Mommy,
Why am I left alone?
No home in the land we strove
To fit into a culture made by men.
We tried to get by
In a land they designed
Where submission is sublime;
Anything otherwise,
Death;
Honor killings,
And the vultures dine.
I lay in your outline,
On your gravesite,
Inside your womb
Where I cry.
Day by day I die
— The light no longer shines.
Mommy, why?
Your only crime
Was that you tried,
Living your life
Loving me.
Mommy,
The day you died
I crawled up inside
And died.
Now, upon your gravesite,
I will lie.
Many years ago, I covered events in the Middle East. The horror will never leave my eyes. What most in the West don’t realize, woman have no rights in parts of the Eastern world. They’re abused daily as the mainstream media hides it from the public.
Murder, rape and genital mutilation, common among certain Islamic sects. It’s their way of life. These practices are not only inhumane, genital mutilation offers zero health benefit. It's only purpose, to force women into a life of servitude for their male masters.
- Female genital mutilation (FGM) involves the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.
- The practice has no health benefits for girls and women.
- FGM can cause severe bleeding and problems urinating, and later cysts, infections, as well as complications in childbirth and increased risk of newborn deaths.
- FGM is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15.
- FGM is a violation of the human rights of girls and women.
It's their culture.
Circumcision is obligatory (O: for both men and women. For men it consists of removing the prepuce from the penis, and for women, removing the prepuce (Ar. Bazr) of the clitoris (n: not the clitoris itself, as some mistakenly assert). (A: Hanbalis hold that circumcision of women is not obligatory but sunna, while Hanafis consider it a mere courtesy to the husband.)" (Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri. n.d.)
But the translation above uses a soft tone. The actual text reads:
Circumcision is obligatory (for every male and female) by cutting off the piece of skin on the glans of the penis of the male,
but circumcision of the female is by cutting out the clitoris (this is called HufaaD).
For in their eyes, a woman belongs in the pits of hell. They claim the opposite sex has no common sense — it takes two to count for one man.
[Muhammad said]: O womenfolk, you should give charity and ask much forgiveness for I saw you in bulk amongst the dwellers of Hell. A wise lady among them said: Why is it, Messenger of Allah, that our folk is in bulk in Hell? Upon this the Holy Prophet observed: You curse too much and are ungrateful to your spouses. I have seen none lacking in common sense and failing in religion but (at the same time) robbing the wisdom of the wise, besides you. Upon this the woman remarked: What is wrong with our common sense and with religion? He (the Holy Prophet) observed: Your lack of common sense (can be well judged from the fact) that the evidence of two women is equal to one man, that is a proof of the lack of common sense. (Sahih Muslim)
The Prophet (the blessing and peace of Allah be upon him) said: "Isn’t the witness of a woman equal to half of that of a man?" The women said: "Yes." He said: "This is because of the deficiency of her mind." (Sahih Al-Bukhari)
God forbid if one dishonors their husband, death becomes a reality. Even a false accusation brings demise. Buried to the neck and pummeled until dead.
Three women and one man were stoned to death in Idlib, northwestern Syria, on Monday, on the orders of Islamist militant group Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS).
According to sources close to HTS, who spoke to The New Arab’s Arabic language service Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the individuals executed were charged with “adultery” and “attempted murder”.
They were brutally executed in the city centre and the sentence was carried out by the security apparatuses, sources said. (Christine Douglass-Williams. 2021)
Mere words cannot describe what unfolds every day in those regions of the world. To help shed light on these violations of human rights, I use poetry as the political sword to show and not tell. It’s one of the most honest forms of historical documentation we have.
And it’s from those stories, the poem which asks, “Mommy Why”, was penned.
References
Masoud Popalzai and Jethro Mullen. 2015. “Afghan Woman Stoned to Death over Adultery Accusation.” CNN. November 4, 2015.
Sahih Muslim, Abdul Hamid Siddiqi, tr., Number 142.
Sahih Al-Bukhari, Dr. Muhammad Matraji, tr. (New Delhi: Islamic Book Service, 2002), Number 2658.
WHO. 2022. “Female Genital Mutilation.” January 21, 2022.
Ahmad ibn Naqib al-Misri. n.d. “The Classic Manual of Islamic Sacred Law.” Accessed May 6, 2022.
Christine Douglass-Williams. 2021. “Syria: Three Women and a Man Stoned to Death under Sharia, One for Adultery.” April 3, 2021.