Sunday Salute - XIV

Jehan Sadat was born in Cairo, Egypt. When she was fifteen, she met Anwar Sadat who had been recently released from prison where he had been confined for many years because of his fierce resistance of the British occupation of Egypt. On May 29, 1949, Jehan married Anwar Sadat, thus beginning a journey that would last for more than thirty-two years with a man who would become the President of Egypt and would change the course of history not just for the Middle East, but also for the world.

Today, Jehan Sadat’s mission is to maintain her husband’s legacy, keeping alive his memory so that future generations will know that Egypt’s President Anwar Sadat was a “man of peace.” At the same time, she continues to deliver her own views concerning the rights of women, the importance of the family, and world peace.

One of the biggest disappointments in my life was the time I became ill in Cairo when I was there in 1976 and I was not able to attend the meeting with Mrs. Sadat with the other members of my group.  We were there for 6 weeks to write curriculum and collect materials for Iowa Students to study through the International Office at the University.  

I have admired Mrs. Sadat for many years and I think she is worthy of a Sunday Salute.  You may visit her web site here.


Quotations

When you feel discouraged or simply lazy, as is bound to happen sometimes, remember the millions of people in the world who have not had your privilege. Remember the poor and obscure lives of those countless millions who suffer from every sort of deprivation and frequently find themselves the unwilling victim of wars, and a variety of cruelties, perpetuated by man on man. Is it not significant that the first bid for self realization, among the poor and downtrodden, is to assert their right to education?

Peace is the defining theme of my life. After my husband was assassinated, it was a very hard time for me. But our love together made me feel a kind of peace inside, and instead of staying at home doing nothing and just living in grief and sadness I tried to come out and start working again—teaching. It is much more peaceful for me to feel that I’m doing something, which will please his soul also.

As a Muslim woman, I feel that’s it my duty and the duty of all Muslims—reasonable Muslims, not the fundamentalists, of course—to enjoin others to live a life of brotherhood without distinction. We are to respect and treat all human beings as equal, regardless of creed or color, whether man or woman, civilians or soldiers, rulers or subjects, rich or poor, whatever they are. Islam is in fact a spiritual democracy, radically egalitarian and deeply, deeply concerned with human dignity.

it seems to me that waging peace happens on three fronts. The first is through the good offices of governments and international organizations as they negotiate treaties, hammer out compromises, and craft carefully worded statements. This work is as difficult as it is essential, and from past diplomatic efforts, including my husband's initiatives, we can draw crucial lessons for the future. The second takes place on an interpersonal level, in our behaviors and actions toward our presumptive enemies. In such a context, we all -- Israelis and Arabs, Muslims and Westerners -- are called to be wise, skillful, and visionary. And with these in short supply, we cannot afford to sit back and hope that presidents and policy experts can solve our problems for us. Treaties alone cannot overcome generations of animosity -- but grassroots action can.

In Islam, it is not just our deeds that are important, but also the contents of our hearts when we undertake them. Indeed, there is a famous saying of the Prophet that "all actions are judged by motives, and each person will be rewarded according to his intention." Peace is always treated as such an impossible goal, a utopian dream, but if regular people can cultivate the intention of peace -- toward ourselves, toward the planet on which we live and the people with whom we share it -- theninsha'allah, God willing, we can achieve it.

"I never again want to see the face of a starving child or hear the weeping of a mother who has lost her son to war. Peace, this is what my husband gave his life for, and I want the world to know that he did not die in vain. Peace, this is what will make me very happy."

Previous Salutes
  Jane Goodall    Mohandas Gandhi  
 Eleanor Roosevelt    Lyndon B. Johnson      Michelle Obama
Helen Hayes   Marion Wright Edelman     Bishop Gene Robinson
Bishop Desmond Tutu       Rachel Carson          Helen Keller
Martin Luther King, Jr          Dalai Lama         Dag Hammarskjold