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In today's video, we explore the truth about this Islamic feminist group. Our journalist sits down with members of this group to try and better understand them. Press play to watch!

This video was originally published on Broadly and is being repurposed by Refinery29.

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Transcript
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03:36But I know that the problem here is not Muslims.
03:42We believe that the problem is what women do or what they do.
03:49And we believe that this is possible to be a human being.
03:58Armed with some background knowledge on Oktar and a dash of Muslim feminism,
04:02I was ready to meet the kittens.
04:04Were they simply sexual objects or something more?
04:08So we're on our way to Adnan Oktar's studio, it's called A9 Studios.
04:12But instead of driving straight there, we're actually meeting one of their followers
04:16and he's going to guide us directly to his place.
04:19I'm not quite sure why and they're being kind of cagey about it.
04:21It might be because they don't want us to know the exact location of their studio.
04:26But either way, I know that it's a big compound
04:29and that's where Adnan Oktar lives with a lot of his kittens.
04:32Hello.
04:34Hi.
04:36Hi.
04:36Hi everybody.
04:37Meher, nice to meet you.
04:39Now we are going to the studio.
04:42Okay.
04:42Then you'll meet some of our friends.
04:45Okay.
04:45And then you'll see.
04:47Okay.
04:49That was ominous.
04:51He smelled nice.
04:54It still smells like him in the car.
04:58So this looks like our proper estate.
05:03Our cameras can film here?
05:05No.
05:05No?
05:07No.
05:08So we should wait I guess?
05:09Okay.
05:09Because of the security reason.
05:11Right away, our cameras were clearly making them uncomfortable.
05:15Hello.
05:16How are you?
05:17I spoke to Sarah.
05:19She said if we're not in the studios we could film.
05:22As policy, we want to record with our camera.
05:26Sure.
05:27And we'll supply with all the recordings.
05:29Okay.
05:29Okay.
05:33This is an editing camera.
05:35They will be controlled.
05:37After a long back and forth, the only place I could speak openly was in the bathroom,
05:42on a phone camera.
05:43So we've been told that we can't use our own cameras even though I discussed beforehand
05:48to let our cameras shoot here.
05:50It seems like we have some sort of policy where we can only use their kind of shitty cameras.
05:55They're going to edit it and give it back to us.
05:57So clearly they're really worried about their image.
05:59But we're going to play ball.
06:01See what they're going to do.
06:05Hello.
06:06Hi.
06:06My name is Oktar Baruna.
06:07Nice to meet you.
06:08Very welcome.
06:09Hi.
06:10This is Mr. Oktar's studio house.
06:12Great.
06:15Oh my gosh.
06:16This is like MTV Cribs.
06:32I got so caught up in the luxury, I forgot that this is the home of Islamic creationism.
06:39Oh, this is gorgeous.
06:41So what's this stuff?
06:42Well, here you see some paleontological evidences to show that the species did not evolve to each other.
06:53Okay.
06:53And these appear all of a sudden the species.
06:55These are real fossils as you see over here.
06:57For example, you see a seahorse five million years old here.
07:01And then you see the picture of the seahorse.
07:03You see they are no different.
07:06Yeah.
07:06Which means there is no difference being no evolution of course.
07:10We're waiting on them to finish Ramadan prayers and they're going to come mind us during dinner too.
07:16And then at 11 o'clock I'm going to go on a show.
07:19I'm not sure what they're hiding because actually like when the cameras are off everything seems pretty benign.
07:24There's only one kitten who we've seen so far.
07:27The rest have been corralled away until we see the show.
07:30It feels a bit like I'm in North Korea because everybody's smiling and everybody's into showing me how luxe the
07:37life is.
07:38But they are not letting us film anything at all with our own cameras.
07:43Like I said before.
07:45You know.
07:46There's someone coming.
07:47Turn off the camera.
07:48Turn off.
07:49In preparation for the show I was plastered with makeup.
07:52But even that we weren't allowed to film.
07:55I never wear makeup so it's new to me.
07:57Really?
07:58Yeah.
07:58Okay.
07:59Now good?
08:00Okay.
08:03Hello.
08:06Hello.
08:07Hi again.
08:08Welcome.
08:09But when I did finally get on set there were only dudes.
08:11No kittens to be seen.
08:41Here.
08:45If you have any questions you want to discuss, you can start immediately.
08:51Okay, so I came here because I'm making a TV program about women in Islam.
08:58I've noticed that we said in Turkey when we come here, it's very distinct because there are people who are
09:03covered and there are people who are not.
09:05Does he believe that women should be covered?
09:07If there are a lot of circumstances, if women are aware of it, it's necessary to protect women.
09:16God says that this is a direct rule.
09:20So, they can be closed by the human organs.
09:29So this means like a bikini for instance they can wear?
09:32Of course.
09:33So, there are many women that work on the A9 channel. Are they here tonight?
09:38Yes, they just came here.
09:40If you want to invite them, please.
09:45They are leaving?
09:46Yes, the ladies are coming.
09:57Let's continue.
09:58So, I talked to Abreu actually a lot about what women in Islam represent.
10:03And so I wanted to ask them of the women here how they feel about misrepresentations of women, Muslim women
10:10and media and things like this.
10:12So, a I can see women then in Shawn men can work hard to get on it.
10:17You know, men in this place of back, man ally of God love you and of course, people who are
10:29going nowhere,
10:29men about the world is so important.
10:30Second, it is completely open to the street.
10:37If it is open to the street, it is open to the street.
10:40If it is open to the street, it is open to the street.
10:42Why?
10:44The woman's potential such as a gun gun like this,
10:49this is the Orthodox Islam's most of the obstacles.
