As the final for the 2010 Million’s Poet Contest tonight is counting down now, favorite contestant Hissa Hilal finds herself the target of a hard hitting poem by a critic who claims to be a student of Saudi cleric Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al Barrak.
Hissa Hilal qualified for the final of this Million’s Poet Contest with her own hard hitting poem about ad hoc and subversive fatwas. Although Hissa Hilal denied it, her poem is widely viewed as an attack on the recent fatwa issued by Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al Barrak. Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al Barrak said in his website that anyone who says that Islam allows mixing of sexes is to be executed because “he is allowing what is not allowed, and therefore he is a kafir who left the religion and should be killed if he does not change his opinion”.
While Hissa Hilal has drawn wide acclaim from supporters and the jury panel for being courageous, she has also drawn critics and death threats have been received. Now Mohammed al Farraj, a student of Sheikh Abdul-Rahman al Barrak has hit back at Hissa Hilal in a lengthy 70-verse poem, which he described as defending “my Sheikh”. This poem has been posted on more than 50 websites, and has been described as “splendid” and “a masterpiece” by online reviewers.
Not surprising, the poem starts with cursing. The opening verses go like this:
Their palms got exhausted out of admiration,
as a herd would admire its dwelling place.
Here she is, prattling, blathering and chattering
without watching her words;
supported by a million devils
broadcasting her ideas.
Mohammed al Farraj believes that Hissa Hilal is motivated by greed, seeking money at the expense of traditional values and shaming her family in the process. And her family has not been spared. The poem is critical of them for allowing Hissa Hilal to recite poems in public. In a sarcastic tone, the poem calls on male relatives of women like Hissa Hilal to wear the niqab, put on make-up and stay home to look after children.
Then borrowing a description from Hissa Hilal’s poem, Mohammed al Farraj’s poem called her a “monster” who covered her face because “the veil should also cover her words and action”.
Then hitting directly at Hissa Hilal, the poem said: “She criticised the pious”. And it went on to say: “May God not increase her wealth.”
But Hissa Hilal also has her supporters, among them, several viewers of Maghrebia television. El Alia Mint Mohamed, a Nouakchott University art major said: “I’ve been following the programme since the first episode, and I really admire the talented and distinguished poet Hissa Hilal. Hissa Hilal is the voice of millions of women in the Islamic world who have been affected by narrow interpretations of religion.”
Another Maghrebia viewer, El Vadel Minit Sidi, a Mauritanian housewife said: “Why should the life of poor poet Hissa Hilal be threatened just because she expressed her convictions about the personal ijtihad of some clerics in our Muslim world? The woman has challenged neither the Holy Qur’an, nor the sunna, nor the consensuses of the nation. Why, then, all this harshness?”
Tunisan lawyer and feminist activist Saida Garrache said: “The position of that poet may have been the bravest and most daring, given that she has made direct charges against the authority of hard-line clerics who don’t have the right or sufficient knowledge to appoint themselves as guardians of human beings and to call for killing those they consider deviants from the path of correct faith and truth”.
But perhaps somewhat surprising is this supporter, who is a religious leader. An imam at Algiers’ Casbah Mosque told Magharebia: “Fundamentalism, whether religious, political or cultural in nature, is rejected. If this Saudi woman is taking a stand against fatwas of hatred and those that portray women as a sworn enemy of men and society, I am in complete agreement with her. We must all fight fundamentalism, but we should never confuse Islam, which protects and defends women’s basic rights, with the fundamentalists who try to stir up social discord in the name of a religion they know nothing about.”
Think about it. The result of the winner of the 2010 Million’s Poet will be known very soon. Will the winner be the favorite Hissa Hilal? What can possibly go wrong for her tonight? Well one potential pitfall is the public voting, which accounts for 40% of the points. While she has many supporters, what if her critics go all out to organize a anti-Hissa Hilal voting campaign? They could mobilize their supporters to vote for anyone but Hissa Hilal. Well we will know in a matter of hours whether Hissa Hilal is the winner of the 2010 Million’s Poet title.
Previous posts
Who Is Hissa Hilal?
Hissa Hilal Will Have To Wait As Million’s Poet Final Is Postponed
Hissa Hilal: “Covering My Face Is Not Because I Am Afraid Of People”
Million’s Poet Contest – Hissa Hilal Guaranteed A Prize
Video of Hissa Hilal Reciting Her Poem
Hissa Hilal – Will She Be The 2010 Million’s Poet?
Million’s Poet Contest – Saudi Housewife Hissa Hilal In Final With Poem On Ad Hoc Fatwas
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