Educated women armed with computers have defeated extremists by

In the radiant and fearless words of Fatema Mernissi, the Moroccan scholar and voice of liberation, we hear a proclamation that echoes through the corridors of both faith and freedom: “Educated women armed with computers have defeated extremists by denying them a monopoly to define cultural identity and interpret religious texts. No extremist can say that women are inferior to men without being made a laughingstock on Al Jazeera. Islam insisted on equality between everyone.” This is not merely a statement of triumph; it is a declaration of revolution — a revolution of knowledge, of intellect, of spirit. Mernissi speaks of a battle not waged with swords or armies, but with the power of education, the light of reason, and the truth of equality.

For centuries, those who feared change sought to guard the gates of knowledge. They built fortresses of ignorance and decreed who could speak and who must remain silent. Women, in particular, were often bound not by chains of iron, but by those of interpretation — of words and ideas distorted to confine them. Yet Mernissi, a daughter of Islam and a warrior of the mind, saw through this deception. She understood that to reclaim truth, one must reclaim the means to discover it. Thus, when she speaks of computers, she is not celebrating a machine, but the democratization of knowledge — the way technology has broken the walls of monopoly and allowed women to enter the sacred dialogue once reserved for men.

Her words recall the ancient struggle between light and darkness, between those who seek to illuminate truth and those who would hoard it. In every age, the oppressor’s strength lies in controlling the story — in dictating what is sacred, what is moral, what is allowed. But the age of digital communication, the rise of global media, and the access to scholarship once hidden in libraries of the elite — these have armed the new generation of women with what Mernissi calls a more potent weapon than any army: knowledge shared freely. The same networks that extremists once sought to exploit now carry the voices of women scholars, journalists, and thinkers who speak with confidence and faith, dismantling falsehoods with wisdom rooted in the very texts that were once used to silence them.

Consider, for example, the story of Malala Yousafzai, who, though born in a land where extremists sought to ban girls’ education, took up the pen and the power of global communication to tell her truth. A bullet was meant to silence her, yet her voice carried farther than any weapon could reach — echoing in classrooms and parliaments across the world. She, too, embodies Mernissi’s vision: an educated woman, armed not with violence but with knowledge and technology, standing as a beacon against tyranny. Such women dismantle the walls of ignorance not by force, but by radiating light so bright that darkness must retreat.

When Mernissi declares that no extremist can now claim women are inferior without being made a laughingstock, she speaks of a transformation in the world’s consciousness. The global stage, through channels like Al Jazeera and countless online platforms, has become a mirror in which falsehood is exposed. Those who once thundered unchallenged from pulpits now find their words questioned, their interpretations dissected, their authority eroded by the collective wisdom of women and men unafraid to seek truth. It is a new dawn — one that reveals what was always written in the fabric of faith: that Islam itself insists on equality between all souls, that dignity and knowledge are not gendered gifts, but divine inheritances shared by all.

This truth, however, was never easily won. Mernissi herself, born into a traditional Moroccan harem, saw firsthand the power of confinement and the liberation that knowledge could bring. She devoted her life to reinterpreting the very scriptures and histories used to justify inequality, showing that oppression was never divine, but human — and that faith, in its purest form, uplifts rather than diminishes. Her work, like that of the great reformers and philosophers before her, teaches us that ignorance breeds fear, and fear breeds tyranny. To dispel both, one must learn — and then, one must teach.

Thus, the lesson of her words is clear and eternal: knowledge is the truest form of power, and education is the path to equality. To be armed with information, to engage with faith through reason, to question with both humility and courage — these are the acts that change the course of history. Every woman who learns, every man who listens, every mind that opens becomes a defender of freedom and truth.

So, let the voice of Fatema Mernissi be carried forward as a torch to light the way: seek knowledge relentlessly; share it fearlessly. For ignorance is the root of all oppression, and wisdom the sword that cuts its roots. In the age of technology and connection, let no extremist, no tyrant, no voice of hatred monopolize truth again. For as long as there are educated women armed with computers, there will be guardians of justice, keepers of faith, and warriors of peace — standing tall, unafraid, declaring to the world: “We are equal, and we are awake.”