The recent images from the newscasts show woman, completely covered from head to toe, beaten for taking off their veils or exposing skin. These women have no rights. They can’t go shopping like Americans do, get the education Americans receive or have the careers Americans choose. Since Sept. 11, these images have been run and rerun on the nightly news and during special segments on daily talk shows.

But, this isn’t how it is for every woman who believes in the Muslim faith. Kent State University has the perfect example of a woman who is Muslim, and is also a successful Muslim-American woman.

As the associate dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and an associate professor, Dr. Nawal Ammar demonstrates the best from both Eastern and Western culture.

She grew up in Egypt, went to England and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. In 1988, Ammar received her Ph.D. from the University of Florida. She has written a few articles on Islamic Law and women. Her first paper on Islam was her honors paper in 1980 as she prepared to receive her B.A. in sociology from a university in England.

“I was moved by the misconceptions about Islam in the English media following the Iranian revolution in 1979, so I chose to write a paper entitled "Islam: A Religion and a Way of Life,” said Ammar.

“In that paper I argued that Islamic civilization was at its best when it was inclusive and tolerant. As soon as it became exclusive and assumed a zealot attitude, it declined.”

In 1990 and due to Desert Storm/Desert Shield she was asked to write a small piece on Islam and War from a Qur’anic perspective and from there she was invited to attend the United Nations 4th Conference on women in Beijing, China.

She also has published numerous articles on Islam. In the summer of 2000 the State Department, through a “Women and Society grant”, invited her to visit Bahrain and United Arab Emirates to speak about Arab American Muslim Women to various groups, including a group of judges and lawyers. Currently, she is busy finishing a couple of papers on Islam and punishment and Muslims in Ohio prisons.

“I find it therapeutic to write about the side of the culture and religion that I know and that looks very different from the ugly manifestations of terrorism and violence,” said Ammar. Ammar says that the biggest misunderstanding is that people from the Middle East are violent and backward. “The only way to clear these misconceptions is to read from non-journalistic sources and a diversity of sources,” she said. “My advice is for people to educate themselves and do it seriously.”

In the months after the attack on America, Ammar says that the most difficult obstacle she has had to overcome was the lack of knowledge about Islam and peoples from the Middle East and Southern/Central Asia. “Edward Said’s, a famous literature professor at Columbia, words in a book written 20 years ago entitled “Covering Islam” ring so true today,” she said. “He said “During the past few years, especially since the events in Iran caught European and American attention so strongly, the media have therefore covered Islam: they have portrayed it, characterized it, analyzed it, given instant courses on it, and consequently they have made it ‘known.’ But as I have implied, this coverage…is misleadingly full.”

As a woman growing up, Ammar faced the same challenges that most women growing up both in the West and the East. “I wanted to be taken seriously and respected,” she said. “I would say as a Muslim woman who grew up in Egypt, it was understood that I would get an education and eventually work outside the home.”

As a woman of a different nationality, Ammar has had to face having her competence questioned and said she is often treated as an outsider.

“Eventually, people come to know me and respect me. I am often amazed by how wonderful people are once the “fear” of and “discomfort” with my difference is overcome.”

Ammar has survived many atrocities in her life and offers the advice of not giving in to the feelings of helplessness and depression when it comes to dealing with the occurrences of and the events surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks. “I overcome such feelings by working harder than usual and staying in touch with people,” Ammar said. “Stay active and in touch. If any one is afraid, and we all have our moments, please contact a friend or a professor to talk about it.”

- Megan Aron