NEVER FORGET: On this day in 2009 – ‘The headscarf martyr’- The Murder of Marwa El-Sherbini

• On this day in 2009, the shocking murder of Marwa El-Sherbini serves as a reminder of how Muslim women are most vulnerable to Islamophobia.

• This horrific murder of a hijab wearing Muslimah had attracted little coverage in the mainstream media in Europe at the time.

On July 1st, 2009, within the confines of a German court, a poignant tragedy unfolded as 32-year-old Marwa El-Sherbini, who was four months pregnant at the time, fell victim to a savage act of brutality. This heinous incident occurred while Marwa courageously testified against a racist German individual who stood accused of subjecting her to racially motivated verbal abuse.

In the presence of numerous court attendees, her husband and 3-year-old son, while Marwa valiantly testified against the accused, Alex Wiens, a German immigrant originally from Russia, ruthlessly approached her and inflicted 18 fatal knife wounds. 

Her 3-year-old son Mustafa was forced to witness the heart-wrenching sight of his mother’s lifeless form collapsing upon the courtroom floor.

Amidst the unfolding tragedy, Elwy Ali Okaz, Marwa’s husband, bravely ran to rescue his wife and too suffered knife wounds. However, amidst the chaos, he was mistaken for the attacker and shot by a German police officer, adding another layer of anguish to the situation leaving him critically wounded and in a coma for two days.

The racist murderer, Alex Wiens, was in court to appeal the 780 euro fine that was imposed on him for hurling bigoted abuse at the hijab wearing Marwa. In November 2008, he was found guilty of insulting and verbally abusing Marwa, screaming “terrorist” and “Islamist whore” at her, whilst she was in a Dresden play park with her son. 

Despite openly expressing his anti-Muslim views, no additional security measures were taken, raising concerns about why he was permitted to enter the courtroom with a knife, leaving unanswered questions.

Residing in Germany since 2003, Marwa was a former national handball champion, and worked at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus in Dresden whilst studying to be accredited to practice pharmacy in Germany. Her husband Elwy was a genetic engineer on the verge of submitting his PhD. They had intentions of returning to Egypt by the year’s end and were eagerly anticipating the arrival of their second child in January.

A week after the dreadful incident occurred in Germany, it garnered minimal attention in Europe, with the German media primarily emphasizing matters pertaining to court security rather than delving into the Islamophobic motives behind the attack.

On an international scale, this news received the deserved attention, especially in countries with a majority Muslim population, and notably in Marwa’s home country of Egypt, where protests took place, and she was hailed as the ‘headscarf martyr’.

Liberating the ‘oppressed’ Muslim woman – a cover for Muslim hatred

The lies of non-Muslims who claim to possess a profound concern for the plight of Muslim women ostensibly “oppressed” by wearing the hijab, is exposed by one undeniable truth: it is the hijab-clad Muslim women who bear the brunt of anti-Muslim hatred as its primary victims. In this stark reality, their narrative crumbles, revealing the glaring falsehoods propagated by those who pretend to care.

Islamophobic individuals often assert that Muslim women are oppressed by being coerced into wearing hijabs or veils. They paint a picture of helpless women subjected to the control of male family members, insinuating a cycle of domestic violence. However, it becomes evident that these Islamophobes display a complete lack of genuine concern for Muslim women when considering that they fail to bat an eyelid when Muslim women are slaughtered in drone-strikes. Yet, let us momentarily entertain the notion that their concern is authentic. In that case, why would they choose to assault a hijab-wearing Muslim woman, whom they perceive as a victim of domestic abuse and oppression? Logically, one would expect them to approach her with love and care rather than spitting in her face or ripping her hijab off. This twisted mindset is akin to believing, “You are a victim of abuse, so I will further abuse you,” and strikingly reveals how a supposed display of ‘concern’, is in fact a façade to mask hatred.