TV Station For Fully-Veiled Women

Well, do not waste your time guessing. It is Egypt. The largest nation in the Arab World with a population of around 90 million, whatever happens in Egypt is surely of importance in the Middle East. Fast forward to 2012, Mubarak is gone and Muhammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood is now in power, and changes are becoming very visible already. Once is the launching of MARIA TV on the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast. It is named after Mary, a Coptic Christian lady who got married to Prophet Muhammed (SAW). Why are you surprised? Yes, they got married, get over it and promote religious harmony. Gbam! 

A presenter in the studio. 

Maria TV, a satellite TV news channel, is a very special one indeed in that it features only women who wear veils and are dressed in black from head to toe. This attire is called the niqab and is a full Islamic attire for many Muslim women across the globe. Well, there are some other things that must be pointed out about Maria TV apart from the dress: 


-Men are not allowed to work anywhere in the TV station (exclusively female).
-Men are not even allowed to phone in during shows. 
-Only females handle the cameras, and they too wear the veil. 

While recording a programme.

The TV station is based in the district of Abassiya and will broadcast for six hours everyday on al-Ummah channel and is run by a team of ultraorthodox Salafists who have now emerged to be very powerful and influential in the new political setting of Egypt. A German intelligence service report released in 2010 states that Salafism is the fastest growing Islamic movement in the world. 

A camerawoman. Pretty. 
Even though Egypt is one of the most conservative societies on earth, and is mainly a Muslim society, women with the niqab are regularly discriminated against, not just when it comes to employment opportunities but also when it comes to education. For some women, the station is a very good sign towards women empowerment. Iyaniwura is against the discrimination of any group in any form whatsoever. 

The station director discussing a script with a presenter. 

The station is headed by a female preacher, El-Sheikha Safaa Refai who said the coming of the channel shows how far the country has moved on since the fall of Hosni Mubarak. On the wearing the dress while reading the news, she says:


 'I was told that it won't work because of the body language. Well, the tone of my voice can convey my emotions and reactions.'


She says she is quite hopeful that the station will show that 'that there are successful women  wearing niqab'. Well, Iyaniwura loves people who stand up for what they believe, it takes a lot of courage to do that, especially in a world as convoluted as this. 

 A woman with the video camera records during a program. MARIA TV is run exclusively by women wearing the niqab.

One of the workers at the station is Abeer Shahin who finished from the prestigious American University in Cairo but was not able to get a job because of her veil. Now, she's got one as a TV anchor at Maria TV! 


Hear her:
'It's unfair to deal with veiled women as a standard religious housewife. No, she can be a doctor, a professor and an engineer. 'I was told that it (TV anchorwoman wearing niqab) won't work because of the body language. Well, the tone of my voice can convey my emotions and reactions.'

Critics say they should have launched a radio station instead but you will agree that this is a much more powerful statement that just the audio waves. For a very long time, niqab-wearing women in Egypt have long been oppressed but I guess they have now found their voice. Welcome to the new Egypt. 


THANKS FOR YOUR TIME.
IYANIWURA.