Kuwaiti Journalist Abd Al-Aziz Alqenaei: We Have To Embrace Modern Secular Values; Women In The Gulf And Arab Societies Fear Liberation, Lest They Be Branded Prostitutes, Dishonorable

Kuwaiti journalist Abd Al-Aziz Alqenaei said that women in the Gulf and Arab societies lack appropriate roles and fear being branded prostitutes and dishonorable, so they forgo liberation, and they wither away, remaining shut up at home or in some workplace. He made these remarks in an interview that aired on Sky News Arabiya (UAE) on June 13, 2021. Alqnenaei added that children avoid asking "too many questions" in school because they are afraid they will go to the Hellfire as well as being scolded, beaten, and bullied. He said that such methods should be abolished. Alqnenaei added that religious extremism comes from people seeking to blow themselves up for the sake of dining with the Prophet Muhammad and fulfilling their sexual urges in Paradise. He explained that this is the concept of sexual repression, which is exploited for religious purposes. Alqenaei concluded: "We have to embrace modern secular values." For more about Abd Al-Aziz Alqenaei, see MEMRI TV clips nos. 6182, 6042, and 6015.

Abd Al-Aziz Alenaei: "Unfortunately, liberated women in our Gulf and Arab societies are branded as prostitutes, dishonorable women. This is the biggest crisis, and the biggest problem in defining women's liberation. The absence of roles for women, and their fear of being labeled with such expressions, has led to their withering and shutting themselves in at home or at some workplaces, out of fear of the power of society and patriarchal authority.

"Unfortunately, many of our school curricula feature hadiths and religious texts that make children afraid to ask questions, stay away from knowledge, because someone might throw them into Hellfire and torture them. If children ask too many questions, they are beaten, scolded, and bullied. Such methods should be abolished, especially in the early stages of education. The first stages of school for children – both boys and girls – should be open. We should unleash the children's creative energies. They should be able to ask whatever they want.

"Where did religious extremism come from, and why? It is because some people want to blow themselves up in order to dine with the Prophet Muhammad, or to fulfil their sexual urges in Paradise. This is the concept of sexual repression. When it is exploited for religious purposes, common people come... [These] people do not understand... Someone expects that if he kills infidels, or anyone different from him – based on a fatwa, issued by a cleric – then he will dine with the Prophet Muhammad. Unfortunately, they present religion in an ugly manner that runs counter to compassion, humanity, and morality.

"We have to embrace our modern secular values that will help save our societies from all the conflicts and the sectarian divisions."