The final results of ‘The Millions’ Poet’ competition are in and Kuwaitis take the first two places. Saudi poet Hessa Hilal won third place and a prize worth $616,000. She has also earned, of course, a major role in the drama of reform in Saudi Arabia.
Kuwaiti poet wins Million’s Poet first prize
ABU DHABI (Ahmed al-Sharif)
A Young Kuwaiti poet beat 47 Arab rivals on Thursday to become the first in his country to win the AED5-million (1$ million) first prize in UAE’s Million’s Poet contest, while a controversial Saudi poetess who received death threats for her daring poems came third.
Nasser al-Ajami a 30-year-old amateur poet won the competition after receiving 67 percent of public and jury votes.
Another poet from Kuwait walked away with AED4 million ($820,000) after winning the second place in the competition.
Meanwhile, Saudi lady poet Hessa Hilal, also known as Remeya, won the AED 3-million ($616,000) third place in the competition for her controversial poetry attacking radical clerics who issue religious rulings deemed by moderates and liberals to incite violence and social disorder.
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Saudi poet Hissa Hilal made quite a splash with her poem against ad hoc fatwas during the course of her run at the championship of the ‘Millions’ Poet’ competition. The competition, which ends tonight in Abu Dhabi, has captured the attention of an international audience. Not all are happy with her, however, and have been sending curses and death threats her way.
The UAE’s The National carries this piece on the five finalists. I’ve pulled out the material on Ms Hilal:
Poet’s Grand Final: tonight’s the night in a million
Hassan HassanEighteen million viewers throughout the Arab world will be glued to their TVs tonight when Million’s Poet comes to a dramatic conclusion, and the winner walks off with a prize of Dh5 million from the show that has become a global media phenomenon.
ABU DHABI // It began more than five months ago, when a panel of experts on Nabati poetry began selecting 48 competitors from thousands of applicants on a six-week tour of the Gulf states and Jordan.
It ends tonight when, live on TV, the winner of Million’s Poet will walk off the stage of Al Raha Beach Theatre with a first prize of Dh5 million (US$1.36m).
In between, the fourth series of the show has been not only compulsive viewing for 18 million people, but a global phenomenon inspired by the passion and emotion of the Saudi poet Hissa Hilal.
During the semi-finals last month, Mrs Hilal, a mother of four, recited a poem criticising “ad hoc” fatwas. Her performance attracted the attention of media outlets throughout the world, and she received death threats on extremist Islamist websites.
… Hissa Hilal, 43, Saudi Arabia, First female finalist
Coming from a journalism background, Hissa Hilal knows about making an impact with an audience.
The 43-year-old finalist drew international media attention with her poems during the show. The most prominent was a piece criticising “ad hoc fatwas”, a performance for which she received death threats from her homeland.
But she remained unfazed, filling her next poem with verses about how she would stand her ground and remain true to her convictions.
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Here’s an interview with her from a Dutch TV station—subtitled in both Dutch and English—in which she makes it clear that while she worries for her children, she’s not about to back down.
The Washington Times, a conservative daily newspaper founded by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, has an interesting series of articles on the growth of interfaith dialogues, both internationally and in the US. According to the report, even US evangelical churches are getting on board, particularly in talking with Muslim organizations. Saudi King Abdullah is credited with providing substantial ‘muscle’ behind the move to get various faiths talking to one another.
The fact that this series is running in this paper is self-proof of the proposition.
The clip below is from the third and final part of the series.
Bridging religions: ‘Challenge of the 21st century’
Julia DuinNEW YORK | Rabbi Marc Schneier’s Upper East Side office at the Foundation For Ethnic Understanding is relatively stark; a bookshelf here, an abstract painting there, and little hint of the outsized role he’s played in bringing opposites together.
When he founded the FFEU 20 years ago, it was geared toward improving relations between the black and Jewish communities. Then three years ago, he switched to a much harder mission: Muslims and Jews.
“The challenge of the 21st century,” he said in an interview, “is to narrow the chasm between Judaism and Islam.”
So he threw his energies into meeting with the world’s top Islamic leaders. In 2007, he hosted a summit of rabbis and imams in New York. In 2008, the FFEU began a yearly “twinning” weekend each November, when a mosque and synagogue in the same city would pair up, attend each other’s services and begin the slow and cumbersome business of getting to know each other.
