Transformations: The Changes Muslim Women Experience when they are Strong, Smart and Brave

Transformations: The Changes Muslim Women Experience when they are Strong, Smart and Brave

Works Cited Missing

Many stereotypes present in modern day society portray Arab women, or more precisely, Muslim women, as having little to no independence or power. These stereotypes assert that Muslim women are oppressed both physically and psychologically, and that as a result of such outrageous treatment these women are psychologically weak. As with all stereotypes, this is a misconception. Blanket statements announcing one group of people as exhibiting the same characteristics are patently incorrect. The stereotype that Muslim women are all psychologically dependent can never be judged true, because there are always, always, exceptions to such statements. Thanks to the literary talents of three Muslim women authors who demonstrate they are the exception to such a rule, the lives of three powerful and mentally tenacious Muslim women are described in detail and reveal how strong Muslim women, or any woman for that matter can truly be.

In Fadia Faqir’s Pillars of Salt the main character experiences a transformation from a dutiful daughter to a strong, liberated woman after the death of her husband. During Leila Al-Atrash’s A Woman of Five Seasons another female protagonist experiences mental rebellion as she copes with conflicting emotions about the man she loves and the man she is supposed to love. Last, in Liyana Badr’s novella A Land of Rock and Thyme. The woman in this story displays tremendous valor and courage when faced with unfathomable tragedies that change her life forever. The common correlation throughout these novels is the amazing strength, intellect, and courage each character displays and how each woman grows stronger as a result of the tragic events that alter their lives.

Fadia Faqir’s Pillars of Salt follows Maha and the events in her life that gradually convince her society that she is insane. In truth Maha matures through these events and as an unfortunate result her independence, strength and emotions are translated by society as signs of mental instability. Ironically, Maha is perhaps most mentally stable at the close of the story while institutionalized. Throughout her life Maha demonstrated growing strength in many ways. From an early age she was the sole caretaker of her father’s farm. She would sew and cook and tend the garden and do all of the chores that were meant to be done by her brother, Daffash. Her tenacious resolve to make her father happy and to let him live a pleasant life was frequently thwarted by Daffash’s wayward excursions into the city.