This poem is written by a Moslem woman of America Mohja Kahf, it is directly
addressed to her daughters. This poem is really good because it reflects her
wise figure of the mother towards her daughter. In his poem there are sentences
that really understandable and clear to be understood because it uses the
modern language. In this poem also reflects the social condition where Mohja
Kahf lives. This article will discuss about the message that that is included
in this poem.
“To My
Queenly Daughters” by Mohja Kahf as we see it tells about the message from
narrator to her daughters. In the poem, Kahf gives some advice to her daughters
as motivation and anticipation to face the world. Problems and dilemma
situation might be occurred and sometimes out of Islamic rules and tradition
then replaced by western culture. Kahf realizes the real challenges would
change her daughters’ life. It seems like there was any hope that her daughters
could live as American generally but never follow the real culture of America.
They might be American, but also as Moslem. This poem intrinsically uses second
person point of view that can be represented as the readers.
In the first
sentence, it tells that the author always with her daughter together, in his
poem tells that she has three daughters, she also describes that her daughters
are active as another children. In the second stanza it tells that someday her
daughters will successfully reach what they dream. She will guide her daughters
and she loves the daughters so much. This is the reflections of Moslem people
who live in America. They will support each other. As we see that in American
culture is very different with eastern people especially for those who are
Moslems. They have different perception to face this life and also the
different mindset. The author also as the mother of her children would think
when her daughters have to survive as the Moslem in America.
The mother’s
hope towards the children want to educate the children as a good woman and also
know the best which is right and wrong and which one should not be followed. In
this poem, Mohja Kahf also talks about the savageness toward her children. It
also represents that they should be savage to live in the social condition such
like that. They have to learn how to be accepted in the society and also do not
leave the Islamic value. Mohja Kahf hope and love are expressed through this
poem for her three daughters. Beside in Islam there are so many rules that ask
the women to keep themselves as wearing the hijab and so on. It is very
important to keep and giving extra protection and guidance the daughters
because in Islam women really trait well.
Kahf's work
explores themes of cultural dissonance and overlap between Muslim-American and
other communities, both religious and secular. Islam, morality, modesty, gender
and gender-relations, sexuality, politics, and especially identity are
important aspects of her work (Wikipedia.org). There is a connection between
this poem and Kahf. She shows her anxiety because of modernism and worries
about American culture domination. It’s her experiences against negative issues
that judged Moslem in America. The poem is written in 2000. Generally, the
American’s response to the Muslim way of life is actually pretty good besides
terrorism charges which is intensified by the American government. However,
brought up issues related to wear the hijab / veil by Muslim women. It is
different with Europe, the use of the veil is not a problem. First Amendment
ban on government meddling individual preferences with regard to faith /
religion or dress. Students who wear headscarves in state and private schools
are generally not problematic and cause controversy.
Mohja Kahf is
a Syrian-American poet and novelist. Her first collection of poetry, E-mails from Scheherazad, evokes the
mixture of pride and shame involved in being an “other,” with characters
balancing on the line between assimilating and maintaining the habits of a good
Muslim. In addition to contemporary Muslim women, Mohja’s poetry also explores
figures from Islamic history including Hagar, the wife of the prophet Abraham,
Khadija and Aisha, wives of the Prophet Muhammad, and Fatima, daughter of the
Prophet Muhammad. According to The New York Times, her writing on
contemporary subjects “draws sharp, funny, earthy portraits of the fault line separating Muslim
women from their Western counterparts.” Of the intersection of
Islam and art, Mohja says: “One of the primary messages of the Qur’an is that
people should recognize the beautiful and do what is beautiful. This is not
simply a moral beauty but a visual and auditory beauty as well. Conduct should
be beautiful, writing should be beautiful and speaking should be beautiful.” It
means that Mohja Kahf is still very religious in what she does everyday. She
does all the activity and try to be a tolerant person among the society in
America. As we see that Mohja Kahf still hold the Holy Qur’an and Al Hadits as
her life guidance.
Kahf’s experiences growing up in the United States
shaped her perceptions of the differences and similarities between the cultures
of her home and adopted countries. Her poetry is an amalgam of both Syrian and
American influences; Lisa Suhair Majaj commented in ArteNews that
Kahf’s work “draws on American colloquialisms and Quranic suras; it is informed
not only by American free verse but also by a lush energy that draws on the
heart of the Arabic oral tradition and Arabic poetry.” Kahf
sometimes satirizes stereotypes about Muslim women—she has tackled hairstyles,
sex, and clothing. In Emails from Scheherazad, she locates
Scheherazad in 21st-century Hackensack, New Jersey. Majaj observed that Kahf
“unsettles assumptions about Scheherazad while also emphasizing aspects of the
traditional tale that often get overlooked in western portrayals.” Kahf has
also written about the hardships of immigration; The Girl in the
Tangerine Scarf depicts a Muslim girl’s coming of age in Indiana.
Kahf co-writes a column on sexuality for the
website Muslim Wake Up. Her nonfiction work includes Western
Representation of the Muslim Woman: From Termagant to Odalisque (1999).
Kahf is a professor of English at the University of Arkansas.
In the conclusion, as we know that the
background of Mohja Kahf is a Moslem woman who lives in America and also as the
second generation in her family after the family migration. In the poem, it
reflects that she still has the strong faith toward her religion Islam. Mohja
Kahf conveys her love and advice towards her daughters in her poem. This is
interesting that the advice and love expression can be conveyed in the poem.
Mohja Kahf wants her daughters to be flexible to live in such kind of social
condition and she tells that she will forever support her daughters until she
died.
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