That same year, Mr. Schneier attended the World Conference on Dialogue, convened by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and hosted by King Juan Carlos of Spain. In September, he attended a similar gathering in Vienna, Austria, also sponsored by the Saudi king.
“The king has realized how much damage has been done by religious fundamentalists and extremists, particularly in Islam,” he said. “It’s become a preoccupation with Abdullah.”
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You can find the other parts here:
Asharq Alawsat‘s Editor-in-Chief Tariq Alhomayed has an interesting piece about Sheikh Mohammed Al-Areefi’s proposal to travel to Jerusalem. Alhomayed sees it as simply a publicity stunt that will inevitably blow up in Al-Areefi’s face because it does little more than roil the waters.
Perhaps by bringing to the fore all the contradictions involved in thinking about Israeli-Palestinian issues, the Sheikh’s visit has its own worth, even if not intended…
Al Arifi and the Visit to Jerusalem!
Tariq AlhomayedIt’s not the controversy surrounding the announcement made by the Saudi preacher Dr. Mohammed al Arifi to visit Jerusalem to film an episode of his weekly program there that bothers me. Rather, what worries me is the following question to al Arifi, his supporters and others; what about the Arab journalists who want to cover the Sheikh’s visit and the moment he enters Israel? Will they be held accountable for normalizing [ties] with the enemy or not? Will the [news] agencies and the press of slogans launch attacks against the journalists? Will the satellite channels that broadcast religious preaching programs send their correspondents to Israel to cover the visit?
Some might see these questions as provocative. It is evident that provocation, or let us say transgression, is what al Arifi embarked on when he announced his intention to go to Jerusalem, as it is clear that the preacher is in search of fame and limelight, but this is not the ideal way to get it. In fact it is evidence of political ignorance and this is not out of the ordinary as before the announcement that he would visit Jerusalem, there were the famous attacks on Sayyed al Sistani in an inappropriate and unacceptable manner and the timing reflected major political ignorance as he incited detestable sectarianism and opened the door to attacks and insults with undesirable consequences, not to mention the controversial religious edicts even with regards to football!
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The New York Times carries an Associated Press piece quoting a Saudi passport official who reminds Al-Areefi that travel to Israel is banned by Saudi law.
It also quotes friends of Al-Areefi as saying that it was all a misquote: he has no plans to travel to Jerusalem!
Seems as though someone fell asleep during Biology class…
Wife blamed for conceiving girl
Awad Al-MalikiTAIF – A Saudi citizen was so angry that he was the father of a baby girl that he refused to fetch his wife from a hospital here last week. He blamed her for not being able to produce a son. After the baby girl was born the wife had to contact her brother to take her home because her husband had turned his mobile phone off.
According to the brother, the husband was upset on finding out that his wife was pregnant with a girl. He started blaming her for conceiving a girl. Eventually the couple’s relatives succeeded in resolving the situation, when they explained to him that, scientifically, the man is responsible for producing girls. The husband apologized to his wife and admitted his mistake.
But, apparently the apology was only half-hearted. – Okaz/SG
Saudi national Homaidan Al-Turki was convicted in an American court, nearly four years ago, of an array of crimes involving his (and his wife’s) treatment of a servant they had brought to the US. Among the crimes for which he was convicted were 12 felony counts of unlawful sexual contact with use of force (i.e., ‘rape’), one felony count of criminal extortion and one felony count of theft. He also was found guilty of two misdemeanors: false imprisonment and conspiracy to commit false imprisonment.
Al-Turki and his family claim that this is all due to a ‘cultural misunderstanding’ of ‘traditional Saudi ways’ or simply ‘Islamophobia’. In fighting against his conviction, his attorneys have appealed to various levels of the US courts. The latest appeal, to the US Supreme Court, has been denied, The Washington Post reports:
Court won’t give Saudi citizen new trial
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court won’t hear an appeal from a Saudi Arabian citizen who blamed anti-Muslim sentiment for his conviction for keeping his housekeeper a virtual slave.
The high court on Monday turned away an appeal from Homaidan Al-Turki. He was convicted of false imprisonment, conspiracy, criminal extortion, theft and unlawful sexual contact.
Al-Turki was convicted of sexually abusing his Indonesian housekeeper and paying her less than $2 per day.
He complained that he wasn’t allowed to question a potential juror about potential anti-Muslim sentiment.
The case is Al-Turki v. Colorado, 09-700.
