[TRIGGER WARNING: statutory rape, coercion, child abuse, domestic violence] القاصرات (The Minors)
There's an Egyptian TV series airing this Ramadan tackling the social issue of older men marrying very young girls (12 years old on average)...
by essentially buying them from their impoverished parents and taking advantage of their dire financial situation, to have many, many children for years after that in the tradition of Bedouin/desert nomadic tribes; the series will focus on what this means in the modern world and currently sociopolitical environment of Egypt and its uncertain future.
One of the star actors, Salah AlSa'dany, actor of the elderly man marrying such girls, was apparently the son of one such young mother himself in reality, so he's taking the series quite personally.
وحول مدى تأثره بالدور الذي يلعبه في المسلسل قال السعدني: "في أحد المشاهد، عندما كنت أقترب من الفتاة القاصر "ملك"، شعرت بالغثيان لمجرد تخيل ما يدور في ذهن "عبد القوي" ومشاعره المريضة تجاه فتاة بريئة بعمر حفيدته، ومن ناحية أخرى فإن "عبد القوي" يعاني من اختلال نفسي معيّن، فقد تجاوز الـ 65 ولكنه يشعر بالانجذاب تجاه الفتيات الصغيرات.
In regards to how affected he was by his role in the series, AlSa'danny said, "in one of the scenes, when I was advancing on one of his wives, I felt nauseous just imagining what was going through the mind of 'Abd AlQawwi (Servant of the Strong, his character) and his sick feelings towards an innocent girl, the same age as his grand-daughter. And on the other hand, 'Abd AlQawwi suffers from a certain mental illness as he has exceeded 65 years, but feels attracted towards little girls."
Translated from the Al'Arabiya news article. If you can read Arabic, here's the rest.
The series looks very good, especially compared to how much casual depictions there are of horrible spousal abuse there is in Arabian soap operas around this time just for the drama without going into the serious repercussions that often. It's on TV right now and I can see what the actor means, it's seriously disgusting to watch the terrified little girl scream and hide while all these women (her relatives, I think) crowd around her, overlooking her feelings, telling her to go back to her horrifying husband: "A woman has no one but her husband!"
So, yeah, a very much needed show, highlighting a very serious problem that's rarely discussed. It's just a little too much to stomach, though, and I think that's great. People SHOULD feel uncomfortable watching this.
There's a scene where justifies beating the little girl by twisting that verse of the Quran... this show really doesn't pull its punches.
For the record: the chastising permitted as a last resort for a disobedient spouse, after all other methods are exhausted, is a "beating" that's more symbolic than anything: one strike with a miswak/siwak, lightly so as not to make a sound or leave a mark, avoiding all sensitive areas of the body, especially the face. And the miswak? It's a small twig used as a toothbrush in ancient Arabia and still used by some traditional Arabs and Muslims today. This isn't getting into how there also interpretations that this isn't so much for disobedience as treachery to the community/betraying Muslims by siding with their oppressors, but I'm not here to give you all a Quran interpretation/tafseer lesson, so I'll stop there.
Oh, and what did he use that verse to justify? The fact that he gave the girl a bleeding head injury just out of cruelty, because he claims the girl doesn't listen to him (she's terrified of him!), as if there could be any justification for what he did, ugh.
Also, victim blaming and many other things. Basically, trigger warnings for more things than I can think of. If there's anything you want me to warn for that I missed, please tell me.
by essentially buying them from their impoverished parents and taking advantage of their dire financial situation, to have many, many children for years after that in the tradition of Bedouin/desert nomadic tribes; the series will focus on what this means in the modern world and currently sociopolitical environment of Egypt and its uncertain future.
One of the star actors, Salah AlSa'dany, actor of the elderly man marrying such girls, was apparently the son of one such young mother himself in reality, so he's taking the series quite personally.
وحول مدى تأثره بالدور الذي يلعبه في المسلسل قال السعدني: "في أحد المشاهد، عندما كنت أقترب من الفتاة القاصر "ملك"، شعرت بالغثيان لمجرد تخيل ما يدور في ذهن "عبد القوي" ومشاعره المريضة تجاه فتاة بريئة بعمر حفيدته، ومن ناحية أخرى فإن "عبد القوي" يعاني من اختلال نفسي معيّن، فقد تجاوز الـ 65 ولكنه يشعر بالانجذاب تجاه الفتيات الصغيرات.
In regards to how affected he was by his role in the series, AlSa'danny said, "in one of the scenes, when I was advancing on one of his wives, I felt nauseous just imagining what was going through the mind of 'Abd AlQawwi (Servant of the Strong, his character) and his sick feelings towards an innocent girl, the same age as his grand-daughter. And on the other hand, 'Abd AlQawwi suffers from a certain mental illness as he has exceeded 65 years, but feels attracted towards little girls."
Translated from the Al'Arabiya news article. If you can read Arabic, here's the rest.
The series looks very good, especially compared to how much casual depictions there are of horrible spousal abuse there is in Arabian soap operas around this time just for the drama without going into the serious repercussions that often. It's on TV right now and I can see what the actor means, it's seriously disgusting to watch the terrified little girl scream and hide while all these women (her relatives, I think) crowd around her, overlooking her feelings, telling her to go back to her horrifying husband: "A woman has no one but her husband!"
So, yeah, a very much needed show, highlighting a very serious problem that's rarely discussed. It's just a little too much to stomach, though, and I think that's great. People SHOULD feel uncomfortable watching this.
There's a scene where justifies beating the little girl by twisting that verse of the Quran... this show really doesn't pull its punches.
For the record: the chastising permitted as a last resort for a disobedient spouse, after all other methods are exhausted, is a "beating" that's more symbolic than anything: one strike with a miswak/siwak, lightly so as not to make a sound or leave a mark, avoiding all sensitive areas of the body, especially the face. And the miswak? It's a small twig used as a toothbrush in ancient Arabia and still used by some traditional Arabs and Muslims today. This isn't getting into how there also interpretations that this isn't so much for disobedience as treachery to the community/betraying Muslims by siding with their oppressors, but I'm not here to give you all a Quran interpretation/tafseer lesson, so I'll stop there.
Oh, and what did he use that verse to justify? The fact that he gave the girl a bleeding head injury just out of cruelty, because he claims the girl doesn't listen to him (she's terrified of him!), as if there could be any justification for what he did, ugh.
Also, victim blaming and many other things. Basically, trigger warnings for more things than I can think of. If there's anything you want me to warn for that I missed, please tell me.