Early in my career as the Jeddah bureau chief of a daily newspaper, I had a young colleague, Nawal Al-Hawsawi. She’s a Saudi of African origin. Even during those first months as a reporter, I found Nawal ambitious, hardworking and always looking toward the future. She had a positive disposition and never once expressed a negative thought to anyone.
Nawal soon left Saudi Arabia for the United States. She got married, got divorced and somehow after the turmoil of her marriage she managed to get her pilot’s license. She is now a flying instructor. She has since remarried, earned a master’s degree with a double major and is the proud mother of three children, two of which are foster children. She now works as a certified marriage consultant.
Her American Muslim husband is white and she expresses great pride in her multicultural family. Recently, she was interviewed on a Rotana show about her success as a Saudi in the United States and how she overcame adversity to achieve her goals.
Several months ago Nawal took to Twitter and became a regular poster. Yet not all Saudis see her story has a positive influence and in fact seem to take great pleasure in denigrating this fascinating woman at every opportunity.
Recently a Saudi woman approached Nawal in a shopping mall called her Al-Abdah. That’s essentially the N-word in Arabic. A less offensive interpretation is “slave.” The Saudi woman said that Nawal was not a real Saudi, but just an Abdah who should go back to where she came from. My friend came from Saudi Arabia, but I guess that’s beside the point with this racist.
Having been the target of nasty online comments almost weekly since I began writing about Saudi issues (one troll suggested I do the world a favor and wear my niqab so as not to offend the sensibilities of the male gaze), I can attest to how vicious slings and arrows can be hurtful.
But Nawal would have not of it. She turned the situation around by creating the hashtag #Alabdah to solicit stories from Saudis of African origin about their experiences in the Kingdom.
The stories that flooded in were heartbreaking. Parents shared stories of how their Saudi children were forced to sit in the back of their classrooms while teachers insulted them because of the color of their skin. Once parents of lighter skin students discovered that their child was sitting next to a black Saudi, they would come to school and ask their child be seated elsewhere. Then there is the discrimination in the workplace and even in social circles.
The response to the hashtag was so overwhelming that my friend is now compiling the data to write a book on the black Saudi experience. At the same time, she has initiated a lawsuit in the Saudi courts alleging slander and defamation against the Saudi woman who used the epithet.
Nawal also has formed an organization, Adam, to combat racism and promote multiculturalism.
The sad fact is that the Saudi woman who first used the term Al-Abdah for Nawal had violated the very tenets of Islam. The Prophet (peace be upon him), said, “All mankind is from Adam and Eve, an Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a white has no superiority over a black nor a black has any superiority over a white — except by piety and good action. Learn that every Muslim is a brother to every Muslim and that the Muslims constitute one brotherhood.”
He also said, “O People! Note that all men (the noun includes women as well) are divided in two categories only: The pious and God-fearing who are estimable in Allah’s reckoning and the transgressors and hard-hearted, who are lowly and contemptible in the eye of Allah.”
Enlightened Saudis should not pass judgment on this racist and other racists like her. But on the Day of Judgment, she will have to answer for her misdeeds.
