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Introduction .. so much energy has been expended by Muslim men and then
Muslim women to remove the veil and by others to affirm or restore it .. (Ahmed
167). This paper explores these efforts in two specific stages: the first and
the last thirds of the twentieth century. Through an analysis of some of the
various arguments on the veil, I will try to induce some general characteristics
of the debate on the issue and on women during these two specific periods of
time. The starting point will be Kasim Amin's Tahrir el Mara'a (Liberation of
Woman) and the counter argument of Talat Harb's Tarbiet el Mara'a wal Hijab,
(Educating Women and the Veil). The debate between those two protagonists which
has become a prototype of the debate on the veil throughout the century (Ahmed
P. 164). Malak Hefni Nassif's and Hoda Sha'arawi's attitudes towards the veil
represent an interesting insight to two different interpretations of the hijab
issue by feminist activists that prevail throughout the century.
The whole synthesis of this early debate is then put in juxtaposition to the
debate later in the century as represented by the avalanche of literature on the
topic in the seventies, the views of some famous sheikhs like Mohammed Metwally
el Shaarawi and others, and the heated debate initiated by the Minister of
Education's decree of 1994 to prevent school administrations from imposing the
hijab on girls as part of the uniform. The Early Debate Kasim Amin's Tahrir El-Mara'a
(Published 1899) It may not be an exaggeration to say that Amin's Tahrir al-Mara'a
was one of the most controversial book in Egypt's modern history. It has ignited
a strong debate and prompted more than thirty reaction articles and books either
to defy or assert his argument against the veil (Ahmed P. 164). The ideas of the
book were not totally new, they echoed the writings of some writers like Mariam
al-Nahhas (1856-1888), Zaynab Fawwaz (1860-1914), Aisha al-Taymuriah
(1840-1902), and Murqus Fahmi's (a Coptic lawyer) four act play Al Mar'ah fi al-Sharq
or (The Woman in the East) (Badran P. 19).
Yet, Amin's book double-scored for coming from a Muslim judge and for his
overt proposal to unveiling women's faces. His words were not the only challenge
to the existing notions of the hijab, it was his caliber as a Moslim judge that
has vocalized his call to unveil women and gave his book importance. After an
introduction loaded with emotional phrases on the degradation of the Egyptian
woman and an exaltation of the European woman, the book is divided into four
sections: Educating women, Women's veil, The woman and the nation, and Marriage
and divorce. Amin starts his argument calling for the Hijab Shara'ei stating
that the Hijab in its form then (covering the face, the hair and the whole body)
was not mandated by the Shari'aa. He further adds that he was not calling for
the extreme of the West which makes the woman liable to seduction (Amin P. 65).
The argument against the veil is in two sections: The religious section which
is mainly text interpretation and some Hadith that prompt women to cover the
hair and the whole body except for the hands and the face; and the social
(practical / everyday life) perspective. The later section includes social ideas
such as the inconvenience for women with their faces covered to dwell in
business, to testify in courts or to get engaged (as the groom should see her
face first). Furthermore, he argues that unveiling would make women watch their
behaviors as they could be recognized and hence their reputation would be at
stake if they did any wrong. Still, from the practical social point of view, the
flimsy bourqo' (face cover) used was more tempting as it makes the viewer
curious to see what was intended to be hidden.
He further argues that, if women are imprisoned in the hareem (part of the
house where women are secluded), then even if they did not commit any shameful
act, it would not be due to any virtue in them, but to the fact that they did
not have the freedom to do otherwise. Amin accuses the veil of being a barrier
to women's development and education (P. 85), arguing that it deprived her from
interacting with the society and learning how to live. He illustrates by
comparing the ignorant peasant with the elite urban lady who can speak French
and plays the piano, and concludes that the ignorat peasant would be more
capable of coping with the difficulties of life than the elite urbanite due to
the seclusion of the latter. Talat Harb (1867 - 1941) In his introduction, Talat
Harb states that the main purpose of writing his book was to defy Amin's
argument against the veil. Harb was called father of Egypt's economic
independence and has established the first national bank in Egypt in 1920. So
when someone in his caliber - though it was early in his career - writes a book,
his prestigious position would place heavier weight to his argument.
In the introduction, he states that the majority of those who read Amin's
book have denounced its ideas, and then declares the now common notion that
liberating women is a Western imperialist conspiracy. He ends the introduction
with a note that Kasim Amin would not have such hideous goals in mind, that he
wrote his notorious book out of a mixture of good will and misjudgment. Yet at
the very end of the introduction, Harb implicitly accuses Amin of plagiarism
saying that the ideas of his book were published earlier in Turkey and India.
The book is divided into two main sections: The woman and her role in the
society and What moral qualities should the woman have. In the first section he
states that women are inferior to men in perception and senses, that she has a
different calling in life than the man (she for the private sphere, he for the
public sphere), and that she should not do men's job. He ends this section with
the results he perceived out of liberating women in Europe (immorality,
drunkenness, casual relations..).
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