WOMEN, ISLAMISMS AND THE STATE

Also by Azza M. Karam

ISLAM IN EEN ONTZUILDE SAMENLEVING (compiled by Ria Lavrijzen)

Women, Islamisms and the State Contemporary Feminisms in Egypt

Azza M. Karam

palgrave macmillan

First published in Great Britain 1998 by

MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN 978-0-333-68817-5 ISBN 978-0-230-37159-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230371590

First published in the United States of America 1998 by

ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010

ISBN 978-0-312-17501-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Karam, Azza M. Women, Islamisms. and state : contemporary feminisms in Egypt I Azza M. Karam. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-17501-6 (cloth) I. Women-Egypt. 2. Women in politics-Egypt. -Egypt. 4. Power (Social sciences) I. Title. HQ1793.K37 1997 305.4'0962-DC21

© Azza M. Karam 1998

3. Feminism-

97-7123 CIP

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written perm iss ion.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written perm iss ion or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any Iicence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W I P 9HE.

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained fores! sourees.

Transferred to digital printing 2001

I dedicate this book to my mother and my father

in gratitude for their unparalleled love, patience, support and wisdom

Contents

Acknowledgements

Glossary

List of Abbreviations

Background and Theoretical Considerations Introduction Feminisms in Egypt

... But Why Feminism? Islamist Feminism Muslim Feminism Secular Feminism

Official Islam and Islamism ... But Why Islamism?

Islamism and Postmodemity The Egyptian State Further Theoretical Deliberations

Gramsci and Hegemony Foucault and Power Power, Hegemony and Egyptian Feminisms

Structure of the Book

2 Living Fieldwork, Writing Ethnography The Author and Her Rationale Writing Research Details of Fieldwork and Practical Implications

3 The State and Islamists Historical Background Jamal Abdul Nasser

The Political Structure under Nasser Consequences of Nasser's Regime on Islamisms

Muhammad Anwar AI-Sadat Consequences of Sadat's Policies on Islamist Regimes

Muhammad Husni Mubarak Islamist Regimes under Mubarak

Conclusion: Further Discussion

vii

1 1 4 4 9

11 13 14 16 21 23 24 24 26 28 30

32 33 37 52

56 56 58 59 61 63

66 69 72 75

Vlll Contents

4 Islamisms and the Seeds of Disciplinary Power 80 Sayyid Qutb 80

On Social Relations 80 Signposts on the Road 81 On Society and State 81 On Solutions 82

The Society of Muslims 83 The Military Academy Group 88 The lama'at Islamiyya 89 A/-Jihad 92 Commonalities and Differences 95

5 Feminist Voices and Women's Organizations 101 Women in Political Parties 103

The Ruling National Democratic Party-Farkhanda Hasan 104

The Tajammu' Party - Laila AI-Shall 106 The Nasserist Party - Amal Mahmud 110 The Labour Party - Asmahan Shukri 115

Non-Governmental Organizations 122 New Woman Research Centre - Ayida Saif

AI-Dawla 123 Bint AI-Ard - lihan Abu Zaid 128 Islamist Women and Islamist Women's Groups 131

By Way of Conclusion 137

6 Current Debates on Women's Legal Rights in Theory and Practice 140 Women, State and Law 140

Women and the Law 142 The Personal Status Law 144 The Marriage Contract 145 Repudiation 146 Women's Rights in the Event of Divorce 147 Ground for which Wives may Apply for Divorce 148

Reactions and Recommendations 148 Political Rights 152

An Historical Perspective 152 Channels through which it is Possible to

Exercise Political Rights 154 The Women and Political Participation Debate 155

Contents ix

Women's Right to Work and the Labour Laws 158 Labour Law No. 137 of 1981 (Private Sector) 159 The Labour Law in Practice 160

The Women and Work Debate 162 The Nationality Law 166 Women and Violence 169 Women and Health 171 Conclusion 174

7 Islamism and Gender: Male Perspectives 176 Sayyid Qutb 177 Sheikh Muhammad Mitwalli AI-Sha'rawi 179

On Equality between the Sexes and Women's Non-Domestic Work 180

On the Veil (Hijab) 183 On Women's Right to Divorce 184 On Female Circumcision 185 On Feminism 186

Sheikh Muhammad AI-Ghazali 187 On Veiling, Equality and Women in the Labour

Market 187 On Divorce Rights 190 On Female Circumcision 191 On Feminism 191

Yusuf Al-Qaradawi 192 On Equality Between the Sexes and Women's

Non-Domestic Work 193 On Veiling 195 On Women's Right to Divorce 196 On Female Circumcision 196

, Adil Husayn 197 On Equality Between the Sexes 199 On Veiling 200 On Women and Work 201

Conclusion 203

8 Gender and Islamism: Three Generations of Women's Perspectives 206 Zaynab AI-Ghazali 208 Safinaz Qazim 215 Heba Ra'uf 221

x

On Family/On State By Way of Conclusion

Contents

225 230

9 Conclusion: Feminism, Islamisms and the State. Or: The Power of Feminisms 233 Feminisms - Together Yet Apart 234 State and Islamists: Divided yet United in

Power and on women 240 Islamisms and Feminisms - Developing

Apart Yet Together 242 Islamisms, Feminisms and the State:The Powers of

Resistance and the Resistances of Pciwer 245 Feminist Alliances and Politics of Difference? 248

Notes 252

Bibliography 264

Index 279

Acknowledgements

I have many to thank and to whom I shall always, be deeply grateful, listing them all is impossible so the following are but a few.

