The Murder of Naria Ashraf

In June of 2022, 21-year-old Egyptian college student Naria was brutally stabbed to death.  Naria was riding on a public bus on her way to Mansoura University to taker her college finals.  She hoped that after she graduated that she could pursue a career as a flight attendant.  However, unbeknownst to her, a spurned suiter by the name of Mohamed Abdel was stalking her.  Naria had previous rejected Mohamed's advances toward her, and what was Mohamed's response?  Kill her.  As Naria prepared to get off of the bus, Mohamed attacked her with a concealed knife, stabbing her repeatedly before brutally slitting her throat (Link to Article).  

Many in Egypt were horrified by the murder and Naria's family is demanding justice.  However, what happened to Naria is sadly not uncommon.  In Sept. of 2019, 22-year-old Pakistani school teacher Farwa Shakeel was killed by a spurned suiter.  Four days after Naria's murder, Jordanian college student Iman Irshaid was shot and killed by a spurned suiter (Link to Article).  This is clearly and ongoing trend in the Islamic Middle East, where violence against women is very common, and often goes unpunished.  A 2017 poll revealed that 60% of all men in Egypt admitted to having harassed a woman at some point in their lives.  

The growing outrage led some nations to pass laws to protect women from this ongoing harassment, but many Islamic clerics are actually condemning these laws.  Instead of urging men to cease harassing women, they are blaming the victims (Link to Article).  Clerics as Al Azhar University, Islam's foremost theological school, have publicly called for women to fully cover themselves to avoid getting raped, stating that those who do not do so are inviting rape & sexual harassment.  Al Azhar University, has failed to condemn these clerics for their policy of "blaming the victim."  

We are clearly witnessing a clash of ideologies.  The modern world believes in societal advancement for all people, including women.  While the fundamentalist Islamic world believes that women should be fully obedient to men and should not shy away from long standard Islamic traditions in regards to dress, status, and attitude.  Those embracing the modern views seek to protect women so they can pursue their own dreams and desires, while those embracing the Islamist view believe in pushing women with both societal & psychological pressure.  At this point in time, it's not known which ideology will ultimately triumph.  However, it seems very clear that the push for the women's rights in the Islamic Middle East is facing a powerful countermovement, a countermovement that has already led to much bloodshed with no end in site.