rebuild. We must protect our Arabic language from outside influence, preserving our Arab-Islamic identity, and strengthening our values and culture. And women – mothers in particular – have a fundamental, influential role in achieving these noble goals.

It saddens me when I hear foreign jargon from our children, and sometimes even in conversation between children and their parents, It is as if we are telling those kids: “Embrace alienation! Through it you will find security and prosperity! What do you want with a language whose speakers are falling behind other civilizations and who are worn out by wars?” We seem to forget that Arabs are the umma of the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him), and the umma of many others like Jabir bin Hayyan, Ibn Al Nafis, Al Kindi, Ibn Al Haytham, Ibn Rushd, Abu Abdulah Al-Idrisi, Qatari ibn Al Fuja’a, Qa’qa’ ibn Amro Al Tamimi. And Arab women, like Al Khansa’, Zarqa’ Al Yamama, Zanobia, Khawla bint Tha’laba, Fatima al-Fihriya, Djamila Bouhired, Sameera Moussa and Zaha Hadid.

And the Arabs of the future are the children of Palestine: Osama, Omar, and Dana are among the ones who taught us that language is not only part of our identity, but it is our homeland. Our homeland begins in a mother’s lap and a lullaby that is devoid of any “hi” and “hello”.

Arabic, ladies, and gentlemen is us. It is our past, present, and future. We cannot form our identity outside of it, and to let Arabic go would be to lose ourselves. Then we are left with nothing.

Distinguished guests,

We are not here today simply to celebrate the architectural aesthetics of this building, and then allow it to become a tourist attraction. Rather, we are here to shed light on the concept of justice in worship, through the establishment of the Al-Mujadilah center and mosque where women can develop themselves legitimately in religious and worldly affairs, and with a comprehensive understanding of worship. This is a space designed to attract our young Muslim women, so that women’s prayer rooms do not stay marginalized and isolated in a remote corner, in a state unbefitting the spirituality of the mosque and the value of our faith. Therefore, in this space, we have committed to launching programs that support and elevate women’s education and awareness, and meet their contemporary intellectual needs. And the religious programs we have developed aim to raise women’s awareness of religious and worldly matters - personally, socially, and from the perspective of the family.

I have often been asked about my point of view regarding contemporary women’s issues. It is not easy to articulate an objective and balanced response on such issues, where religion, culture, rationality, emotion, and the subjective and objective all overlap. As I contemplate these issues, I wonder: Is it possible to advance women’s issues from outside our religion and heritage? How ready is our society to reexamine women’s interests through a profound process of ijtihad, or religious assiduousness?

In considering such questions, I am conflicted as I seek an approach that reconciles the various aspects that must be considered. I was guided to a conception of the role of women based on the model of Khawla bint Tha’labah, may Allah be pleased with her, who embodied the values of truth, chivalry, and care, and who was not prevented by society from making her argument before the Prophet Mohammed (Peace Be Upon Him) in a good and proper manner.

She is a source of inspiration for every woman who seeks clarity and to live her life with insight, and to become the truest expression of a Muslim woman, a model for those who wish to advance themselves and their society from within their religion, culture and heritage.

She is the inspiration behind the name we adopted for the center (Al-Mujadilah; “she who engages in dialogue”).And so, we hope that the Al-Mujadilah center and mosque will achieve its purpose and objectives; that our girls and women will find in it a space for worship, learning, and development.

That they may find guidance and encouragement to devise solutions from within Islam - so that their development can start from within their religion.

My success is only with God, and to Him I turn. Peace and the mercy of Allah be upon you.