‘My Islam, my freedom’
Kahina savored in Paris the freedom that she lacked in Algeria as a woman, a freedom kidnapped by a dogmatic religion. Kahina values her freedom so highly that today she defends it against Islamic fundamentalism as well as against secularism that stifles all spirituality. I read My Islam, My Freedom (The Key) –Mare Nostrum award– and I learn that there is an Islam open to modernity, equal to women, willing to interpret the Koranic letter from humanism and love as any flag: it is called Sufism and was invented in Murcia in the twelfth century. To live and tell about that Islam that she calls “my freedom”, Kahina has founded a mosque (it is enough to have seven followers) and she is the first imam of France. I will follow her delighted in her walk through love and the word.
Are you an imam?
Yes.
Can a woman be an imam?
Muhammad already appointed a woman as a prophetess, in the seventh century.
Well, I don’t see any more female imams.
Men seized Islamic power and subjugated women.
Islamic macho patriarchy.
Like that of the Catholic Church: are there priestesses?
Are there more female imams in France?
After me, two others.
Rejoices.
I aspire for women to gain a public presence in Islam.
Do you see that possible?
There are more in Canada and the United States.
Two western countries.
It will cost in Islamic confessional countries.
Why?
Pre-modern thought prevails there, it is necessary to inject modernity into Islam.
What do you understand by modernity?
Enlightenment, free thought and free speech, separation of politics and religion, social equality between men and women.
Is that compatible with Islamic devotion?
Yes, just as a devout Christian does not need to be a KuKluxKlan to be considered a good Christian.
What do Muslim men say when they see her act as an imam?
Many come to my mosque. Others don’t.
Have you received threats?
Yes, of some for playing the rooster. I have decided to quit Twitter.
Always Twitter.
It is damaging the public space for debate: it floods it with threats, insults and personal disqualifications, which makes it impossible to exchange opinions.
Where do you have your mosque?
In Paris. Fatima Mosque is itinerant, for women and men.
Traveling for security?
And to get closer to people.
If a jihadist from the 2015 attacks showed up there, would you want to kill her?
I would have to ask him.
Are you afraid?
I feared that the attacks would demonize the Islamic religion. And to avoid it, I founded my mosque and became an imam.
To defend Islam?
Sure, to defend my freedom as a Muslim.
Are there several Islams?
Today Salafism, fundamentalist Islam, prevails, but there was a Sufi Islam that was central.
Sufi?
It was founded by Ibn Arabi, an Andalusian Muslim who was born in Murcia in the 12th century, and he is my model.
What did Ibn Arabi propose?
That God is an intimate, spiritual experience, beyond the letter of the rules.
Sounds reasonable.
I study it since I learned that Ibn Arabi is the personality most hated by Ibu Taymiyya.
Who?
The benchmark of fundamentalist Islam, in favor of killing infidels and subjugating women.
Does Allah or Mohammed order to kill infidels?
Never! What an anti-Islamic barbarism.
Does Allah or Muhammad want men over women?
Nope! They propose to love and respect everyone equally.
What does your family say about you being an imam?
I visit them and they love me. They live in Algeria, where I grew up and lived until I was 24 years old.
Why did you leave Algeria?
The woman has very little freedom there. I flew to Paris to win my freedom.
What is the Liberty?
Make your own decisions and pay your expenses with the fruit of your own labor. Women: defend this every day!
You are a lawyer.
I studied Law in Algeria, as my father wanted. Then I went to Paris.
Is your father happy?
Yes. He named me Kahina, a Berber queen who clashed with the Umayyads in the 7th century and killed herself rather than surrender. Kahina inspires strength in me.
Did Kahina refuse to convert to Islam?
Yes, and I reject all extremism, all fundamentalist dogma. I am a spiritual free woman.
Do you wear the veil?
No. I pass. But if we make a problem of the veil… we will be promoting it.
Come on.
Extreme secularism provokes a conservative reaction among many Muslims. Also between Jews and Catholics. It is very French to incur in extremism.