Homeira Qaderi

Jumala ei kuule tyttölasten rukouksia. Väkevä ja ajankohtainen muistelmateos afgaaniäidin vaikeasta valinnasta. ”Uskomaton muistutus siitä, kuinka tarinat ja sanat antavat meille voimaa jopa kaikkein pelottavimmissa olosuhteissa - ja varsinkin silloin.” - New York TimesQaderi kasvoi Neuvostoliiton miehittämässä, myöhemmin Talibanin kukistamassa Kabulissa. Koko elämänsä ajan hän on taistellut naisten oikeuksien puolesta: pienenä tyttönä, nuorena opettajana, äitinä, vaimona, kirjailijana ja aktivistina. Järjestettyyn avioliittoon syntyy poikavauva, jonka Qaderi joutuu jättämään tämän ollessa alle kaksivuotias. Tanssia moskeijassa on Qaderin kirje pojalleen, jotta hän oppisi tuntemaan äitinsä. Koskettava teos muistuttaa, kuinka tärkeää meidän on kuulla kaikista heikoimpien äänet. Homeira Qaderi (s. 1980) on afganistanilainen kirjailija ja ihmisoikeusaktivisti. Hän oli poikansa kanssa yksi viimeisistä afganistanilaisista, jotka pääsivät pois Talibanin vallan alle joutuneesta Kabulista syyskuussa 2021.

An exquisite and inspiring memoir about one mother’s unimaginable choice in the face of oppression and abuse in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. How far would you go to protect yourself? Your dignity? Your family? In the days before Homeira Qaderi gave birth to her son, Siawash, the road to the hospital in Kabul would often be barricaded because of the frequent suicide explosions. With the city and the military on edge, it was not uncommon for an armed soldier to point his gun at the pregnant woman’s bulging stomach, terrified that she was hiding a bomb. Propelled by the love she held for her soon-to-be-born child, Homeira walked through blood and wreckage to reach the hospital doors. But the joy of her beautiful son’s birth was soon overshadowed by other dangers that would threaten her life. No ordinary Afghan woman, Homeira refused to cower under the strictures of a misogynistic social order. Defying the law, at the age of thirteen, she risked her freedom to teach children reading and writing and fought for women’s rights in her theocratic and patriarchal society. Devastating in its power, Dancing in the Mosque is a mother’s searing letter to the son she was forced to leave behind. In telling her story – and that of Afghan women – Homeira challenges us to reconsider the meaning of motherhood, sacrifice, and survival.

An exquisite and inspiring memoir about one mother's unimaginable choice in the face of oppression and abuse in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. In the days before Homeira Qaderi gave birth to her son, Siawash, the road to the hospital in Kabul would often be barricaded because of the frequent suicide explosions. With the city and the military on edge, it was not uncommon for an armed soldier to point his gun at the pregnant woman's bulging stomach, terrified that she was hiding a bomb. Frightened and in pain, she was once forced to make her way on foot. Propelled by the love she held for her soon-to-be-born child, Homeira walked through blood and wreckage to reach the hospital doors. But the joy of her beautiful son's birth was soon overshadowed by other dangers that would threaten her life. No ordinary Afghan woman, Homeira refused to cower under the strictures of a misogynistic social order. Defying the law, she risked her freedom to teach children reading and writing and fought for women's rights in her theocratic and patriarchal society. Devastating in its power, Dancing in the Mosque is a mother's searing letter to a son she was forced to leave behind. In telling her story--and that of Afghan women--Homeira challenges you to reconsider the meaning of motherhood, sacrifice, and survival. Her story asks you to consider the lengths you would go to protect yourself, your family, and your dignity.