Oprah Winfrey once said: “Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great.” It is amazing to combine both, but that is what Muna Abusulayman has indeed done. She is the young mother of Shahad and Sereen, a successful university lecturer and a rising TV show hostess.
Muna Abusulayman is a young Saudi who has lived a great deal of her life abroad. From elementary school through college and graduate schools, she lived in the United States. She later moved with her family to Malaysia were her father headed the Islamic University. “My two years there were absolutely the most wonderful years of my life. I appreciated the rich culture where Indians, Chinese and Malaysians all lived peacefully. Living abroad and experiencing different cultures helped me with different perspectives. I owe this to my family who gave me this opportunity to shape my personality.”
After returning home, Muna taught English literature at King Saud University. Modest as she is, she has never had the slightest interest in being a public figure, but destiny overcame modesty. Muna, who normally does not watch much TV, is now in the entertainment business as co-hostess of MBC’s famous show “Kalam Nawaem” that deals with social issues in the Arab World. “I first heard about “Kalam Nawaem” from Hani Khoga, a family friend who happened to be one of the show’s producers. I was interested in participating as a writer but they already had one. They were looking for a Saudi woman to co-host the show and he made me an offer. Since I have absolutely no experience and no training in the field, I was petrified. But as I have grown older, I have learned to accept all the challenges that come my way so I finally agreed. After that, Turki Shabana, the head of the program at that time, called me to Beirut for a screen test. I was tested and accepted even though I later learned there were 300 other applicants.”
When the show was aired for the first time, it generated a lot of criticism. The general trend of Arabic TV programs is to copy foreign ones so audiences believed that “Kalam Nawaem” was merely a copy of “The View”, ABC’s famous TV show. “I do not deny that there are many similarities including the basic idea. I assure you, however, that our content from beginning to end is purely Arabic. We try hard to reflect the Arabic street. As a matter of fact, my participation in the show has forced me to enter the Arab world more than I had done in the past. As a Saudi, I try to understand what average Saudi women believe and think because I consider myself their representative. I also try to involve more Saudi women in the show, women who represent different ideas and sectors of our society. That means a lot of effort spent on making contacts. Unfortunately, many women turn me down, either because of our traditions or because of their fear of the camera.”
With modest clothes and colorful head scarves, Muna has probably created a new image for Saudi women without even intending to do so. It is an image that has replaced the mistaken idea that all Saudi women live exclusively behind the veil. “Well, this has made me both sad and glad. I was sad because the majority of women were hesitant to wear the hijab, thinking that it would make them less attractive. At the same time I was glad to find out that many now wear the hijab because they have realized that a woman can be simultaneously modest and elegant. My clothes, which I carefully choose myself, have helped other women to be creative.”
Muna has become very popular and well-known. Dealing with fame can be difficult sometimes. “I am still shocked at how many people recognize me sometimes.” Dealing with this fact is, however, not always pleasant. “I am a very quiet and private person and when I am not on the show I don’t wear any make-up because I am basically a very casual person.”
Over the last year, the show has improved a great deal. With much more collaboration, all four hostesses present their free topics at the beginning of the show. The hostesses have also polished their performances. “I am aware of the mistakes I made before, but I have had very little formal training. Take my voice for instance; I have a very high pitched voice which runs in my family. After a lot of exercises, I have learned to lower it a bit. I have also learned to speak more slowly.”
At the end of the day, it is not how much you speak on the show that counts but rather the message that sends. And the messages that Muna wants to send are many. Most involve Saudi women. “Our internal debates have become international because of the unfortunate circumstances that the world is going through. We have many needs to be addressed but all must be solved within our culture. I am confident that we will find our own path to create a better community and this path does not have to be westernization. We do not want to be given solutions; we want to find our own.
A number of positive steps have been taken and we are developing in many different ways. Look at the growing numbers of educated women and you will see what I mean. We are present in almost every field but most of our women remain in the shadows. If the media does not publicize them, it does not mean that they don’t exist.”
