The Koran (National  Geographic), 2008.

0. In his final public statement a self style martyr quotes verses from the Koran. “Indeed Allah has purchased the wealth and souls of the believers in exchange for paradise, they fight in his cause, they kill and get killed. And that is the highest succes. You who believe, fight those who fight you.”
“I don’t see Koran connected to killing. I don’t see Koran connected to taking up lives. Koran is about existence, about tolerance, about mercy.” “The main objective of the sharia is forgiveness,  is to be forgiven, not just to judge and to kill.”
1. “I believe that islam's laws of retaliation and kind for murderers is one of the most beautiful laws of the Koran. If we only want to choose one law from the Koran it's that one.” “So many different voices come out of the Koran. Moderate people have their support in the verses of the Koran. Radical people have the same thing with different verses in the Koran.” “The Koran honors women. The Koran dignifies women. I feel that as a woman every day.” ”It is my personal belief that I am not required to wear the hijab.”
2. The Koran has been called the most ideologically influential text in the world yet there are widely different interpretations.
What does the Koran actually say ? And how much do muslims and non-muslims alike really understand about the message and the history of the Koran. It's hard to imagine an other time, when this was such an urgent question.
Orthodox muslims believe that the Koran in its original arabic is the perfect timeless and unchanging word of God as first reveiled to the profit Mohammed by the angel Gabriel in a cave in the Arabian desert nearly 1,500 years ago.
3. God's message according to muslim belief was transmitting (?) over a 23 year old period untill the death of the profet in the year 632. Mohammed according to tradition was illelettered but his mind flawless. After each encounter of the archangel he would repeat God's message to relatives and close friends who wrote it down on skins, palm leaves and anything that came to hand. Some 20 years after his death these scraps were brought together in the first complete written version of the Koran. To hear its recited for most muslim to experience the power of devine revelation as a shattering voice from the unseen.
4. Some women believe they are not required to wear the hijab while other women think otherwise. The Koran is been called the most ideologicly influencel text in the world but what does it accually say and what do others , moslims and non-moslims, really understand about the message of the Koran because there are widly different interpretations.
5. "It's a very beautiful linguistic form. Sometimes it makes me cry."
 "I am in front of God. I am with him, we are alone. He looks upon me, he can hear me, he speaks to, me through the words of the Koran."
Muslims believe the Koran to be Gods final revelation to mankind. It runs to just over 6000 verses, roughly a fift of the number in the Bible. But unlike the Bible, there's no obvious chronology. It's a series of revelations within a complex narrative structure.
"It's not a history book. It's not a moralising book.
6. It is not a history book , it is not a moralizing book , it is not a (sermen ?), it is not a text of science, it’s (elf) there is no other text before or since it’s remotely (compulled ?) to it.
It gives you parameters and it leaves you intelligence and your own judgment to derive the details so it’s a book of guidelines.
Today Islam is a religion of vast dimensions, well over a billion people from the Americans to China  from Finland to the southern tip of Africa are Muslim. Yet within this single universal belief there are profound differences in the states of women in attitudes to peace and violence , punishment and forgiveness.
Some Muslim regimes deny girls the right to an education and women the right to vote  or drive.
7. Some Muslim regimes deny girls’ right on education and within (?) the right to vote or drive. In some countries women scuttle (?)  trough the (...?) doors of segregated busses.
In other Muslim countries women lead political parties and even become heads of state.  In a few Muslim countries executions by stoning, hanging and hitting (?) are carried out to public. In others the death penalty has been abolished (?) (...?)
There are also striking differences  in forms  of worship and believe. At this Mosque in the Iranian city of God (?) young men invoke the name of Inham Allie (?).
8. At this mosque in the Iranian city of God, (?) young men invoke the name of Imam Allie (?), the marted (?) son in lord of the prophet, who they believe receives their prayers and intercedes with God on their behalf. Other moslims dismiss such practices as sinked worship and blissfully. (?)
In this Turkish mosque, the same imam Allie, marted founder of the cheered community (?), looks down on devotees to spread a message of peace and harmony between al those christians, moslims and jews who share a belief in one God. Here men and women worship side by side and express their devotion in some (?) and sometimes even in doubts. All are followers of the same Koran consider this form of worship and the pictorial representation of Allies sacrilege.
9. In this mosque on the other side of the same city, men only pray with men. The opposite sex is considered a distraction, so women are screened from view. In some mosques they are entirely excluded. But if Islam is firmly rooted in the Quran, and the Quran is the ultimate and changeless message of God, how are these differences possible? The most striking contrast is in the role and status of women, symbolized by the different rules governing the wearing of the veil. This Egyptian family believes that from the age of 3, all girls should wear the 'Hijab' which covers the throat and neck. Once they reach puberty, the full 'Niqab', which leaves only the eyes exposed.
10. Once they reach puberty, the full niqab, which leaves only the eyes exposed. "My husband encouraged me to conceil my body to please God, and to please him, because he will be judged on my actions. So I did as he wished." "Because everything about a woman is seductive, God wants her to be completely covered by the niqab. That's Gods will, and it is also my will. A (?) night club, just a few miles away. No veils(?) required here. Men and women mixing freely, and everything perfectly permissable within the laws of this muslim country. But even the women here would cover up before venturing out in the streets outside.
11. But even the women here would cover up before venturing into the streets outside. There is no law that requires it, but a powerful consensus that  women should be veiled. In other parts of the Muslim world, the veil is obligatory. The women here in Iran are uniformly dressed in ‘shadors’ which covers their hair and all their outer clothing, leaving only the face and hands exposed. Every Saudi Arabian women is required by law to be fully covered including hands and face. While in Muslim Turkey wearing a veil at all is a contentious issue and the ground rules are changing all the time.