Saudi Gazette carries an article from Associated Press about a Saudi cleric’s plans to visit Jerusalem. Sheikh Mohammed Al-Areefi, who hosts a TV program on the Iqra satellite channel, says he hopes to get there next week. His goal, apparently, is to support Islamic claims (just which claims are not made clear) on Jerusalem and Palestine.
Now, while this trip certainly could take place, I suspect it won’t. Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel, of course. A high-profile Saudi might encounter a lot of resistance on the part of the Saudi government—not to mention other Saudi clerics—to this travel. The Israelis aren’t likely to stop him as their showing openness would certainly reflect well on Israel. But for a Saudi cleric to deal with the Israeli state, even if only for a visa, will be perceived as sending the wrong message by other Muslims. I think Al-Areefi will be pressured to change his travel plans by other Saudis.
Al-Areefi announces visit to Jerusalem
RIYADH – Sheikh Mohammed Al-Areefi, noted Saudi cleric, announced Monday on his television show that he will visit Jerusalem next week to bolster Muslim claims to the city.
If Al-Areefi goes ahead with his plan, it would be an unprecedented trip.
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UPDATE: The Washington Post carries a slightly longer version of the AP piece pointing out that Al-Areefi is considered a moderate preacher and is influential among Saudi youth.
The head of the Taif office of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has been receiving a lot of heat for expressing his view that ikhtilat, the mixing of sexes in public places, is a recent concept that has no source in historic Islam. He says sexes always mixed and history if full of examples. In this piece by Saudi Gazette/Okaz, Ahmed Qassim Al-Ghamdi stands by his earlier statements.
For people, now, to seek to outlaw the mingling of sexes in public places is just strange. Al-Ghamdi also pointed out that the “greatest enemy of change and development” was the “clinging to customs and tradition”. He also said that he is researching the Shariah view of group worship in mosques, that is, putting male and female worshipers in different parts of the mosque. That is sure to win him friends.
If this is the new face of the Haya, then I’m impressed. I still reject idea that an official, religio-governmental body is necessary or even proper to enforce morality. If moral transgressions cross the line into criminality, then law enforcement should be able to deal with the issue. If those transgressions do not arise to that level, then it is up to the individual to define how a proper life is to be lived. Coercion by the state does not strike me as useful, nor productive.
Segregation of sexes: Hai’a chief stands by his comment
Muhammed Saeed Al-ZahraniTAIF – Ahmed Qassim Al-Ghamdi, the head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (the Hai’a) in Makkah, has said he will not go back on his previous comments on the segregation of the sexes, and described opposition to his views from within his own organization as disgruntled individuals trying to “get their own back”.
With a notable security presence and an audience of both sexes, Al-Ghamdi addressed the Taif Literary Club Sunday on a series of sensitive topics, although questions put to him concerning his views on segregation were blocked by the chairman and any attempt to broach the subject from other angles was quickly put paid to.
… You can write in the newspaper from my own mouth that I still hold to the view I expressed on ikhtilat, and I won’t go back on it, and I’ll continue to repeat what I wrote.”
In an interview reported by Saudi Gazette last December Al-Ghamdi spoke at length on the subject of the mixing of sexes – “ikhtilat” – in which he described it in the current usage as “a recent adoption unknown to the early people of knowledge”.
“Mixing used to be part of normal life for the Ummah and its societies,” he said, adding that the word “in its contemporary meaning has entered customary jurisprudential terminology from outside”.
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While a new director has acted to rein in excesses by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, it seems there’s still work to be done. Saudi Gazette/Okaz report on the case of a woman taken into custody by the Haya and, allegedly, abused by them. As is typical of reports of this kind, the factual information is still rather sketchy. What’s different, though, is that the police are interrogating members of the Commission’s Tabuk office and it’s being reported in the Saudi media.
Bruises, strangulation marks found on Hai’a-held woman
Ahmad Al-OtuwiTABUK – The Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution (BIP) in Tabuk is interrogating members of the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, the Hai’a, for allegedly beating a woman held here at its local headquarters.
The BIP is also probing the woman’s claim that the Hai’a used a man to trap her. The Hai’a had claimed the woman had asked the man to help her travel to Jeddah from Tabuk.
People offering Maghreb prayers at a nearby mosque last Friday heard the woman’s screams coming from the Hai’a building and called the police. The police took the girl to the hospital where doctors found having bruises and signs of choking on her neck.
