Veiled Voices - With Sheikha Stories

This is a world class documentary in all the ways that are meaningful. First of all, Prof. Maher lets the people of her film speak for themselves, instead of overwhelming viewers with commentary and analysis of the women, the societies they come from or whatever else that so often seems to be the trend. By the end, one almost feels one knows these women, can see who they are as people, and how they are working to make the societies they live in better places - for everyone and yes, for women as well. Second, it certainly beats back many of the stereotypes we so often in the West have of Arab women, particularly veiled women. Not only are these women strong leaders, outspoken, and even willing to challenge whatever social conventions that they find oppressive, but two of those women clearly had the strong support of their husbands, and all three have their families involved and supportive. Finally, it was inspiring to see how involved they all are in their communities. It showed character and a focus on a life of service that I found rather inspirational. I hope to see more of Prof. Maher's works on the market. I was also rather intrigued by the "Sheikhah stories" included on the DVD, glimpses that show that while these women reach beyond the ordinary, they are more a cross sampling of some of the more amazing women in the Middle East.

The content, purpose, and portrayal of Muslim women as intellectuals. . . Inspiring.Only drawback is AMAZON not warning me that the video is not captioned. I am hard of hearing and I am able of understanding the amazing video half of the time. Whenever they are speaking on English, there is no closed captioning or ready made subtitles. Netflix always make a note saying the video is fully subtitled in English. amazon, you could do better next time!

i found this interesting. i found some parts to be a bit...repetitive, but overall it was worth the small rental fee

It is an excellent Video about an actual three Muslim women from different countries. Because of their strong Faith they managed to conquer their hardship in life in positive way & achieving their goals of being well educated, good mother/wife & give back to their communities. Felt badly for the lady from Syria that she had to go through such a hardship because of her parent chooses to follow their society culture & customs over their daughter well-being and it ended in divorce & her children were taken away from her. Seeing her kids the way was shown brought the tears to my eyes. I’m a mother & I do not wish that on any mother. But you still see the love between her & her kids are very strong. I give the Video 5 stars.ThanksOmaima

Great documentary that gives women in Islam a voice.

Veiled Voices is an inspiring film that examines the stories of three Muslim women in the Middle East who have assumed roles as religious leaders. Filmmaker Brigid Maher deftly shows viewers both the public and private lives of these remarkable women. In the process, Maher breaks through the preconceived notions many in the West have regarding Islam and gender roles.Aside from its topical significance, Veiled Voices is beautifully filmed. It is a fantastic documentary, and the topic that it addresses is of great importance to increase cross-cultural understanding.

