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Religion and modernity are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
Islam neither requires one to be practising, nor to dress in one way or another. So imposing the veil on a woman is contrary to the principles of Islam. … Unfortunately, after all the suspicion weighing on Islam, many people have begun to consider the veil as a political problem, but this is not the case … Wearing the veil is a free personal choice.
Queen Rania of Jordan
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I'm amazed by the misconceptions about Muslim women and the Arab world that I hear, and that really does hurt me.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
When you deprive people of their right to live in dignity, to hope for a better future, to have control over their lives, when you deprive them of that choice, then you expect them to fight for these rights.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
Twitter's a great way to tell people across the world what I care about and, hopefully, motivate them to join me in furthering my causes.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
There are so many misperceptions and stereotypes out there that I would love to see clarified one day.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
I'd rather be dealt with as a person than a persona. With my children, I'm just 'Mom.' At the end of the day, the position is just a position, a title is just a title, and those things come and go. It's really your essence and your values that are important.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
I don't think people by nature are extremists. You will never find a population of extremists. Extremists have existed throughout the centuries on all religions. And what happens is, extremists start to have more leverage when the situation is bad.
Queen Rania of Jordan
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Being queen is overrated.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
The protocol things, the officialdom, are part of my work. But it doesn't take more than 20 percent of my time. The majority of my time I spend on issues that I care about.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
I think that mind-sets are changing in the Middle East. Poll after poll is showing that men see the value of greater female participation and empowerment. We still have a long way to go, but Islam should not be used as a scapegoat. The obstacles that face women today are more cultural. It's not about the religion.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
Of course, I tweet. Tweeting is a very personal form of expression. Who else could talk about my son refusing to wear a suit to meet the Pope, my husband flying a helicopter, or take a twitpic from our home?
Queen Rania of Jordan -
I have nothing against the veil. And I think that, wrongly, many in the West look at the veil as a symbol of oppression. Now, as long as a woman chooses to wear the veil, because that's her belief and because of her own - that's a personal relationship with God, so she should be free to dress in whichever way she wants.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
I found that being online has opened a window for me to look into other people's lives... The greatest fear that I have is losing touch.
Queen Rania of Jordan
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Women in Jordan are participating in all aspects of civil as well as political life - as female judges, parliamentarians, businesswomen. And the evolution will continue. This is not something that happens overnight.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
I believe in microfinance because it isn't just a path out of poverty. It's the road to self-reliance. By allowing people to team up and literally become their own bank, you can mobilize people and resources and alleviate poverty on the global scale.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
Polls show that Arabs admire a lot of the Western values, cultural aspects in the West. It is more about policies than about way of life.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
Extremism is not endemic in my region, nor is anti-Western sentiment. No doubt there is discontent and distrust. That is towards more the American and some Western policies, and not toward the American people.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
Children keep us in check. Their laughter prevents our hearts from hardening. Their dreams ensure we never lose our drive to make ours a better world. They are the greatest disciplinarians known to mankind.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
It is all too easy to draw conclusions and make sweeping judgments about millions of Muslim women based on fleeting television images. That is not right.
Queen Rania of Jordan
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Values are the shields that you carry throughout life and it protects you from whatever life throws at you.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
Muslim women must stand up and speak out about who we are, what we believe and where we are going. I think we need to know that our counterparts in the west are also willing to listen and reciprocate.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
First of all, in many Muslim countries women have incredible amounts of freedom, sometimes more than in some countries in Europe. So you cannot just make a generalized statement about women. Second, Islam is not the problem. It's tradition. It's culture. It's age-old mind-sets that need to be changed.
Queen Rania of Jordan -
My position attracts a fair amount of rumors and gossip and misperceptions, but I'd rather not focus on that.
Queen Rania of Jordan