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The Saudis, too, can make the desert bloom, apparently. Arab News reports on the reclamation of Wadi Hanifa, an ancient riverbed that runs across Riyadh’s northern borders for 120 km. That channel is being used to handle flood run-off, treated waste water and industrial effluents. The result is new parklands with streams and lakes. According to the report, even before the site has been officially opened, Saudis and expats are making recreational use of it.
The map below, showing the wadi’s course, is taken from ArchNet.org, a site focused on architecture and urban design.
Salman to open revitalized Wadi Hanifa on Monday
RODOLFO C. ESTIMO JR. | ARAB NEWSRIYADH: The opening ceremony for the Wadi Hanifa Rehabilitation Project is set to take place on Monday in the presence of Riyadh Gov. Prince Salman, chairman of the Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA), which is in charge of the estimated $100 million project for restoring the historic wadi.
ADA Projects and Planning Center President Abdullatif bin Abdullah Malik Al-Sheikh said “the project will not only attract visitors but is also good for the environment.”
The project aims to construct dams and regulate the flow of water to preserve the wadi’s wetlands.
The measure will also limit commercial activity and land use in one of Riyadh’s few natural green spaces.
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The paucity of names in Arab and Islamic nations isn’t only a problem for security concerns and international travelers. Here, Arab News tells the tale of a Saudi author alleged to have defamed an Egyptian composer through the use of a common-enough name in his novel. The author claims it is all a coincidence as he’d never heard of the composer. The composer is upset nevertheless.
Egyptian composer wants to sue Saudi author over libel
FATIMA SIDIYA | ARAB NEWSJEDDAH: The Saudi author and winner of the Arabic Booker, Abdo Khal, is to be sued by the Egyptian music composer Mohammad Raheem who claims Khal has defamed him in his novel “She Throws Sparks.”
Raheem claims Khal has named a character in his book after him. The character under question is also an Arabic music composer called Mohammad Raheem who takes under his wing a prostitute in Jeddah called Layali.
Raheem has submitted his writ in Egypt, and has told the media that he will not give up his right to take this further and prove to his two daughters that he is not guilty of what is mentioned in the novel.
Raheem told Egyptian newspapers that he wants the book stopped from being sold, published and translated, that he wants the author’s name on a watch-list at Egyptian airports and that he wants to see him in jail.
He added that he will not hesitate to also lodge a complaint in the Kingdom.
Raheem has worked with popular Arab singers such as Amr Diyab, Elissa, Nancy Ajram, Miryam Faris and others.
Meanwhile, Abdo Khal told Al-Madinah newspaper that he has never heard of the music composer and that the similarity is simply a coincidence. “The name in the novel is fictional and helps the flow of the novel. I didn’t know him and I didn’t mean to insult or harm anyone intentionally.”
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The Saudis are about to take a major step in dealing with spousal and child abuse in the Kingdom. Saudi Gazette/Okaz report that the Shoura Council is taking up a law. Because there is little written, i.e., ‘codified’, law in the KSA, it has been difficult for courts or government agencies to enforce any sort of standard. Unwritten Shariah law should address the issue, but it does not do so adequately. Instead, it leaves too much in the hands of judges who operate without strong judicial precedents. These judges can consider a Quranic verses that support moderation within the family as well as those which place on fathers and husbands duties to control and guide. The problem comes in defining that control and guidance, with some being absolutely sure it covers everything, however the husband or father wants to see it. If ever there were a pathway to trouble, it is here.
The proposed law will also address shelters, how they are run, and how victims can access them as well as other social services. It is taking the combined work of eight ministries to tie together all the various parts.
This strikes me as a significant step in reforming Saudi law and society. How much of it ends up in the final law is to be determined, of course, but it looks good.
Shoura to consider law on abuse of women, children
Adnan Al-ShabrawiJEDDAH – The long-awaited legislation that defines violence against women and children has been submitted to the Shoura Council for its consideration in preparation for final approval by King Abdullah.
This was confirmed by Dr. Muhammad Al-Harbi, Director General of Social Protection Administration at the Ministry of Social Affairs.
He said the Ministry of Social Affairs, along with eight ministries and agencies, were involved in drafting the law. This includes the ministries of Interior, Justice, Health,
Education, the Investigation and General Prosecution Commission and the Human Rights Commission. He said the law will provide protection for children and women from all types of abuse and will also ensure they are given shelter and care.
According to sources, the new law could be promulgated in six months.
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