A Ramadan meditation

No, I haven't come over all religious suddenly but on the eve of the Muslim holy month I'm prompted to reflect on a couple of news items from the Islamic world, one somewhat encouraging, the other not at all so.

To start with the (potentially) good news. Writing in the journal, Building Design, Emma Dent Coad, an architectural historian and former Labour MP for Kensington & Chelsea, charts Palestinian efforts already underway to reimagine the reconstruction of Gaza. These have nothing whatsoever to do with Donald Trump's crass vision for the Strip (more Vegas than Gaza) as promoted recently in a video posted on his Truth Social (sic) platform. It has to do with Gazans reclaiming and rebuilding their destroyed or damaged communities for themselves.

We probably won't see this widely reflected in the mainstream Western press and media but, as reported by Coad, the reconstruction by Gaza municipality has officially commenced. Maher Salem, director of the planning and investment unit, and of the water and wastewater directorate, has been working closely with Architects for Gaza (A4G), a team from across the globe, including Palestine. The workshop, currently based in Cairo, is organised by A4G in collaboration with Professor Robert Mull of the Global Free Unit and the Office of Displaced Designers.

According to Salem, this is "a significant step towards restoring essential infrastructure and services for the citizens of Gaza. As we embark on this critical journey, the municipality seeks the support of architects, engineers and other professionals to help transform these initial ideas into tangible solutions. Their expertise and creativity are vital in reimagining and rebuilding the city’s core, ensuring that it stands strong and sustainable for future generations. Together, we can shape a brighter and more resilient Gaza.” We can only wish them every success in their endeavours.

Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, the news coming out of Kabul is depressing in the extreme - or even more so than usual. The BBC has broken the story having been granted access by the Taliban to a new CCTV surveillance centre being opened in the capital. Earlier reports that the Taliban were in talks with China's Huawei Technologies to buy cameras were denied by the company. Taliban officials refused to answer BBC questions about the source of the equipment but the reporter noted the name Dahua on the equipment. Dahua is a Chinese company with links to the government.

Some of the cost of installing the new network has fallen directly on the very Afghans who are being monitored by it. The BBC spoke to a woman who said she and her neighbours had been asked to pay for some of the cameras installed on the streets near her home. "They demanded thousands of afghanis from every household" - a substantial amount in a country where those few women now permitted to work may earn as little as 5,000 afghanis (£54) per month. The Taliban has responded that citizens objecting are free to raise an official complaint - as if anyone living under Taliban rule would risk the consequences of doing so!

Women fear that the system will be used to further enforce compliance with strict Taliban rules regarding their movements, behaviour and face coverings. It is not reported that microphones are part of the system but Afghan women are also now forbidden by the regime from speaking or making any sound outside their homes, such as laughing or singing, and must be accompanied by a male relative when they go out in public. 

The Taliban's edicts regarding women are in line with their harsh, ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic Shari'a law, but one has to wonder how it has come to this and why other Muslim countries do not object or intervene. When even Saudi Arabia, not renowned for its liberal regime, has introduced more relaxed rules for women in their society, for example now allowing them to drive themselves, the Taliban's repressive zeal seems more than ever aberrant and abhorrent.

Islam is widely seen in the West as an intrinsically misogynistic faith and yet even the most cursory examination of its foundation and expansion reveals the centrality of women in promoting it; as, indeed, in early Christianity. Mohammad's wife, Ayesha, and daughter, Fatima, are key figures in early Islam, their roles enhanced by the Prophet (pbuh) having no biological sons surviving into adulthood. It is probable, therefore, that where misogynistic tendencies developed in Islam (as in Christianity, after St Paul) these derived from the persistence of pre-existing cultural and tribal traditions and practices.

This makes the apparently visceral hatred of women by the Taliban at best a misreading and, at worst, a perversion of the faith they profess. The fact that these Afghan men will have grandmothers, mothers, wives, daughters, sisters, aunts, nieces makes their gross lack of respect for women deeply perplexing, but it is rendered positively incomprehensible by the story of a semi-legendary national folk heroine, Malalai of Maiwand.  

Born in 1861 in Khig, Southern Kandahar, Malalai (or Malala) accompanied her fiancé in support of the rebel Emir, Ayub Khan, against the British at the Battle of Maiwand on 27 July 1880. Like many local women she went along to tend the wounded but was credited with the victory when she waved the flag (some versions say her veil) to rally the retreating Afghan tribesmen. For this reason she is sometimes referred to in the West as 'The Afghan Joan of Arc' and gave her name to many schools, hospitals, and other institutions in the country, though how many of these have retained it under the Taliban dispensation is anyone's guess. 

One intriguing aspect of this extraordinary event is that no British journalist recorded her presence on the battlefield. Could it be that the story was mythical or might it be that the British, smarting from a crushing defeat by rebellious 'natives', did not want to credit a 'mere' woman with enabling it? Misogyny, after all, is not confined to any particular time, culture, race or religion. It's a man thing.

Ramadan Mubarak to all Muslims of good faith everywhere.




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