Queen Rania of Jordan Quotes
-
Religion and modernity are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
-
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.
-
I'm amazed by the misconceptions about Muslim women and the Arab world that I hear, and that really does hurt me.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Being queen is overrated.
-
There are so many misperceptions and stereotypes out there that I would love to see clarified one day.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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?
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Values are the shields that you carry throughout life and it protects you from whatever life throws at you.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
My position attracts a fair amount of rumors and gossip and misperceptions, but I'd rather not focus on that.