Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah
Transcript: Queen Rania
on Oprah Winfrey Show
October 05, 2001
Bordering
on Israel and Saudi Arabia, Jordan is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.
Virtually all of Jordan's residents are Muslim.
Their 31 year old Queen Rania says now more than ever it is important to clarify
misconceptions about her religion, Islam and Muslim women.
Oprah: You were recently here in New York, and as I understand it,
you went to Ground Zero with Mayor Giuliani. What was that like?
Queen Rania:
I
think for the past couple of weeks we've all been struggling with what happened
on September 11, trying to understand it, trying to make sense of it. We've all
been glued to our televisions trying to comprehend what happened. It really made
a difference to me when I was actually there, when I went to Washington and New
York, and visited some of the family centers.
I had the opportunity to speak to some of the families of the victims, some of
the children who have been orphaned and some of the workers who had been working
day in and day out. I began to really understand and appreciate the enormity of
the tragedy, and the extent of it, and just how many people were affected by it.
It was very, very difficult for me, but I was very inspired by the resolve and
the strength of the people that I saw.
Oprah: I've heard you say that as we attempt to fight this war
against terrorism, whether it is militarily, diplomatically, through other
resources, that this is an opportunity for the United States to perhaps reach
out to other disenfranchised countries. Is that true?
Queen Rania: Absolutely. I think that this is a new chapter in
human dialogue between the United States and the rest of the world and between
countries all over the world. For the first time in history, we all have a
combined objective. We all have this common enemy, terrorism. We all need to
draw our resources together and fight the common war, each [country] in its own
area of expertise, whether it's through intelligence, militarily or
economically. It's very important that we all come together on this issue and
really fight this war together.
Oprah:
When
this first happened on September 11, I think it came as a shock to so many of us
that other people in the world hated us so much. Can you help explain that to
us?
Queen Rania: I think it's very important that you realize that for
the majority of Muslims, they do not hate Americans. They do not hate the
American way of life. In fact, many countries look at the American model as one
that needs to be replicated, one that they aspire to achieve.
We are talking about a minority of people who feel that they have been unjustly
treated by the United States. Some of them feel that U.S. foreign policy might
have been partial and not completely fair to all parties involved, and they
wanted their voice to be heard. Unfortunately, the means that they have used are
ones that are condemned all over the Arab world.
We do not approve of these terrorist acts or any gruesome activities like the
ones we saw on September 11. The American people have to realize that the whole
world is with them, they feel with them. They are not hated by the rest of the
world. Some people feel unfairly treated, but I think that dialogue is the way
to understand each other and to reach out to each other.
Oprah: What we're trying to do on this show today is to bring
about an understanding of what it's like to be Muslim in the world, and what is
Islam. I think there's a lot of confusion. You're very westernized, and then we
see women wearing the hoods, the burqas and the hijabs. What makes one
acceptable, and the other not? Are you accepted in your country not wearing the
scarves? What does the scarf represent?
Queen Rania: I'd really like to commend you for having Islam as
the subject of your show. I think this is the right time to reach out and have
this open, ongoing dialogue about different religions.
[Just] like in Christianity, there are different interpretations of Islam, and
there are different degrees of conservatism. It's a personal choice. Some people
are more conservative than others. The important thing is the spirit of Islam.
That is all about tolerance, about doing good, diversity, quality, and human
dignity.
The fact that Islam is very tolerant means that it doesn't impose anything on
other people. You are supposed to behave in a certain way, or dress in a certain
way out of conviction, not because somebody imposes their own ideology on you. I
believe one's relationship with God, and how one chooses to practice religion,
is an intensely personal choice.
Oprah: So you as an individual choose whether or not you want to
be robed or not robed, or wear your head covered or not? That's not imposed upon
you by your religion?
Queen Rania: In our country, that is what we believe. We give
women the choice to wear the headscarf or not. It's a personal choice. As I
said, it is not the state that is supposed to impose on individuals what they
believe in. That is their own personal choice.
Oprah: Are you a practicing Muslim?
