Princess Sultana's Circle

already cooked a small feast for us: eggplant salad,
lentil soup, pilaw, kufta, and shish kabob. I saw that this dear
girl had even baked Arab bread to please us. “I’m so happy you are
here, Ma’am,” she said as she began to load the food onto trays. “I
get lonely, sometimes,” she admitted softly.
    I found myself wondering
about Jada’s life. I had to admit that I knew very little about the
girl. While traveling alone to England the year before, Kareem had
discovered that our housemaid and one of our drivers were involved
in an illicit affair. Since both were wed to others, Kareem
terminated their employment and sent them back to their spouses. It
was then that he had hired Jada.
    I now recalled Kareem
telling me that Jada had wept copious tears when pleading for this
position, as both maid and cook. She had told him that she came
from a poor Egyptian family and must work to help finance an older
brother’s college education. Although she had arrived with no
references, Kareem had sensed a goodness in the girl and had hired
her immediately.
    I recalled hearing that her
parents had emigrated from Egypt years before. After the father was
unable to find suitable employment in London, the possibility of a
manufacturing job had taken the family to the city of Manchester.
Now that she lived in London, Jada, who was unmarried, rarely saw
her family. Since Kareem and I stay at our home in London no more
than once or twice a year, I knew that Jada must spend many long,
boring months with few distractions to fill her days.
    Looking into Jada’s
youthful face, I guessed that she was not much older than my
youngest daughter, Amani. Yet, Jada conducted herself as a mature
woman while Amani often displayed childlike conduct. Wealth and
privilege too often bring out unattractive attributes, I thought to
myself. And, I must admit, that included me as well.
    Through gentle questioning,
I learned that Jada had been an excellent student at school, and
had always longed to become a medical doctor. Her greatest ambition
was to return to Egypt and care for pregnant women in the small
villages in an effort to lower the high infant mortality of that
country, and to combat the practice of female
circumcision.
    Recently, there had been a
great deal of international public outrage concerning the custom of
female circumcision in Egypt, and Jada was earnest in her desire to
help educate women in her land so that they would turn away from
that barbaric custom.
    “ That is an admirable
cause,” I told her, as my thoughts went back in time. “The
granddaughter of Fatma, our housekeeper in Egypt, was forced to
undergo that brutal practice. Unbelievably, it was the child’s own
mother, Elham, who had insisted upon the inhumane
ritual!
    “ I went with Fatma to try
to convince Elham not to subject her daughter to such a dangerous
mutilation. But Elham truly believed that our religion demands
women to be circumcised, and that her daughter could not defy the
laws of her religion.” I sighed heavily, still depressed when I
thought of it. “I agree that educating women is the only solution
to end this frightful custom.”
    “ Women must learn to
question authority,” Jada said. “Otherwise, they will continue to
believe everything their fathers and husbands tell
them.”
    “ That is so true,” I
agreed.
    In view of her own
aspirations, I was surprised to learn that Jada felt no animosity
about the fact that the whole of her salary was going towards
educating her brother. Jada kept only a few pounds a month for
herself.
    “ Once my brother has
graduated,” Jada said with a smile, “then I will ask him to pay for
my education.” The dear girl was quietly self-assured that her
dreams would come true, and that her brother would honor her wishes
as she had so unselfishly honored his.
    I gazed at Jada in
fascination. I well knew that had I faced the same situation with
my brother Ali that I would have made a bonfire with my salary
before I would have given it to him. Sadly, I suspected that Jada’s
dreams might never be fulfilled, for once educated, her brother
would most likely wed. Then, the needs of his wife and children
would surely take precedence over his sister.
    As I walked away, thoughts
of Afaaf and Hussah came to my mind. I was struck once more by how
the wishes and needs of Arab women are always placed behind the
desires of Arab men. There is a terrible truth that permeates
Muslim cultures—a truth that few Muslims