Kuwait: Protesters slam 'infidel' charge

Kuwait Times
Published Date: May 10, 2009
By Hussain Al-Qatari, Staff Writer

KUWAIT: A number of Kuwaitis held a rally in front of the National Assembly yesterday to protest recent accusations by an Islamist candidate. Thawabet Al-Ummah, a religious movement led by fourth constituency candidate Mohammad Hayef Al-Mutairi, issued a statement on Wednesday in which it claimed that what was said by third constituency candidate Dr Aseel Al-Awadhi in a widely-watched YouTube video makes her an "infidel" and that she must "repent and beg for forgiveness.

The YouTube video that appeared on May 5 shows a still picture of Al-Awadhi and edited audio clips previously recorded without permission during one of her classes at Kuwait University where she teaches. In the audio clips, she makes a reference to a verse in the Holy Quran that talks about hijab (the Islamic head cover) and its historical context in accordance with Tafsir Al-Tabari, a commentary and exegesis book on the Holy Quran written by prominent historian and scholar Muhammad Al-Tabari. Many extremi
sts accused her of corruption and immorality, the latest of which was a column in a newspaper calling her "irreligious".

Expressing irritation towards such allegations, first constituency candidate and former minister of health Dr Massouma Mubarak said at the rally yesterday that Kuwaiti women were slandered for asking for their political rights in 2005, and were attacked for running for elections in 2006 and 2008, but it is time for such accusations to stop. "They said that a woman who votes without taking permission of her husband or father is a sinner. This is not acceptable. We have to tell them to stop. Stop implementin
g religion to your own desire. Stop messing up democracy. Stop marginalizing humans for your own gain," she said to the applause of the protestors.

Political activist Ali Khajah objected the random and biased accusations of Al-Awadhi being an infidel, stressing that Kuwait is a democratic country. He said that everyone is entitled to have their opinion, but no one has the right to use religion for their own needs and to make such decisions regarding whether someone is an infidel or a Muslim, or whether they are going to heaven or hell. He warned against such extremist behavior, saying that it can lead to murder. "Kuwait is Kuwait of freedom. Kuwait is
Kuwait of culture, of advancement. Yes, there are dark aspects, but they will go away and Kuwait will come back as it was. Kuwait, my country, may you be safe and glorious!" he said.

A representative of Kuwait's National Democratic Alliance, Anwar Juma, said that the accusations of extremist Islamists must be answered to with the same level of ruthlessness. "They have not one speck of respect for Kuwaitis and nationalism. They attacked harshly with their statements." He elaborated that such religious affiliations have no positive stances to be remembered with, giving examples of how when they were in control of Kuwait University's students union, they simply called the invasion of Ira
q to Kuwait a "disagreement between the two countries." Juma asked "Is this how they describe the barbarian actions by Iraqi soldiers against Kuwait's citizens and residents?

Former MP Meshari Al-Osaimi in his speech predicted the end of extremist Islamic powers in Kuwait in the field of politics. "They only issued this fatwa because their faction is dying. It is dying, and they have noticed that people are leaning more towards nationalism after extremist Islamism failed to take the country anywhere towards advancement." He said that this does not mean Kuwaitis have no respect for religion, drawing the line between Islam as a religion and Islamism as the political employment of
Islam for political interests. "This is not the first time that women participate in the elections. But now that they (extremists) sensed the threat of women on their position, they felt the need to do anything in order to curb voters from supporting female candidates," he said.