Assignments at work are considered assignments, you invest time, you invest intellect, and you are paid for it. Little does it say that you would get a chance to encounter people you wish to meet, those unknown, unfamiliar, without-names silhouettes that can re-orient your misdirected lives.

Eman Ahmed was a name passed down to me from my supervisor. Just a name. No profile, no details. When I inquired more about her, a simple answer followed my several inquiries, “What good of a journalist are you if I have to feed every answer to you before you step out of this office.” Frustration followed this answer along with a smile that spoke of accepting a challenge.

With a shaky voice and recharged confidence, I gave her a call in the evening from my personal cell phone. A friendly voice greeted me from the other end. I was confused, I was shaky, “How old is she?” I asked myself. This particular bit of inquiry was important for me, like any other young internee, I am a victim of ageism; fearful of interviewing professionals who can make me sound like a fool from my own mouth. I swallowed my apprehension, introduced myself and requested to meet for an interview.

After answering several of her questions, my request was accepted and I was sent a 58-page long paper entitled “A Multitude of Solitudes? Canadian Muslim Women and Rising Religiosity” to review before I met her. This request was not unusual, but it certainly added more mystery to the author.

I had an uneasy night before I was supposed to meet her at her apartment. I am a South Asian girl; it was risky enough to walk into the apartment of a stranger about whom you knew very little. My adventurous streak was making itself very visible that morning; maybe the high adrenaline from the nervousness that I had been experiencing all night was giving me the courage.

I arrived at her doorstep, finding a woman in her thirties, who greeted me with such enthusiasm that I had a feel of nostalgia. I thought I was back in Lahore, knocking at the door of one of my friends for an evening cup of ‘chai.’

Her small living room spoke lengths about her bachelor life (about which I knew nothing when I had stepped inside). The colorful embroidery on the cushions, a Kashmiri style throw at the back of her couch and the coffee table in the middle, gave me a welcoming feel, everything spoke of a woman’s space. The single shelf in that room, over-stacked with books, spoke million words about her life and interests.

I was enthusiastic, I have been ever since I have started questioning beliefs, ‘a healthy activity’ my professor always says.

I turned on my recorder and we dived straight into our discussion, most of it about religion, some of it about youth and multiculturalism in Canada.

By the end of the discussion, I was as puzzled as I was before, I had encountered another opinion, another perspective on various subjects I have been questioning. By the time I left her apartment after an hour, the words of my own professor were echoing in my ears, “some questions are about invoking discussions to develop tolerance for opinion in human race, seldom do we arrive at conclusions.” I sighed aloud, I appreciated the tolerant Canadian society and took the bus back home.

Here is my conversation with Eman, with a lot of questions, which at a point I felt were going in circles, and no definite conclusions. I happily share another learning experience with you:

Eman Ahmed grew up in Pakistan, spent 20-24 years there, did M.Sc in Social Anthropology from Oxford, applied for Canadian immigration, landed in Vancouver, did an MA in publishing from Simon Frasier, worked for CIDA for an year in Ottawa and moved to Toronto. She did some work in Scarborough village area with the Pakistani community. Currently she is the Project Manager at Canadian Council of Muslim Women. She is also on Toronto Public Library Board.

After hearing all these accomplished I embarked into questions that were popping in my mind:

GN: How do Muslim women balance between being a Canadian and being a Muslim?

I don’t see issues where there is a contradiction and one would have to choose between the two.

GN: What about issues that contradict with the modern versions of being a woman? Such as staying within the boundaries of your house, or wearing a hijab? It talks about men having supremacy on you or a subtle power over you?

Eman: I think if you are talking about religion then it’s all a matter of interpretation. I personally don’t think that hijab is a religious requirement. The Quran only talks about modesty, and what is modest or not depends to a large extent on your environment. What is modest in Pakistan might not be modest here, and what is modest here might not be modest in Pakistan. I also don’t find it restricting. Even those who do interpret hijab as being a requirement would not see it as restricting.

She laughs and adds, “I don’t have any man who has ‘supremacy’ over me. I don’t see those contradictions.  I don’t believe Islam says a man is superior and I have to be home bound.

GN: Don’t you think that’s a very subjective view of religion?

Eman: Isn’t religion subjective anyways?

GN: I would say that that is a politically correct statement, and it’s a sort of thing we all like saying, my religion is my religion and your religion is your religion.” But we see fights based on religion all across the globe.

Eman: Islam says that there is no compulsion in matters of religion.

GN: Then where do Islamic laws stand? Like divorce laws or laws concerning slaves?

Eman: Even there I would say there is big misconception. There is no ONE Islamic law. You say Shariah, there is no one body of law that is Shariah. Secondly, it’s not God made, it’s man-made and I have no problems questioning that. The term Islamic law is very controversial in itself. There are 4-5 schools of Islamic laws but there is no agreement even among these schools on such laws as divorce or custody of children. One would say age x, other would say age y, so which laws?

And then there is the concept of ‘Takhiyur’ which allows one to pick and choose from all the different schools; you don’t have to restrict yourself to one particular school of Muslim law. There are many liberal interpretations out there, why shouldn’t I pick those?

GN: So you consider yourself more on the liberal progressive side?

Eman: No, I wouldn’t say that because I have many conservative elements as well.

GN: Such as?

Eman: Such as respect for ones parents.mWhy put somebody in a box that either you are conservative or you are liberal.

GN: You talk about interpreting Quranic verses, but scholars and maulvis don’t agree to that approach?

Eman: Why not? Who has made them the master of my religion?

GN: Then what would you say about the concept of ‘qiyas’ and ‘Ijma’ where Muslim scholars of the time sit together and debate about a certain issue that has come up to arrive at a conclusion.

Eman: Who defines who is a Muslim scholar. I am as much of a Muslim scholar as you are. That’s what we are seeing in Pakistan. Ahmadies are not considered Muslims, Shia’s and Ismailies are persecuted. So why do you want to go down that road.

GN: How do you unite young Muslim women to represent Islam while having so many subjective interpretations?

Eman: What Islam or religion means is different to everyone. Beyond the five basic pillars, it’s up in the air.

GN: Being in the Canadian Council for Muslim, how much balance do you see between culture and religion? Is culture stronger than religion?

Eman: I don’t know the councils view on this but I have a very strong view on this. We can’t separate culture from religion. The implications of doing so are that you are disregarding how people live Islam. The Islams of South Asia, Indonesia and the Middle East are all different. If you take culture out of the mix, then  which is the “authentic Islam” ? And more importantly who will be the arbitrator and decide what is Islamic and not. By taking culture out of the equation one is treading a purist/puritan path.

Author:Saniya Zahid