10:55This is a fake.
11:34I'm wondering if it's okay for me to ask one of the ladies if they can tell me their story
11:40a little bit. Is that okay?
11:49Of course.
11:50That's right.
11:51Okay. I don't know anyone of you that wants to answer but basically I was curious to know about how
11:56your life changed once you started following creationism and became part of the A9 team.
12:05Actually a lot of things changed when I met him because for example when you look at us all of
12:10us and I'm sure you also realize it from outside here women are always in front.
12:16We are not only equal but we are always superior so it's the best place for a woman to be
12:22in the world.
12:22Oh great.
12:23Because for example we have all seen the ways and how they treat women. Yes there is equality but for
12:30example when you enter a room for example in England in America there is no difference between a table and
12:37a woman in the room.
12:38But with him for example when a woman walks in a room it's like an extraordinary being walks in a
12:44room and he realizes every single detail and you know women can see a lot of details and it's very
12:49important for a woman.
12:51For example he realizes every little thing you change in your character in your appearance you did about yourself and
13:00it's very you know it's very respectful.
13:03So we are being treated very respectfully and it's the only place I can see in the world that this
13:08is being done in this level in the world right now.
13:10Is there a connection between the way that women are treated here and the creationism part of it?
13:15Of course because you know he does it because he believes that God created women like this and he emphasizes
13:23love and emphasizes that every single human being has a soul.
13:27This is why we are trying to make peace in the world not only against women but also with men
13:33too because you know for example for a lot of people in the West one person dying in the Middle
13:38East means nothing because they see themselves as superior according to their race, racial identity.
13:44And this also comes from Darwinism because Darwinism told people that there is something called race.
13:50Yeah.
13:50But in creationism every single person who is created is equal.
13:54Yeah.
13:55That's why of course this is the most important part of it.
13:58Okay.
13:58Darwinism also really needs women as well.
14:01Ah, how so?
14:03Darwin himself says it.
14:05Yeah.
14:05He says it's a woman is like a dog in the house and something can be played with, that's all.
14:13This position of being always superior and always in front, is this something new that you got to experience once
14:19you started believing in?
14:20It's new for everyone in the world.
14:22Yeah.
14:22There is nowhere in the world that does this to any woman.
14:25Yeah.
14:26The top that you can get in the world is woman being equal to man, right?
14:31And especially for example in America we know that many female CEOs earn much less than men because they think
14:38they don't deserve it basically.
14:41Yeah.
14:41They think women are not superior, women are not equal.
14:45But a lot more than I do, but that's why I don't belong and that's why I'm writing this book.
14:45For me, before I met Mr. Oktar, I didn't know religion.
14:50I didn't know that I could leave religion and be free at the same time.
14:55But after I met him I read his books.
14:59It opens my heart to the truth.
15:03What's the best book that I should read, if I'm trying to understand everything that you've written?
15:08Maybe everything. We cannot say one book because he has more than 300 books.
15:13But you have to read Atlas of Creation and Be Good to the Dark Danger.
15:18Okay, great. Yeah, I would love to see those.
15:24Programma konusu açısından da, ilk şehit bir kadın olması, ilk iman edenin bir kadın olması.
15:32İlk peygamberimizin imamlık yaptığı kişinin kadın olması.
15:38İlk vahiy kabul edenin kadın olması, peygamberimizin peygamberliğini ilk tasdik edenin kadın olması,
15:47kadının üstünlüğünü gâstertmek açısından yeterli değil.
15:51Peki, programımız bu kadar olsun şimdilik.
15:56Bu bâlümü bu şekilde bitirelim.
15:58Biraz sonra yine sağlıklı sâzlü muhabbetimize devam edelim.
16:24İzlediğiniz için teşekkür ederim.
16:28This is such a good gift. I really appreciate it.
16:32That was the weirdest thing I've ever gone through in my life.
16:37It feels like someone rubbed crayon all over my face.
16:41So I'm unsure as to how these women do this every single day.
16:45The makeup process was hidden from us.
16:47Their PR handler lady really didn't want anyone filming me getting my makeup done.
16:53On one hand, it's like they're trying to make these women look like real TV presenters,
16:59but then on the other hand, in the middle of while somebody's having a conversation about women and politics and
17:05Islam,
17:06their leader starts playing Sia in weird Top 40 remixes and everyone has to start dancing in their chairs.
17:15Maybe the most illuminating part of it was when I asked the women in the audience,
17:20who, by the way, weren't speaking until I directly asked if I could speak to them how this changed their
17:26lives.
17:27And they all basically told me that they learned that they could be free even while being religious.
17:33Are they having better lives than they did before? What were their lives before?
17:37No one even wanted to talk about it.
17:38And at the end of it, I received this ginormous, like, 15-pound book about creationism that's full of obviously
17:46fake fossils.
17:47I mean, I thought that once I would meet them, I would understand a little bit more,
17:51but I'm even more confused about everything once I've left.
17:59When I came, I thought this was going to be a fun time, that this would be something that was
18:03light and bubbly,
18:05and we would have, you know, a fun hangout session by the pool with these ladies.
18:10And by the time we show up, it turns into this dark, kind of scary, uneasy situation where it's as
18:17if you walked into a reality show that's actually a prison.
18:20And instead of having any sort of resolve, we're left kind of empty-handed with their bizarre footage.
18:26To the outside world, their lives seem like a joke.
18:29They seem like something that's an embarrassment or there for spectacle.
18:33But in reality, these are real people, and their lives seem to amount to some sort of spectacle for one
18:39man,
18:39and that's their cult leader, Adnan Oktar.
18:50.
18:55.
18:57.
18:58.
18:58.
18:58.
19:00.
19:00.
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