Poems written by a mother and housewife have angered Muslim clerics in the ultra-Conservative kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The fact that she could also win $1.3 million (£864,000) in prize money and received regional, even worldwide, attention only makes the Islamist’s fury worse. So much so that she has received numerous death threats originating on well known Islamist internet forums that are linked to al-Qaeda, according to a Saudi newspaper.
The winner of the Million’s Poet competition will be announced on the 31st of March this year and Hissa Hilal, the Saudi housewife in question, is one of the favourites to pick up the hefty financial prize. The poetry competition results will be aired on Abu Dhabi state television which receives a large following across the globe. Nabati poetry, or Bedouin poetry is the main theme of the competition and is widely popular amongst Gulf Arabs.
Islamists have become infuriated with the contents of Hissa Hilal’s poetry which condemns the rigid Islamist social conditions placed upon women in Saudi Arabia. She also criticises the use of fatwas and has labelled the actions by extremist clerics as evil as well as writing a poem about such issues which is titled ‘The Chaos of Fatwas’. As Hilal says herself, she wants to “fight extremism which has become a worrying phenomenon”.
As well as condemning the separation of the sexes in Saudi society, the brave poetess has also damned the phenomenon of Islamic suicide bombings and has labelled the perpetrators as “monsters wearing belts”. The panel members of the contest which is held in the relatively moderate city of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates have so far been impressed with the Saudi housewife and have praised her outspoken attitude and bravery in the face of severe punishment.
In a nation where women are forced to cover from head to toe, including their faces and be unable to move around or work freely without a male relative, the freedom and expression of poetry becomes so much sweeter and indeed vital.
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