KARAMAH was fortunate to have Ms. Manal Omar, associate vice president for the Middle East and Africa Center at the United States Institute of Peace deliver the Keynote speech on LLSP’s inaugural day. Ms. Omar spoke to the participants about Muslim Women Leadership. She emphasized the importance of the feminine leadership style. “Women leaders should,” she advised, “embrace their inherent qualities – compassion, fluidity, and the openness to feel. When we lose the feminine and try to adopt the masculine, for example by suppressing our emotions to replace with a sense of detachment, that can lead to a loss of balance, and it is that balance that provides strength in leadership.”
Ms. Omar explained that many times women encounter violence because dictators and extremist groups target women and try to control them. Ms. Omar asserts that “women don’t stay in victimhood, most are already survivors.” The public perceives Muslim women as enablers of the patriarchy. Ms. Omar declared that, “It is time for Muslim women themselves to define their identity and legacy. It is time to reclaim our strength and our stories.” The reclaiming strength is an important step, but “we should not indulge in seeing our religion through rose colored glasses. It is equally important that we hold those who dictate extreme forms of Islam accountable. We do this by digging deeper into the root causes of conflict.”
It is our hope at KARAMAH that LLSP participants are able to develop a greater understanding of conflict resolution in their communities throughout the next few weeks.
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