- When I walk down the streets of Caïro unveiled I do feel a certain pressure. I don’t look like everyone else and that attracts tension and some of that is negative. Three decades ago the ‘haijb’ did not exist in Egypt. Up until 1974 I had not seen a single veiled women.
12. Three decades ago the ‘hajib’ did not exist in Egypt. Up until 1974 I had not seen a single veiled woman. If you look at the ‘Nasser’ funeral in September 1970, seven million Egyptian men and woman were on the streets of Cairo. You will not spot one veiled woman. Nasser’s funeral was a turning point. For sixteen years this charismatic Egyptian leader bestrode the world stage, inspiring Arabs everywhere with his vision of a united, secular Arab superstate. But the hope in many Arab hearts was dashed by economic failure and the crushing defeat at the hands of the Israelis in 1967.
13. In a sense, the millions who wept at his funeral, were not only mourning the passing of a once great leader, but the death of a dream. A secular dream.
“Suddenly we did not have much to hang on to. We had to find something else. And many young people who were born in the 70’s were the first to run for the religious identity.”
So what does the Koran say about the woman’s obligation to wear the veil.
“Tell the female believers to restrain their eyes and guard their virginity, and not display their adornment, except for what is apparent. And draw their veils over their cleavage and to not display their beauty.”
14. (?) is one of the most highest Muslim authorities in the world interpreted the phrase “not to display their adornment expect that which is impairment”. Sheikh Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy : most (?) agree that which is impairment means the hands and the face. The man of religion had wives and daughters who wore not the hijab in the 70’s. So have they suddenly realised that it is required? And that’s not the only paradox, other scholars interpreted the same verse in the Koran as a clear injunction women should be completely covered. Sheikh Yussuf al Badri: The Koran is clearly stipulated women’s dress code in s(..?).
15. Their face should not be covered, it’s not an Islamic duty. It predates Islam and it predates Prophet Mohammed’s own life. In a Nutshell a Muslim had to cover all of their body except of their face and their hands. Today it’s almost impossible to engage in a discussion with men of religion. If you say that it’s blasphemous. Before her engagement to Mustafa Hannam Kamal was a practicing lawyer. Once married she gave up her practice, assumed the Nikab and dedicated herself to raise a family and maintain in the home.
16. Fifteen years ago I could have engaged in a discussion with men of religion over that. Today it is almost impossible to engage in a discussion of that detail. If you say that  it is blasphemous.

LIVING WITH THE VEIL

7AM in a Cairo apartment. Hannam Khamal and her husband Moustafa are getting their children ready for school. In one sense this is everyday reality  in an other it is not. The presence of a filmcrew forces Hannam to wear the niqab. As she  now belief she must in front of any male outside her  immediate family. Until her engagement to Moustafa, who works as a chauffeur, Hannam was a practising lawyer.
17. Once married she gave up her practice, assumed the niqab and dedicated herself to raising a family and maintaining the home. She says that Mustafa had no influence on her decision, it was God who called her to wear the niqab. Humans don’t control what happens to them. It is God who directs us.
 
