Sheikh Qassem’s attempt to rectify his statement about “women divorcees”

Hizbullah’s deputy secretary general, Sheikh Naim Qassim, quickly responded to the controversy instigated on social media by his recent Ashoura speech on ‘raising children’, in which he undermined the dignity of women divorcees. Qassim explained that example he gave about the “divorcee woman teacher” relates to both sexes when they haul their emotional baggage on their pupils. Qassim expounded what he meant by the above, saying, “we should not confuse students with the problems of teachers and educators… this is only one example, and is not inclusive off all divorce cases,” as he put it. “Not every teacher (a woman) suffers disruptive psychological side effects resulting from divorce,” said Qassim. Qassim maintained that his viewpoint is that of Islam, which considers divorce as legitimate and does not insinuate guilt or condemnation, stating, that this absolutely affects the divorced man and woman. Qassim went on in his justification to say that the status and dignity of a divorced woman are safeguarded like any other woman, and so are her undisputable rights. “The value of a woman in our community is measured by her services, as well as, by her individual social and national role, regardless of her social status. Women in Lebanon, whether divorced, married or single, have proved to be solid pillars of the resistance society, and they are true partners in all the celebrated victories,” Sheikh Qassim concluded. (L’Orient Le Jour, September 27, 2017)

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