By Dr. Abeer Almadawy

Duality is the dangerous disease that our Arab society suffers from — it represents the highest form of enslavement to distorted and misguided ideas.

As long as the principle of “everything forbidden is desired” remains alive, and as long as people continue to justify their wrongdoings by saying “if it’s done in secret, it’s fine”, we will remain facing a true moral catastrophe.

Because such thinking creates a weak, cowardly person incapable of confrontation — while its opposite produces a bully, a brute, and a harasser — both leading to disgraceful, destructive social behaviors.

Psychological pressure breeds mental imbalance, making people seek escape and pleasure through superficial relationships — whether with men or women.

We cannot deny that our Arab societies have become more open over the past fifteen years, with communication easier and more accessible than ever.

But the result has been social disasters and the collapse of family and community bonds — a dangerous disintegration that warns of an imminent social explosion we now stand on the edge of.

People betray and commit crimes in secret, not realizing that there is no secrecy anymore.

They say one thing and do another, living a sad reality that perfectly reflects the ugliest face of moral duality.

A lost balance

We, as Arab nations, once began to heal from this distorted reality.

Writers and intellectuals — especially Egyptians — paved the way toward a freer, more balanced society, free from social and behavioral diseases.

Until the 1980s, we lived an age of freedom, creativity, and intellectual maturity — before extremist and militant religious ideologies infiltrated our societies, leading people to confusion between the illusion of freedom and the prison of rigid dogma.

The Real Solution

The solution today is honesty.

We must face ourselves — as Egyptians and Arabs — with truth:

If you want social openness, free yourself from your regressive and distorted ideas.

Freedom cannot be taken in parts — you either take it whole or leave it altogether.

But to live freely, you must purify your vision, and cleanse your mind of inferior judgments about others, no matter how different they are from you.

We succeeded in passing an anti-harassment law — but the greater victory must be the recognition that a woman, like a man, has a body with dignity, respect, and freedom.

Do not let animalistic desires guide your perception of others.

Clothing is a personal choice, and every individual is responsible for themselves.

Applying religious judgment without awareness or reflection is dangerous — it leads to mental closure and may drive one to crime, creating within a person two conflicting selves.

A Real Example

Let me offer a living example:

Some societies have lived in repression and moral imprisonment for eighty years, producing only fear, extremism, and contempt for women.

Although some of these countries are among the wealthiest in the world, their human output remains minimal — because creativity cannot exist without freedom.

Remember the story of the woman who simply demanded the right to drive.

She used to drive in secret — but when she bravely asked for her right publicly, she was arrested and killed in cold blood.

For what crime? For seeking dignity?

The Philosophy of Freedom

To every Arab who still misunderstands the meaning of freedom, I repeat what I always write in my books and works:

God created life out of love and granted you — human being — the freedom of will and the will to be free.

How, then, can you believe that the Almighty would give you freedom and establish divine laws that regulate human relationships with respect — and yet you, a mere human, distort that truth by enforcing corrupt man-made doctrines, calling them religion?

People swallowed this deception and believed it was Islam — but Islam is innocent of it.

True freedom means respecting the freedom of others, and opening your mind to embrace pure, humane ideas — free from humiliation, discrimination, or the reduction of a person to gender, wealth, color, or morality.

Freedom is to live without hatred, to act as you wish — as long as your actions do not endanger the safety or peace of others.

Freedom… The Lifeline

Real freedom — not its illusion — is the only lifeline for our societies.

Let us dive into its sea courageously, without fear, hypocrisy, or deceit.

For it alone can heal our souls and rebuild the new Arab human — conscious, dignified, and free.