![]() ![]() Firdaus’s father goes to mosque every Friday to pray, and talks at length with his friends about the imam’s sermon and about virtue, asking, “Was it not verily true that stealing was a sin, and killing was a sin, and defaming the honor of a woman was a sin, and injustice was a sin, and beating another human being was a sin…?” However, Firdaus recalls that her father spends the rest of the week beating his wife, stealing his neighbor’s crops, and selling sick animals as if they are healthy. Many of the men in Firdaus’s early life are deeply religious, yet act in reprehensible ways toward women, suggesting that religious involvement does not confer any actual virtue, justice, or moral character. Firdaus’s depiction of religious figures in her life makes the case that in Egypt, religion is not a source of virtue or moral fortitude, but merely a tool to uphold the ruling class’s power. Although such figures should theoretically be a source of protection and safety for women, they prove to be as manipulative and oppressive as anyone else, concerned primarily with their own self-interests. Firdaus, an Egyptian woman on death row for killing a pimp, grows up surrounded by religious men who, in spite of their moralistic pretenses, frequently exploit and abuse her. In Egypt, religion plays a prominent role both in society and in government. ![]()
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