Personalities I Never Forget — Mrs. Badriya al-Sabah

A face radiant with hope, crowned with dignity and geniality. A gentle smile expressing a conscious humanity; a spirit of far horizons and deep soundings. A merry nature that commands minds and takes hold of hearts. A blazing Arab intelligence, and a keen mind that sees the far-off, obscure meanings. And a quickness of wit rarely to be found in the world of woman.

Whatever else I may forget, I shall not forget this personality that inspires self-confidence and respect — the personality of Badriya al-Sabah, wife of Sheikh Fahad al-Sabah, Minister of Health, Public Works, and Municipalities in the rising Emirate of Kuwait — after great good fortune allowed me to meet her, to become closely acquainted with her, and to see for myself the sincerity of her aims and the clarity of her spirit.

We may say that in this respected personality lie all the possibilities of progress and of the raising up of peoples. It is as though Divine Providence had sent her to be a model for a people that wants to rise and is beginning to march forward on the road of life.

Contrary to the general Arab conception, this emancipated personality of ours says: Woman must have, in the field of life, a distinguished place in which to realize the competence and excellence she possesses. And this result we shall not attain unless we prepare our girls with a preparation that is sufficient, sound, well directed, and equal to that of the males. For the true advancement she desires for her people must strike its roots in the rising generation, so that its pillars may be consolidated and its foundations made firm. Culture is the basic prop of peoples, and she encourages women to become doctors and engineers and to enter the various other liberal professions — the thing that sends them into the struggle of life with a weapon in their hands qualifying them to perform the duty of work and to face the difficulties of life alongside man, on the common ground of patriotism. For by work, and by work alone, does self-confidence increase, personality grow strong, the cooperative family conception rise higher, and the country advance.

It is worth mentioning that the Sheikha, as a mother, proceeds in the education of her children according to the most modern scientific theories. She makes no distinction between daughter and son in her treatment of them, granting both of them tenderness, love, respect, and esteem. They are equal in rights, enjoying one and the same inner life and a harmonious family atmosphere unclouded by any favoring of the one over the other.

There is no doubt that the Arab world stands in urgent need of the likes of Sheikha Badriya, so that these modern conceptions may filter into it and take the place of whatever is no longer serviceable among the formalities of the old customs — thereby keeping pace with the advanced development of the world, in harmony with our moral heritage and our noble customs, which we preserve with every care. And the absence of the factor of woman in social and economic life has a long hand in the stagnation from which we suffer.