Heartfelt thanks and an endless debt of gratitude and love are owed to my mother who inspired this research and whose wisdom and strength of character continue to enrich my life, as well as to my father who supported me unfailingly and is my guiding beacon in life.

The initial research for this book would not have been possible without the financial support and continued confidence in my abilities of Stichting De Zaayer; especially the wisdom, support, and faith in me that Mia Berden consistently maintained. Special thanks to the strong and humour-filled guidance of Joke Schrijvers, on the initial research for this book. I owe to my experiences of working with Dr Nawal AI-Sa'dawi, the concretization of the necessity and focus of this work.

Very special thanks to Jihan Abu-Zaid who personified everything a caring, careful friend and interviewee could ever be. To Jihan I owe the priceless debt of giving me faith in womanhood and Egyptianness and friendship all at the same time. Special thanks also to Amany Massoud and to Omayma Mostafa from Cairo University, Political Science Department, for being generous with their help and support.

To all those pioneering, hardworking women who made time in their impossibly full days to talk to me and bear my questions and my deliberations, I am forever indebted: Muna AbuSenna, Hala Musta­pha, Laila al-Shall, Farida al-Naqqash, Asmahan Shukri, Awatef Wali, Amal Mahmud, Hoda Afifi, Farkhanda Hassan, Ayeda Saif al-Dawla, Iman Baybars, Amira Baheyy aI-din (who also generously piled on me and trusted me with years of work not all of which was published - such dedication and good faith were heartwarming and will never be forgotten), Tahani al-Jibali, Atiyyat al-Abnoudi and Salwa Bakr (who gave me a unique woman-artist-intellectual's view on issues), Noha Radwan (the friend whose house was a sanctuary, and whose mind and spirit a close companion despite the distance), Ibtisam Kamel, Abeyya Badr, Heba Ra'uf, Safinaz Qazam and the Islamist women whose names I am bound not to reveal, but who will always be close to my heart as the ones who helped me learn and grow, because they enabled me to see difference and not to fear it. All these women mentioned here and countless others, taught me and

xi

xii Acknowledgements

continue to demonstrate by their existence and resilience so many of life's precious lessons: strength, perseverance and hard work. Through their lives and work, they taught me that nothing is impossible.

I owe a great deal to my friends from the Institute of Social Studies (lSS) who stood by me and encouraged me: Aurora Galindo, Judith Richter and Sabine Hausler. To my former MA supervisor and my mentor Jan Nederveen Pieterse, many thanks for the countless times I ran to him for advice. To Lisa Chason, my good friend who was always there in so many ways - professional editing not excluded! To Fatma Hassan who will always be my best friend and the source of so much strength and sustenance throughout this research and long, long before.

Thanks are owed to the central people who stood by me for endless technicalities: Jeff Glasgow and Rolf Pixley; as well as to my friends Caroliene Nevejan who was there from the big bang, and Halleh Ghorashi and Abdullah Mahmoud.

To all my cousins and family members who have inspired and paved the way for this research in ways probably unknown to them. Many thanks to my mother-in-law Melodie de Silva for her consistent prayers for me and to my father-in-law for his support and faith in me.

And last but by no means least, a very special debt of gratitude to my husband P.L. de Silva who was loving and patient throughout. To him the painstaking work on the Bibliography and the meticulous combing through of the rest of the text. Enormous thanks to my wonderful brother Mohammed, who was the best brother, research assistant and information analyst anyone could ever ask for. His sense of humour and his belief in me were the chirping birds, the gentle breezes and the gushing waterfalls throughout this journey - not to mention the comic relieD

A special thanks also for the patience and good humour of Anna­belle Buckley and Ruth Willats throughout the commissioning and editing of this book.

To all of those mentioned and to the many that quietly inspired, trusted and encouraged, my very warm thanks.

Glossary

Transliteration here has been a challenge but I have tried to be as consistent as possible, while attempting to allow for the colloquial as well as literary usages. I used the system adopted by the International Journal of Middle East Studies for the Arabic. Diacritics are omitted, but I use' to represent the 'ayn, as in da'wa and AI-Sha'rawi, and' to represent the hamza as in mar 'a. I drop the terminal hamza from words such as 'ulama. The plural of words in languages that have 'broken' plurals is formed by adding an's' to the singular, except in cases such as 'ulama, in which the transliterated plural form has become standard. When persons or writers are known to have a preferred spelling of their name in a European language, I generally use this form.

All Arabic words in the text are itallicized.

