Reading: Qasim Amin, The Liberation of Women (I and II on e-reserve), and  Leila Ahmed, "The Discourse of the Veil" and (also on e-reserve)

Introduction

Qasim Amin was born in 1863 to a Turkish Ottoman father and Egyptian mother. Highly educated for that time, he eventually obtained his law license in 1881. He spent four years on an educational mission in France, returning to Egypt in 1885. While in France he was exposed to the ideas of people as diverse as Marx, Darwin and Nietzsche. Back in Egypt, he became a part of the nationalist reform movement and engaged in dialogue with intellectuals such as Muhammad Abduh,a well known Islamist reformer who maintained that Muslims could selectively appropriate from Western civilization that which was useful and which did not contradict Islam. Abduh held the position that, as historical and social conditions warranted, the core of Islamic principles and values should be reapplied to new realities, and old traditions, where necessary, discarded. Amin was also friends with some well known Egyptian nationalist figures, such as Sa`d Zaghlul, who was leader of the Wafd party, which later (in 1919) led the nationalist uprising against Great Britain.

When Qasim Amin's book came out in 1899, it provoked intense controversy, and is still discussed and read even today. The issue of women; women and education; and the "backwardness" of Islamic culture versus the West was one of the most heated and emotionally charged topics of the day. At the core of it all, was the question many people of the Middle East asked: how has Europe come to dominate us politically, economically and even [to an extent] culturally? Secondly: what is to be done about this? For his writings on women, Amin was hailed by some as the "father of Egyptian feminism." According to Leila Ahmed, this was not really the case if you look at both his writing and examine the historical context. So you will be engaging in both of these activities yourselves. Below are some questions to consider.

Questions for class discussion

Amin:

What is it about veiling that causes such “intense and furious debate”? (then and now?) What does this issue mean or represent? What does it mean to you?

What are Amin's arguments for women's education? Why does he think Egyptian women should be educated? What is his opinion about Egyptian women's intellectual capabilities?

On what basis does he criticize veiling?

What are some of his criticisms of marriage?

Do you think Amin is misogynist? Why or why not? (Find quotes to support your view)

Ahmed

Do you agree with her that Amin's book is "strident criticism of Muslim [and] particularly Egyptian culture"? (p. 161)