Has Allah rewarded you for you devotion?

Yes definitely thanks be to God. I was quite nobous about taking this step, I felt the niqab would be a restriction on me. I was really taking this step with fear.  I felt I might relapse it any time.
18. Hanan: “But with God’s help it was probably the time I felt most relaxed and comfortable in my home with my husband and children. Once I put on the nikab I came closer to God.”
Interviewer: “You gave up a good career to be a homemaker and wear the nikab wasn’t that a huge financial sacrifice as well as a person’s sacrifice?”
Hanan: “Anyone who gives to God is compensated; I didn’t feel any loss at all. On the contrary, my husband got a better job and my life became so much better when I dedicated myself to my children and my husband. And of course deepened my relationship with God.”
Interviewer: “The veil is a complex symbol with many meanings for Muslim women. To those, like Hanan, who chose to wear the nikab it signals her dedication to God and husband, even if she withdraws from the world. Other women wear the veil as an empowering statement to out who they are.”
19. Living with the veil
7 am in (Eircaro?) appartment. (Hannan Kahal?) and her husband Mustafa are getting their children ready for school. In one sense, this is everyday reality. In an other, it is not. The presence of a filmcrew forces Hannan to wear the Nikab, as she now believes she must wear it in front of any male outside her immediate family. Until her engagement to Mustafa, who workes as a (shofer?), Hannan was a practicing laywer. Once married she gave up her practice, assumed the Nikab and dedicated herself to raising a family and maintaining the home. She says that Mustafa had no influence on the decision. It was god who called her to wear the nikab.
20. Since her divorce, Lina has gone back to live with her parents. Her closest friends are young women like herself: university graduates, privileged, widely travelled and sharing her believes and practices. To Lina her parents' generation, this whole trend is baffling. "Lina, did just get up one Friday morning like that, I was amazed. Just one Friday morning". "It was Saturday actually". "She just put on the hijab, came out of her room and she said: Okay here I am, I am a hijaba. To be honest with you, I wasn't very happy. I wasn't very happy at all. Because I don't think that the hair of a woman is something that she has to hide. This is what I believe. Because I feel like my hair is like my flesh." " One person in the Quran says that Muslim women should hide, should not show their natural beauty, natural adornment. Except that which appears from it.
21. Volgt nog.
22. …But I feel very very comfortable excepting that if there’s something that is not right with the Koran, then the problem is with my understanding of the Koran. Having said that, the Koran in constantly enjoying us to reflect to question to understand, to use our mental faculties, to use our heart and understanding.
You don’t feel the Koran relegates when intern inferior status ?
Not at all, if there is any disempowerment to women in this part in of the world it’s entirely cultural, it’s nothing to do with religion, Islam has honoured women.
Men and women are entirely equal in Islam
But is that really the message of the Koran, there are number of verses that seem to define the status of women ?
23. Men are the managers of women's affairs and that God has preferred the one over the other. Meaning that the man is financially responsible for the family and supplying all their needs. Men are a degree above women. But the woman is equal to the man in everything that touches human feelings: Love, trust, confidence, pride, respect and honour. Those wives you fear may be rebellious, admonished, banned to their couches and beaten. Islam says through the Koran that beating is appropiate for a certain type of woman, not all women.
24. “This teaching applies to the woman who disobeys her husband. And refuses to live in her house and refuses to raise her children and wants to go out whenever she pleases and wants no one to control her, and is unwilling to fulfill her duties.” (Dr Souad Saleh)
Your wives are land to be tilled so till your land when and how you will.
“This is an honouring of women. Women are not the property of a men they are like the fertile land that a husbands takes cares of and doesn’t exhaust.” (Dr Souad Saleh)
Some would argue that it’s not an easy task reconciling verses of the Koran with modern nations of equality and human rights. The doctor Saleh has taken it on. Her weekly TV-show ‘Women Struggles’ is seen by women across the Arab world.
25. Her weekly TV-show ‘Women Struggles’ is seen by women across the Arab world.
My duty as a broadcaster and an academic is to show the true face of Islam and the correct interpretation of the Koran and the traditions of the prophet. The issue of the bail, polygamy, divorce, the beating of women, the non participation of women in political life, depriving the woman of her financial property and private property, forcing women into marriage, in some countries to marry someone she doesn't love because he's from the same tribe. All these are bad practices and are results of traditions and cultures not connected to Islam. These are throwbacks to pre-Islamic times.