Ved Rajgarhia
History 12- Primary Source Essay
Prof. Prakash
GSI Mariam Sabri
High Born Women and Feminism in Egypt
Feministic values can be seen manifesting itself in high born women of Egypt at the turn of the last century. Such a trend is visible through the examination of the life of Huda Shaarawi through her memoirs. Shaarawi is seen to have come from the upper class in society wherein she gained an education in traditional Islamic teachings and at the same time got heavily influenced by European culture. Her memoirs capture the turn of the last century from the time when she was young girl (who got married off very early) to the time that she attained maturity (while being separated from her husband) and then subsequently started writing about her life. These memoirs are very important to analyze because her life shows the evolution of two topics- marriage and education, in the upper class during the early 20th Century. Furthermore, for much of her childhood, Shaarawi did not possess a father (her father presumably died early since he could not attend her young wedding) in a heavily patriarchal society. Thus without a close strong male figure in her young life, the aforementioned factors become very important leading towards her later actions and influence she gains. Shaarawi manages to add further context by also describing the situations of other women with similar stature in society. This is very important since it shows the presence of trends towards feminism and hence shows that her life experiences are not just isolated experiences. The scenarios which led to increasing feministic values primarily arose because of two major factors- maintaining a cultural Egyptian identity and growing European influence. These factors might seem to be inherently contradictory, yet manage to work in different manners to achieve the same end goal: increased feministic values. Shaarawi went on to become a figure head for feminism in Egypt and hence her memoirs hold special significance for her overarching influence on feministic movement in Egypt in the 20th Century.
Maintenance of cultural identity is a phenomenon in 20th Egypt of which indications can be seen in Huda Shaarawi’s memoirs when she writes about her marriage to her cousin. One indication of increased feminism is given when Shaarawi describes the events which led to her separation from her cousin husband. The declaration by her husband to free his slave-concubine and commit to monogamous marriage(through a marriage contract) was one of the primary factors which had allowed the marriage to take place. The signing of such a document or declaration is something that was particular to Islam and is part of their initial traditions since marriage was essentially considered to be a contract. The subsequent violation of the contract which takes place hence had grave consequences. When this violation is shown through the reaction of Shaarawi’s mothers in lines ‘Are you still trying to keep the truth from me’ she asked ‘I know all about your husband’s return to his former slave who is about to have a child.” it shows the extreme importance the violation of such a declaration holds. Shaarawi’s mother’s reaction arises despite the fact that she was one of the people who had no real significant opposition to such a union. Therefore, this symbolizes the importance of marriage contracts which was tradition prevalent in early Islam. Upholding the rights of a woman in a marriage was a movement also visible elsewhere- “Tomiche argues that Eyptians grew more rather than less conservative about the treatment of women in the course of the century, as a means of stressing their cultural identity in the face of growing European ascendancy.” The marriage contract is hence indicative of the less conservative movement despite having its roots in ancient Islam. This is assumption can be made simply because her husband had agreed to free his concubine and stay away from his children to marry her, showing the increasing power women started to hold. Besides this development, a committee was set up in Egypt in the 1920’s to review family law which further showcases the overall Egyptian movement towards feminism.
Another important role of maintaining culture is seen while examining how it promoted certain types of education which eventually becomes very important. This seen when Shaarawi’s friend Atiyya Hanim Saqqaf narrates her story on her journey through Bedouin country. She is initially greeted in a very hostile manner when the Bedouin did not realize that she was s women. Upon finding this out some did become somewhat less hostile towards her and her companions. This was however not fully sufficient to secure their safety with a few Bedouin men shouting “’We are going to devour you!’”. To hence ensure their safety a multitude of factors all of which directly related to Islam held major importance. One such factor was the discovery that Saqqaf was a descendent of the prophet Muhammad. Upon this discovery the Bedouin started asking for her blessing (descedents are considered to have miraculous power by the Bedouin) and hence change their initial attitude. The other discovery was that she carried the Koran in lines “When they came upon a solid object I told them it was the Holy Koran, which was always with me. To prove I was speaking the truth, they asked me to remove and read some ayas to them, which I did. The Bedouin slaughtered animals for us and feted us lavishly”. These lines hence go to show how her education in the Koran and the Bedouin knowledge of the prophet Muhammad’s line may have saved her life. We can hence see that by maintaining Islamic culture, Saqqaf managed to know verses of the Koran the Bedouin remembered about the prophet Muhammad’s line. Hence, we can see that certain types of education which essentially arose out of an ancient culture saved the lives of Saqqaf and her companions.
