A group of Muslim women visiting from the US said women in the UAE have progressed much further than their counterparts in America. The 21 women, all Muslim converts, visited the General Women's Union yesterday as part of the American Muslim Leadership Training Program, where they are learning more about Islam at Zayed House for Islamic Culture in Al Ain as month-long guests of the Government-funded institute.
"Women in the US have a long way to go until they become like the women here," said Tahani Aboushi, a third-year law student at Syracuse University in New York state. "In the US we are still trying to get a job with equal pay to men." Erica Charles, an Arabic and nursing student at Portland State University, said: "Women here are getting the same salaries as men, entering the same fields and even have the option of staying at home and maintaining their dignity and respect."
Shirley Cooper, mathematics co-ordinator at the Department of Education in New Jersey, said: "Arab women are viewed by westerners as a second-class society, which is a huge misconception." Mrs Cooper said she converted to Islam in 1975. "Islam appealed to us African Americans because it gave us a place of dignity." Michaela Corning, 33, an artist and owner of a clothing and jewellery firm, said: "When I went to Kuwait I saw women who are doctors and professors and such like in the hijab. It did not stop them from practising their daily lives." Ms Corning said she visited Kuwait shortly after she converted to Islam nine years ago, after meeting a group of Kuwaiti Muslim students.
"They were generous, helpful," Ms Corning said. "I watched them practise Islam. Praying made me curious, especially with men; seeing guys making sujood, putting their heads down on the ground. In my western mind I was not used to seeing a man humble himself." hdajani@thenational.ae
