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Arab Feminism

Arab people are identified as such by their language, geography (Arab countries include Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, the Palestinian Authority, Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Western Sahara, and Yemen), and/or cultural identity. The term feminist, for the purposes of this article, refers to women who do something to change expectations for women, their roles, and their responsibilities. A term connoting feminism first appeared in the Arab world in 1909 with the publication of Al-Nisaiyat, a book collection whose title signifies something by or about women. By the 1990s, niswiyya, an unequivocal word in Arabic for feminism, began to circulate.

Connection to Western Feminism

The distinction between the East and the West has traditionally forced Arab women to choose between a cultural identity and a feminist self. The Western media tend to portray Arab women as oppressed by Islamic religious doctrine, calling specific attention to the veil and the harem, and some feminists argue that feminism is an import to the Arab world from the West and is not relevant for Arab women. However, Arab feminists’ understanding of niswiyya suggests that Arab feminism is quite important for Arab women.

The veil (hijab in Arabic) means anything that hides, separates, and makes forbidden. In strict Islamic countries, the veil is sanctioned for women, whereas in other countries, women wear the veil for various political and personal reasons. Western feminists oftentimes claim that Arab women who veil, especially when not sanctioned to do so, cannot claim a feminist orientation; however, a more nuanced understanding of the situation reveals that Arab feminists sometimes veil because of their feminist orientation. Similarly, the term harem (hareem in Arabic) means “women”-the word is derived from the word haraam, which connotes something that is sacred, forbidden, and holy. Traditionally, Arab women have been secluded (or have secluded themselves) by living in harems, surrounded by other women. Western feminists worry that this female seclusion is another example of oppression and do not recognize the harem as a potential source of women's strength and community-building.

Major Contributors, Organizations, and Outlets

Qasim Amin wrote The Liberation of Women in 1899 and was seen as the “father of Arab feminism” because of his claim that women needed education and liberation for Egypt to educate itself and liberate itself from British colonialism. Amin's book sparked a feminist revolution that lasted until Gamal Abdel Nasser's 1952 coup in Egypt. Huda Sha'rawi (1879-1900) is seen as the pioneer of Egypt's women's movement because of her creation of that nation's first public protest for women when, on her return from a women's conference in Rome in 1923, she threw off her veil at a Cairo train station and other women joined in. Sha'rawi's public display allowed for many middle-class women in the Arab world to discontinue veiling. Today's most noted Arab feminist (in the West) is Nawal al-Saadawi, a medical doctor and founder of the Arab Women's Solidarity Association. Her vocal opposition to female genital mutilation made her a target of Islamic fundamentalists. The threat from fundamentalists reached its peak in 1993, when al-Saadawi was put on a “death list” and fled to the United States.

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