The major factor that played into the rise of feminism was the growing European culture in Egypt. One such case that is seen is through Shaarawi’s writing on her European teacher/companion Mme Richard who had a massive influence on her life. Mme Richard’s influence in the context of her marriage is particularly important to analyze. Prior to the wedding Shaarawi recounts, “My French tutor who was at my side embraced me and cried along with me murmuring, ‘Have courage, my daughter, have courage.’”. This conversation is very important because during Shaarawi’s time of distress her mother and other members did not try and comfort her in a significant manner since it does not find its way in the memoirs. This anecdote becomes important because of the word ‘courage’, which is closely associated with strength. It hence inculcates values of feminism in Shaarawi. This sentiment is also displayed by other Europeans in lines “European guests placed bouquets of roses and other blossoms in my hands or at my feet. I failed to understand the feeling of sympathy these women had for my marrying at such a tender age”. These reactions can hence be indicative of their views on young marriages. The opposition of such practices can be understood as being a pillar of feminism, in the present context and during that time. Mme Richard also had an important role to play for Shaarawi post the separation. Shaarawi writes, “During those times, when various persons caused me anguish by trying to pressure me into reconciling with my husband, Mme Richard stood loyally at my side.”. We hence get to see that Mme Richard continues to support Shaarawi’s decision and in doing so keeps showing how European influence had a big role in promoting feminism.
The other hugely important role European influence is on education. This phenomenon is seen when Shaarawi uses the piano and French as an escape from her marriage. This is seen in lines “If I amused myself at the piano while he had visitors he would send an order to stop. I felt he was limiting me unjustly and grew depressed and restless. As boredom overtook me I wept profusely, with and without reason. I began to carry a book around with me to camouflage the source of my unhappiness, so if I was caught crying I could say I was reading a sad story.” Although these lines do not explicitly show a positive effect of European education, it presence is very evident in the subtext. Playing the piano acted as a hobby for her and while it may not qualify as a formal education, it acted as past time for her. Similarly her knowledge of French allowed her to hide her sorrow (through French books which no one in her husband’s house understood) .Again while this may not be directly indicative of what relates to modern day feminism in those times it well have acted like it. This is because both activities were something that she could do on her own and did require anyone else’s company, providing her some magnitude of individuality.
We can therefore see how two different factors eventually achieve the same. By maintaining or rather re-implementing Islamic culture with greater force the treatment of women improves. The magnitude of this developed however is not to same scale as that of incorporating European culture. The reason for this primarily arises because in Sharaawi’s memoirs seem to show an inherent placement of women in European culture above that in Islamic culture. While both do play a role, Islamic culture’s treatment seems to be more reactionary rather than innate. For example if the marriage would never have been allowed to take place, the marriage contract would not have been necessary. This distinction should however not diminish the role of Islamic culture because it gave Egyptian women an identity which otherwise may be displaced. It can therefore be said that Islamic culture and European culture though inherently different, achieved the same goal.
Bibliography
1. Huda Shaarawi,Harem Years: The Memoirs of an Egyptian Feminist, trans. Margot Badran, 1986, 53-84
2. Leila Ahmed, Women and Gender in Islam,46, https://www.dropbox.com/s/7yjmw12csib1yh0/Leila%20Ahmed%2C%20“Women%20and%20the%20Rise%20of%20Islam”%20in%20Women%20and%20Gender%20in%20Islam%2C%2041-63.pdf?dl=0
3. Juan Ricardo Cole, Feminism, International Journal of Middle East Studies Vol. 13, No. 4 (Nov., 1981) (Cambridge University Press), pp. 390, https://www-jstor-org.libproxy.berkeley.edu/stable/162906?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
4. Leila Ahmed, Feminism and Feminist Movements In the Middle East, A Preliminary Expolration: Turket, Egypt, Algeria, People’s Democratic Republic Of Yemen, Women's Studies International Forum; 1982, Vol. 5 Issue 2, 159