Veiled Voices is a documentary that profiles three influential women who are religious leaders, their families, and the communities they serve: Ghina Hammoud in Lebanon, Dr. Su'ad Saleh in Egypt, and Huda al-Habash in Syria. The film is produced and directed by Brigid Maher, who is an assistant professor and head of the New Media concentration in the Film and Media Arts Division of the School of Communication at American University.When I first heard about the documentary, I thought, "Oh, no, not another take on veiled women who are oppressed", given the the cliched title, "Veiled Voices". I asked Maher about this, and she surprised me with her answer,Naturally we have a play on words with the title "Veiled Voices", because it both confronts our obsession and moves beyond it. The West may think women's voices are veiled because of the veil but when you hear the voices of veiled women you understand something very different and far more complex and shatter any notion of a verbal veil...I particularly liked the idea of "confronting obsessions", which the film does. All three of its subjects wear headscarves, but discussion of the veil constitutes only two minutes of the hour-long film (thank Allah).This film left a lasting impression on me personally because it shows the kind of Islam I try to adhere to, from a female perspective. The women filmed are both normal and extraordinary at once. They are religious leaders by profession, but are also wives and mothers. They observe hijab, they are well-traveled, well-educated, well-spoken and well-read. I respect that all our readers do not want to fit this particular mold. For some these women might be too liberal, for others, too conservative. For me, they are the type of Muslim women I admire, and this is why I enjoyed watching the film so much.Maher shows these women in several different lights, both personally and professionally. We get to watch them interact with their families, their followers, and the media. We also hear their views on sensitive topics like domestic abuse and divorce. I asked Maher why she decided to focus on women as religious leaders in particular.There has been a lot of ground covered in documentaries about women in Islam in particular with the veil. Yet, I still felt that misunderstandings among non-Muslims was a pervasive problem. If we have so much media on the subject, why are Muslim women still misunderstood? I wanted to move beyond the question of veiling, as that to me was such a small part of what it meant to be Muslim. If women can penetrate leadership in government, agencies, companies, etc., it can be fairly illuminating in regards to what kind of power they're able to wield. So it made sense to start there in regards to Islam and women and this ground hadn't been covered yet. I wanted to move beyond question of the veil to more pertinent questions of what kind of leadership roles women are able to have in their communities and who is influenced by them.Maher includes several interviews with men as well, some related to the women, others from high-ranking religious and political backgrounds, which serve as both a contrast and compliment to the women in question. Each of the three women interviewed are very influential, albeit in different ways.Ghina Hammoud faces a personal challenge in gaining legitimacy as a leader as a divorced woman, since divorce is controversial in conservative communities throughout Lebanon. However, she has found strength to rebuild her life through her role as a community leader. It is incredibly heart-wrenching to hear about and watch the separation from her beautiful twin daughters. Hammoud''s personality shines through the camera as she laughs and cries.The story of Dr. Su'ad Saleh demonstrates how, in a country that is known for having the highest number of women religious leaders and teachers, these women still fight for public recognition by the Egyptian religious authority at Al Azhar, the famous Cairo mosque and university founded in the 10th century. Dr. Saleh is also media personality, and wields a lot of authority. Whilst she has no institutional support, the story of her late-husband's encouragement is very touching.Unlike her two counterparts in Lebanon and Egypt, Huda Al-Habbash has both institutional support and the support of her husband. She teaches women in Damascus, and lectures all over the Middle East, helping people "move...from ignorance to knowledge." She comes across like a very rigid woman initially, but surprises viewers later on with her flexibility.In particular, Dr. Saleh's story has a a lot of significance, especially when she speaks about her application to become a muftiya (female religious authority) for Al Azhar. Her application was subject to voting by the board, which is exclusively constituted of men. She received only one male vote, and it literally broke my heart when she wistfully asks, "Who would vote for a woman?". Maher juxtaposes Dr. Saleh's story an interview with the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Shaykh Tantawi, who is speaking about women's rights, and welcoming women to become muftiyas. The irony is startling. We also see Dr. Saleh as she moves about from her television show, to the class she lectures at the Al Azhar women's faculty for religious studies, where she is a professor.The beginning and ending of the film are both equally poignant. Al-Habbash opens the movie with a narrative about A'isha, the Prophet Muhammad's (PBUH) wife, her role in Islam, and her legacy. I thought it quite fitting to open a movie about religious guides with the example of one of Islam's first and most prominent female religious leaders. The film closes on Dr. Saleh, speaking about her role as a religious leader. She confidently declares that she will continue giving fatawa (religious rulings) without the cloak of Al Azhar: she asserts that "I don't need it" and "I will continue doing so unofficially". This sends a very strong message to the viewers about Muslim women - that they do not need permission/backing from men, as is the common stereotype.The film focuses on a particular type of Muslim woman, and does not export the findings to all Muslim women. It shows them in relation to their own communities and societies only, in their own respective countries.I asked Maher how she thought these women would affect the way the West views Muslim women:We have just started screening the film but I had done a series of "test screenings" and people would say to me, "these women must be feminists. They must be on the fringe of Islam or liberals." The fact is that these women aren't at all on the fringe and that the notion of feminism can also be quite pluralistic. These women represent mainstream interpretations of Islam in their countries so I think when people realize this, it shatters their stereotypes of Muslim in general. Perhaps they realize there's little difference between what Ghina dealt with and a personal obstacle they faced. Or they may wish that their husband helped clean up after dinner like Huda's husband. Or they feel inspired with how Dr. Su'ad Saleh took on the religious establishment and kept on going undeterred. I will say I did not realize how much these women and stories would affect my own life...I also did not realize how much they would affect me. I found myself being drawn into their lives and stories. The movie certainly offers a rare glimpse into the lives of Muslim women leaders. At times it surprised my own pre-conceived ideas about the women, like when I learnt about Al-Habbash's daughter studying abroad, or Hammoud having traveled the world.Maher successfully manages to confront and move beyond the stereotype of a submissive Arab Muslim woman, and I highly recommend everyone to watch it. Though not all will find the women's views to their liking, the documentary allows them to tell their situations as is, and must be commended for that.