Al Hurr

Me at the top of the Barranco Wall on my life changing climb of Mt Kilimanjaro

My name is Arwa Salah Mahmoud. I’m Egyptian.

I’ve always believed that that basic, individual human being, that single entity that in many parts of the world is a mere statistic and in many others not even rising to that level can impact nations and reverse the wheel of change to the direction they desire. All they need is a simple understanding of themselves and the great power that is instilled within. I take that simple fact as a guiding book everywhere my mind takes me.

I feel that many of us are enslaved to ourselves, our things, our needs. We are often enslaved to ideas and outlooks to the world that we are often fed in our societies. No belief can be fully realized if it is spoonfed. A strong individual that can reach for that power within is a person who has embraced beliefs and ideas with a deliberate, conscious choice. Such a person can never be driven or manipulated by anything or anyone, and would not be afraid to call things by their true names. This person is free, or in my Arabic mother tongue, hurr.

Throughout my life I continue to strive to be that person and I’m not even halfway there. This blog carries bits and pieces of this journey that continues to enrich my senses as I reach out to take it all in. It’s a journey that I believe will continue until the last day of my life.

BIO

Arwa Salah Mahmoud is a writer, mountaineer wannabe, and a revolutionary addict based in Cairo, Egypt. Her MA thesis was published as A Battle of Creed: Exploring the Religious Factor in Hizbullah’s 2006 Ground Engagements with Israel (Lambert, 2010) and brought her months of euphoria and pride. It was also published in Beirut by Dar Al Amir in 2008 as Qital Hizbullah [The fighting of Hizbullah] as a more detailed account in Arabic. None of these two publications define her, as she’s finally chosen to just be.