Lauren Booth – Qatari Women Speak Out I EXCLUSIVE
AI: Summary ©
A man talks about the culture of Qatar and how it has changed over time. He talks about the importance of privacy and being a woman in a Muslim culture. He also talks about the struggles of being a Muslim woman in a rural area and how it has affected their relationships with their relatives.
AI: Summary ©
As-salamu alaykum, I pray this finds you
well and blessed.
Today I'm in a Qatari kitchen.
It occurred to me that the Qatari women
are invisible from their own story and they
choose it that way.
That is something really hard for us Westerners
to get our heads around.
Some sisters have given me permission to meet
them and for them to tell you their
stories and their way of life.
Share some of that with you.
I'm going to try not to turn into
David Attenborough here because there is a propensity
for a Westerner, even a Muslim like myself,
to come in and go here today we
examine the lesser spotted Qatari women in her
natural environment and be really patronizing.
So what I'm going to try and do
is let these incredible talented women tell their
own stories in the hope that you will
have a flavor of something different and a
new way of looking at the Muslim way
of life.
As a Qatari and adding a value to
our country, by the way, my field is
I'm working as a commercial analyst so we
can do whatever we want.
I think that we have our freedom.
For us, I go with the Abrahamic books,
you know, the people of Abrahamic faith.
Okay.
A homosexual relationship between a man and a
man and a woman and a woman is
sinful.
Is the society free from sin?
No.
There are sins similar to, you know, alcohol,
drugs, murder.
However, for us as Muslim society, and I
think my sister would agree, Islam looks at
the well-being of the society.
If the individual will harm the society, that
individual needs to be called out.
Okay.
I don't think the modern Western society has
that value.
Being a Muslim, being a Jew, being a
Christian, I think if we're going to go
by the book, this is prone upon, and
it's a big sin.
Because there's no way that we can dilute
it.
Being a Christian, being a Jew, or being
a Muslim.
Right?
Of a man or a woman of any
given faith.
Now, what did Qatar ask out of them?
They simply said, they cannot show public affection.
That's about it.
They're free to do whatever they please behind
closed doors.
And we're not here to say that we
don't have some of them within our community.
It is there.
We will have some of them, Allah knows
best.
But if this is happening behind closed doors,
it's their private business, and it's not up
for us to deal with.
They upheld the individualized, the individual right, even
if that led to the destruction of the
of the society.
And we are seeing now, you know, I
think the West has a glass home.
They don't start throwing stones at others, you
know, you know, broken families, homelessness, homelessness, I
think.
And, you know, all that.
Whoever you are, whether man and a man,
man or a woman, or whatever, it's illegal.
It's a law for us.
And our laws are derived from our religion.
This is the source of our laws.
And they came to play football, not to
do advertisements.
Mr. Oduziel, he had a statement, I think,
for legitimate reason, for oppressed people.
And he was, you know, persecuted very hardly
by the media and the community.
He was under scrutiny for quite some time.
Yeah.
However, we are humanists, you know, we love
humor, we love a laugh.
It's part of our religion.
You know, smiling on each other's face is
an act of charity.
So for us, we are very laid back,
very, you know, easygoing people.
And I think everybody who visited Qatar, and
I'm seeing loads of YouTube videos, people are
expressing their gratitude.
And they were surprised, you know, like they
had different perception from the media, the horrible
media coverage that is done over many, many
years.
And I think, you know, I don't know,
I'll throw this out.
The media tried to scare people not to
come to visit.
I had no accommodation.
I had to check out of the fan
village.
And I had to check out the fan
village, and I can't get into the next
apartment with my mate Lewis until 3pm tomorrow.
And I had a beautiful Qatari man reaching
out to me.
And his father and himself came and picked
me up from the metro station.
And fourth of the night, I am camping
out in the Qatarian desert.
I've never just by a stranger, all this
Western media about Qatar.
And I was a man in need and
these people put me up.
So it's one of the kindest gestures that's
ever happened to me.
I can't believe it.
And I think once anybody came and saw
how the country is and how the people
are, they will go back home with a
very...
It's been an amazing morning with my Qatari
sisters.
Unless you're married to a Muslim woman, or
you're the child of a Muslim woman, you
won't get to know us.
We have our laughter and our dancing and
our tears and our joy in our private
spaces with those we love and who love
us.
And today's video is a small taste of
the personality of some people who are happy.
And if it frustrates you, you can't see
us, then I hope you'll look at that
into yourself and think about really what privacy
means.
I love you all.
Masha'Allah.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Where are your shoes?
Okay, that is a real cultural moment.
Our culture, where are my shoes?