Author: Aburian Azizi
Feminism (Part 7)
The most prominent figures of the Feminism movement in Egypt
1. Rafa’a Tahtawi
Rafa’a Tahtawi was one of the great scholars; but when he went to France and returned from there, he was westernized and became one of the scholars who invited to imitate the West.
Then he wrote his book as “Ahaval Paris” in which he encouraged women’s freedom, such as: none veiling and mixing, and he made dance look like a normal thing and justified that dance is sport movements that are accompanied by music.
It was not expected that the Islamic community in Egypt would respond to this call of “Tahtawi”; because the warmth of Islam was still found in the existence of Muslims and Islamic values were alive in the corner of their lives, and the religious situation of the people was such that they mocked such issues that Tahtawi raised and it was not possible for anyone to accept it, but this movement of “Rafa’a” Tahtawi” was preparing means and minds for the next waves.
2. Sheikh Muhammad Abdah
Sheikh Muhammad Abdah was the one who grew the seeds of Qasim Amin’s book “Tahir al muraat” in the garden of his thoughts, and in that book, Qasim Amin has reminded many of the thoughts of Sheikh Muhammad Abdoh regarding women’s rights and in the interpretation of the verses that discuss women in. They have mentioned the explanations that Sheikh Muhammad Abdo believed. Even at one point in history, it was known that the book “Tahrir al-Muraat” attributed to Qasim Amin was written by Muhammad Abdah or at least Qasim Amin was influenced by him.
3. Saad Zaghloul
Saad Zaghloul was secular, and a supporter of women’s freedom as defined by the West and the leader of Al-Wafd ul-Mesri party. He was the one who helped Qasim Amin to publish his books and encouraged him in this field.
He was one of the most effective people at the time of the changes in Egypt, and he had a strange talent in speech and, he had the dignity of a leader, and people gathered around him, as they gather around a magician who does strange things, and this characteristic of Saad Zaghloul was a logical thing in relation to Egypt and most Islamic countries; because at that time the radio had not been invented yet so that everyone could listen to it separately at home and in the absence of radio, Khattabat (lectures) was prospered and had its own fans.
The speaker was stationed in the meeting place and people circled around him. The speaker could also influence the audience according to his ability and could be a candidate for leadership; Of course, a speaker cannot have all the conditions of leadership just by giving a speech, and besides a good speech, the speaker must also have other qualities and have unique decisions to make him stand out from the rest. but again, being a speaker showed the first stage of a person’s competence and excellence, and Saad Zaghloul was truly a genius and unique in this field and had leadership qualities.
At first, he was a lawyer, when he defended someone in court, the courtroom was filled with people present, and the present people were those who came only to watch seeing how Saad defends his client, and the case itself is of no importance to them. He did not know what issue Saad wants to defend. This unique talent of “Saad Zaghloul” caused the supporters of feminism to hunt him down to advance their sinister goals.
Kromer, Lotfi Seyed, and Mustafa Fahmi, the father of Safia Zaghloul, and those who so-called working to bring Egypt and England closer together by imitating the West, met with him and after brainwashing, they were able to use him to fulfill their evil goals, to be of the same mind and tune. Saad Zaghloul was also influenced by them very soon and melted among them and became their like-minded, and the situation became such that Cromer introduced Saad Zaghloul as the Minister of Education of Egypt.
And on the other hand, Mr. Cromer was sure that Saad Zaghloul will do the important task of making the Egyptian people come to terms with the West and imitating it.
Continues…