An absence of Manhood [Archives:2007/1115/Community]

Fatima Kaid Al-Hottami
Faculty of education
Sana'a University

To be a woman and to be annoyed everywhere, even inside buses, and to be harassed by men to get on the bus is really difficult and harmful to a great extent. A precise example is a girl who was riding on a bus, who was eventually annoyed by a man sitting beside her. When she requested that he stop annoying her, he started addressing the other men on the bus, telling them that the girl was annoying him the whole time, and every man stood by his side, even the bus driver. After hearing this story, I started asking myself, “What happened in our countries to cause a loss of manhood in men?”

In the past, manhood meant a sense of honor and magnanimity, which means you must do whatever you can to help and protect any weak person who is in trouble, even if that help will cost you a lot. Manhood meant considering any girl like a sister, if she is young, and like a mother if she is older. It meant having mercy on any weak person, such as old people and children. But now, most of the men understand that manhood means how you can show your power in front of others. It means how a man can insult any person weaker than him. Nowadays men habitually annoy girls in streets, buses and even in the universities. What makes this matter worse is that when we look to these men we will come to see they are not just uneducated people, but mainly educated ones.

Comparing what has been mentioned previously about life in the prophet Mohammed's [peace be upon him] time, we will see that women were highly appreciated. And one of the best examples of manhood at that time is the example of the mother of Mu'meneen Aisha when she was found by Safoan Ibn Al-Moatel in one of the invasions. When he saw her, he gave her his horse to ride on till they caught up with the others. He did this regardless of the consequences, which we all know. However, nowadays we see men in some places do not care whether the person in front of them is a girl or a boy; rather, they may treat boys better than girls for no other reason than that she is a girl and they are men.

In short, of course we can not generalize this point of view to all men, but since this is what is really happening in our lives, it is necessary to discuss the point and shed some light on such a serious issue.
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