Queen Rania: Yes, very much so. Muslims are required to pray five
times a day. We fast the holy month of Ramadan, which is, I guess, equivalent to
Lent in Christianity. We are meant to give to charity. Once in our lifetime, we
have to make a pilgrimage to the holy site of Mecca. These are the basic
principles and practices of Islam. But more importantly, Islam is about
spiritual fulfillment, about morals, about trying to purify your soul. That is
something that has to be very much emphasized.
Oprah: What is life like for Muslim women in Jordan? I think we
all have a misinterpretation that the women wearing the robes are dominated by
men, that the women don't have a voice of their own. Is any part of that true?
Queen Rania: In Jordan, women lead a very free life. We find the
level of education for men and women in Jordan is equal. We have women who
participate in the business sector, in government, in the armed forces, in the
police force, women judges. They're very much free to choose what kind of life
they want to lead. The lives that they lead here are very similar to those that
you see in other countries in the world.
That is not to say that they don't have challenges, but I think that the
challenges that women face in Jordan are very similar to those that you see in
other countries in the world, particularly developing countries. The obstacles
that they face are more social or cultural hindrances. Women in our part of the
world have to be encouraged to be more confident, to voice their concerns, to
fight for their legal rights, and to do what the women in the States and in
Europe did: try to gain their rights by voicing their concerns and fighting for
them.
Oprah: One of the things that we have been horrified by in the
U.S., and I've actually done several shows about here, are honor
killings. I know you have campaigned against honor killings, the Jordanian
parliament however, as I understand it, has rejected laws that would treat those
crimes as seriously as other homicides. Where does that stand now?
Queen Rania: It's very important for me to clarify that honor
killings are not in any way condoned or accepted in Islam. They are, in fact,
un-Islamic. These are more cultural and social aspects that we have to deal with
here.
What we're looking to do here in Jordan, and our voices have been heard and many
people have been rallying, is to try to explain the whole issue of honor
killings, and to try to explain where Islam stands [on] this issue. Once we have
this open dialogue and we reach to the grassroots where people can understand
this issue, we are hoping through democratic process to change these laws that
we have in Jordan.
The problem was the fact that people didn't understand what honor killings were
and how often they were happening and all the dimensions of the issue. We need
more public awareness about the issue and that's what we're doing right now.
It's only a matter of time before these laws that you're referring to are going
to be changed.
Oprah: Newsweek magazine reported that there are some Muslim
fundamentalists that see you as a threat. They've said, 'She is attacking our
ancient values, tearing at our social fabrics as a member of our moderate Muslim
brotherhood.' How do you respond to that?
Queen Rania: You find fundamentalists and extremism in every
religion and these are the people on the fringes. They are expressing their own
point of view, a personal point of view. I believe in what I am doing. It's my
personal choice. I feel that people of my country accept me the way that I am,
and I hope the rest of the world will see it that way. I cannot really answer to
these kinds of things because everybody is entitled to his own opinion.
Oprah: Do you feel that you represent a large portion of the Arab
world in terms of women being progressive, forward-looking, being smart,
thinking for themselves?
Queen Rania: There is a large portion of women who are like that.
As I said earlier, I think that the challenges that women face in our part of
the world are more related to some social and cultural constraints. These are
the issues that we need to deal with. Religion provides equality for women.
Islam views women as full and equal partners to men, so [women's] rights are
guaranteed by Islam. It's up to us to try to make use of these rights, to try to
voice our concerns and make sure that we achieve our full rights.
Oprah: So anything that we see that doesn't represent what you're
saying is a distortion of Islam, correct?
Queen Rania: Absolutely. I think that is what extremism is.
Extremists are on the fringes of religion. By nature, Islam and the Qur'an,
which is the holy book in our religion, came to apply to humankind at any point
in history, which means it is open to interpretation. I feel that a lot of these
extremists have taken this as a way to justify and to twist the facts in Islam
to justify their own actions and their own beliefs, and in many cases to fulfill
their own political agendas.
Oprah: I thank you so much for being here to clarify and to bring
about a greater understanding of what Islam means and what it's like to be a
Muslim woman. Thank you so much, your majesty.
Queen Rania: Not at all. Thank you, Oprah.