The Stigma Impeding Knowledge

Yemenat

Ahmed Saif Hashed

I often found myself wondering, instinctively driven by a knowledge that still cradles my existence. I attempted to explore the beginnings of my world. Some things that seemed obvious were still shrouded in mystery, confusion, and questions. With the innocence of a child, I would ask my mother, leaping from the tangible to the abstract, from the concrete to the metaphysical. These were questions posed by a child still new to his world.

At times, I sought to understand my immediate surroundings through inquiry. Other times, I ventured into existential and grander matters. A question might appear simple in one context yet daunting in another. It could go unanswered, or the response could be misleading due to social constraints, ignorance, or other reasons that I struggled to understand.

I was unaware of certain limitations imposed by societal taboos. I couldn’t distinguish between permissible and forbidden questions, nor did I realize that some areas were off-limits for inquiry.

Occasionally, I would unknowingly rebel against the usual norms, knocking on the door of the unspeakable and traversing the forbidden in a reality burdened by the weight of the past, the stigma of shame, and the oppressive power of fear. There was often public reprimand awaiting those who transgressed boundaries, even if they were innocent children trying to explore their world.

Questions, when answered, often led to further inquiries, generating a cascade of thoughts. Some answers, no matter how erroneous or willfully deceitful, would initially convince me of their validity. Eventually, those questions would resurface, reignited by doubt, revelation, or new developments.

In later stages of my understanding, I would find that my earlier beliefs had faded, and my satisfaction had waned. I grew skeptical of previous answers, with doubt overshadowing the question itself, causing it to reemerge with