Ahlam al-Siba: AI-Azhar:

AI-Da'wa:

AI-Farida AI-Gha'iba:

AI-Mut'a: AI-Sha'b:

AI-Takfir wal Hijra:

AI-Watan AI-Arabi: AI-Zawiya al-Hamra: Asala: Bint AI-Ard:

Dar Al-Harb: Dar AI-Ifta':

Dar AI-Islam:

Dreams of youth. Oldest mosque and religious university in Cairo in the Arab world. The Call; Title of Islamist magazine edited by a member of the Muslim Brotherhood: 'Umar AI-Tilmisani. The Missing Commandment; title of a book by Islamist Abdel Salam Faraj. A type of alimony for a divorced wife. Newspaper of the Islamist-oriented Labour Party. Name of an Islamist group meaning excom­munication and migration. Title of a magazine. District in Cairo. Authenticity. Daughter of the Earth; name of a feminist non-governmental organization. House/abode of war. Name of the institution where fatwas are issued; where the Grand Mufti works. House/Abode of Islam.

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xiv

Dhimmi:

Fatwa: Fi Sabil Illah: Fitna: Hadritik:

Hamajiyya: Hijab:

Hijra: 'Idda:

Ijtihad: Ishtibakat Hiwariyya: Islami:

'Isma: Ittihad Ishtiraki:

JahililJahiliyya:

Jama 'at Islamiyya/al~Jama 'at:

Jihad:

Jizya:

Kafir: Khimar:

Lajnat al~Tansiq al-Sha'biyya Iil Tahdir li Mu'tamar Pekin:

Glossary

A free non~Muslim under Muslim rule. Religious opinion; fatawi (plural). F or the sake of God. Seduction which leads to sedition. Polite and respectful way of saying 'you'. Lack of respect/barbarism/chaos. A veil worn to cover hair, arms and legs and may be varied and colourful. Migration. A period of three months following a divorce wherein a wife is also entitled to alimony. Independent reasoning. Discursive clashes. Islamist; term used as a self~definition by some young Islamists. Right to divorce. Socialist Union; name of the ruling party during Nasser's time. Term used to refer to pre~Islamic

times; ignorant times; also used to refer to non~1slamic actions or eras. Name of an Islamist group, used interchangeably. Struggle in the name of God; holy war; name of an Islamist group also used interchangeably with al~Jihad. Tax payed by non~Muslims in early Islam. Non~believer.

A stringent type of veil with a loose and long headscarf and long, long~ sleeved and very loose dress/body garment usually of a drab and unitary colour.

National Popular Committee to Organize for the BeijinglPeking Con~ ference.

Marakiz AI-Quwwa:

Muhajjaba: Munaqqaba: Murtadd: Muslimun: Muta'aslimun:

Niqab:

Qadiyyat al-Mar'a: Qanun al- 'Ayb: Qanun al- 'Uqubat: Qawama: Ruz al- Yusuf

Shari'a: Shudhudh: Sunna: Tajammu': Takfir: Tarha: Tatabarraj:

Tatajammal: Ulama: Umma: Umm al-Dunya:

'Urfi: 'Uzla:

Glossary xv

Power centres; used during Nasser's time to denote method of ruling. Woman wearing the hijab. Woman wearing the niqab (see below). An apostate or renegade from Islam. Muslims. Term coined by Laila AI-Shall to refer to Isla­mists as those who 'put on' Islam. Very severe form of veil, usually black in col­our, entirely shrouds the head and body leaving only the eyes exposed. The woman's issue. Law of Shame. Criminal law. Male control or leadership over women. Name of a longstanding leftist weekly maga­zine. Islamic laws. Deviance, used when referring to homosexuals. The Prophet Muhammad's actions. Leftist Progressive Unionist political party. To denounce as kafir or non-believer. Head scarf. Used by Islamist Sheikh Al-Ghazali to refer to a woman who does not veil. Used to refer to a woman ornamenting herself. Religious scholars. Islamic/Muslim nation. Name of the Nasserist Party's Women's Com­mittee Newsletter, meaning Mother of the World. Used in reference to unofficial marriage. To distance, used by certain Islamist groups who preach withdrawal from society.

List Abbreviations

ADEW:

AHED: AUC: AWSA: CEDAW:

FO: FWWC: ICPD:

IMF: J: MB: NDP: NGO: NMC: NPWC: NUL: NWRC: PSL: PVO: PWU:

RCC: SAP: WAF: WS:

Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women Association for Health and Environmental Development American University in Cairo Arab Women's Solidarity Association United Nations Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women Free Officers United Nations Fourth World Women's Conference International Conference on Population and Develop­ment International Monetary Fund Jihad Muslim Brotherhood National Democratic Party (ruling party) Non-Governmental Organization New Marriage Contract Nasserist Party Women's Committee New Unified Labour Law New Woman Research Centre Personal Status Laws/Family Laws Private Voluntary Organization Progressive Women's Union (Tajammu' Party Women's Committee) Revolutionary Command Council Structural Adjustment Policies Women Against Fundamentalism (England) Women's Secretariat at the National Democratic Party.

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