DOHA, 17 March 2005 — Qatar is battling pornographic websites and permissive satellite channels by launching Islamic-style sex education.
Debates aimed at educating the public in sexual matters while upholding the tenets of Islam were organized this week by Qatar Welfare Association and the Family Counseling Center, attracting mostly female audiences.
The debates targeted mainly “teenagers who strayed from the (right) path, tasted the bitterness of sin and lost the pleasure of the halal (permissible),” the welfare association says on a special website (www.lovebeaches.net).
“Love is not a soap opera with a happy ending,” the association says, adding that its drive aims at countering “depraved satellite channels and satanic (pornographic) websites.”
The sex education drive also aims at initiating people in “the art of successful love which withstands storms,” and teaching youth how to “seek the warmth of love” and “deal with their instinct and lust.”
“The family in the Gulf region is appealing for help. That’s why we sought to stand up to the culture of the video clip ... by starting with shielding the family from such sources of information on the basis of our Islamic identity,” the association’s executive director Abdullah Hussein Nehmeh said.
Subjects which are usually not aired in public in Gulf Arab states were on the agenda of the debates, where women made up 80 percent of participants, said the association’s information chief Ali Abul Nasr.
These included homosexuality, sexual harassment, sexual desires, sexual deviation and transsexuality, he said.
The Family Counseling Center invited speakers from several countries in the region and beyond to the debates, including Kuwaiti preacher Jassem Al-Mutawa and Jordanian AIDS expert Abdul Hamid Al-Qudhat.
“Love is one of the foundations of the call of Islam,” Mutawa told participants, adding that “the most sublime love is love of Allah and His prophet (peace be upon him), followed by love of parents and brothers in the faith.”
In an address on “Islam and sexuality”, British-based psychologist Maamum Mubayedh said that “Islam bans homosexuality, which should be fought” and from which people should be protected.
Aisha, a computer specialist who has been married for two and a half years, said she had “learned methods” that drew her closer to her husband.
There have been calls in Qatar recently for introducing sex education in school curricula, though some believe this is premature. A young participant said “this superficial approach” is not enough to “solve the chronic (sexual) problems faced by some youth.”
But Nehmeh said that while the current effort might be deemed by some as inadequate, “we believe this measure is appropriate for our society at the present time.”
