An interview with Mona Helmi by Zara Majidpour
“The telephone will ring and her voice will come to me as though in a dream. “Many happy returns of the day, Mummie.” I forget my birthday, never celebrate it. So I say: what day are we Mona?
Her voice comes to me even when all other voices have become silent. Even if everybody else forgets me she will not forget. Now she has grown up and become the well-known writer Mona Helmi.”(1)
Dr. Mona Helmi daughter of Nawal El Saadawi is a writer, poet and freelance journalist. In one of her weekly articles she wrote 'what present can I give to my mother – shall I give her shoes? A dress? The gift I will give is to carry her name.'
Mona suggested that children should be called after both mother and father and she was signed that article with the name of Mona Nawal Helmi.
The fundamentalist complaints took her to court and said, “It was heresy because in the Qur'an women should take the name of the father not the mother."(2)
I interviewed Mona Hemi recently and I ask the following questions:
Q: Why can the fundamentalists not tolerate you and your mother’s articles and books?
Mona Helmi: The fundamentalists cannot tolerate both Nawal’s ideas and mine, because, our ideas are based on justice, equality, and freedom. Most of the fundamentalists discriminate between men and women, between Muslims and Coptics. Freedom is to be given only to the superior sex, with the superior religion that is, THE MUSLIM MALE. In addition, our ideas, uncover how the
fundamentalists, exploit islam, to gain power over the Egyptian people, and to rule the country.
Islam is just a tool, in the battle, of winning more votes, in a country, where religion is a sensitive issue. Also, our ideas unveil their extreme patriarchy, which goes hand in hand, with their conception of Islam.
Q: In an article, which was published in 2006, you suggested that children should be named after both their mother and father. What was the public’s reaction to this?
Mona: When I wrote the article of the mother’s day, in March 18th2006, and signed, Mona Nawal Helmy, I didn`t imagine, it would have such a tremendous feedback. Some men and women stood with me, among whom there were great Muslim thinkers. They said that Islam had nothing to do with such issues.
Rather it was related to habits, and pattern of life. They all agreed to the just of the case, being the only solution to make the name of the mother honorable, and to erase the stigma of illegitimate children. They explained that Koran said that paradise, is under the feet of mothers. As for the majority, they were against the idea. I was taken to court, accused of apostasy.
After I won the case, almost two years since I published the article, the law changed. Now an unmarried mother can give her name to her child- her father’s name. Therefore the child can have a birth certificate, and all the rights given to legitimate children. Of course, it is a step halfway, but it is better than nothing.
Q: Hazem Salah Abu Ismail is one of presidential candidates who praises Osama bin Laden as a martyr and in his television interviews he supports “Islamic dress” that includes the burga. He also states that any woman wearing a bikini should be arrested. How much chance does a candidate like him have in becoming president?
Mona: I don’t think that Hazem Abo Ismail has got a big chance to be the president of Egypt. He, however, enjoys some popularity, but is not good enough, to qualify him to run for the presidential elections.
Q: What will Egyptian women's reaction be if someone like Salah Abu Ismael becomes president?
Mona: If Hazem Abo Ismail became the president of Egypt, women could unit, and could call for a big demonstration, in Midan al Tahrir.
Q: The Egyptian blogger, Aliaa Al Mahdy, posted nude pictures of herself on her blog to protest limits on free expression. As a feminist, what do you think about her reaction?
Mona: Aliaa Al Mahdy, has the right to express, her opinion, in the way she wishes to. And I respect that. But for me, I think that " Nakedness " and " veiling " are two faces of the same coin, which indicating that women are BODIES, to be either covered under the name of religion, or to be uncovered under the name of freedom. Women should wear what is Comfortable, suitable, functional, to their activities, not what is advocated by the patriarchal culture in different societies. And this – in itself- takes a battle, and a struggle. But this is the price of freedom, we all have to pay.
Q: Your mother, Nawal Saadawi, is one of the most famous feminists in the Arab world. How would you describe your life with her as her daughter?
Mona: My life with my mother was and still is a dream. My childhood was a happy one, because Nawal treated me as a grown up person. She never made me feel, like a week girl, in a patriarchal society. She gave me complete freedom over my life as a little girl, and she always had confidence in my behavior. In short, I was the Mother, of myself. I do not remind being subject to instructions, orders, and rules. I used to make my own rules, provided, I do not harm anybody, including myself. Nawal taught me how to listen to my own inner voice, and to always follow my heart. Thus, she watered the seed of creativity inside me. She also taught me, that being free, means being responsible. That is why most people- she says- are afraid of freedom. On the contrary, I loved being free, from early childhood. Because, it meant that I was the BOSS of my life.
This interview was translated into Persian (Farsi) and published in Shahrzadnews website
