Show some Rahma

Recently I've been moved by a series of advertisements run by a Saudi campaign entitled Rahma, which is part of Full Stop Advertising’s corporate social responsibility drive. They depict the abusive treatment of domestic workers in Saudi Arabia and remind employees that mercy will be shown to those who themselves show mercy in their daily lives. A particularly striking video shows a group of glamourous hijab-wearing women enjoying a meal together; while the behaviour of the hostess towards her guests is welcoming and gracious, her attitude towards her Asian maid is cruel and very far from gracious. As women we should be particularly aware of the worth and dignity of those that wash our clothes, clean our floors and cook our meals. Many of our mothers performed that role for their families, even if some of us are now priviledged enough to hire people to do these important jobs. If we are to accuse the rest of the world of anti-Arab feeling, then we should acknowledge that in the Arab world there is much snobbery as well as an ugly racism towards those considered somehow socially, culturally and racially inferior. In an excellent recent article by Mona Eltahawy we learn just how narrow is many people's idea of religious observance and piety: an Egyptian woman who identifies herself as a religious Muslim, persecutes and publically humiliates a Sudanese girl. None of us can say we are ignorant of these forms of discrimination, and all of us have a responsibility to step up, as did Mona, and put a stop to practices that demean and degrade us all as humans.

Postscript: There is also an excellent discussion of the campaign over on MMW; Krista asks whether the term 'mercy' is appropriate when what we are talking about here is justice for the individual. Justice is not bestowed by the powerful on the powerless, as mercy can be said to be. I think, however, that we should understand the word, rahma, in its complete sense; rahma, and even mercy in the Christian sense, is not the same as the magnanimous gesture of a king or the pardon of a judge. Rahma/mercy is the highest form of love towards a human being. As I once read, Love is mercy, it is not a democracy. This is not to disparage democracy, it is simply to point out that while we squabble over what is 'fair' and 'equal' and 'just' as we inevitably do, rahma is a clear duty of us all. We must be merciful because we are all in desperate need of mercy in our lives, for none of us can protect ourselves entirely from misfortune and injury (physical or emotional); every society I am aware of has developed with a power dynamic that makes many of us vulnerable to attack - take the family on the microcosmic level: an older sibling is put in a position where the abuse of power is so easy. While we are children, our parents can tell the older sibling to stop treating the younger one unfairly, but as we become adults and that power structure remains in place, the elder one who has engendered the loyalty and love of the younger one, must now be merciful, and not abuse his or her priviledged position. Yes, the younger one seeks justice in the long-term, but in the meantime they require mercy.