Feminists, Islam, and Nation - Gender and the Making of Modern Egypt

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Riley

Margot Badran examines the interconnections between feminism, Islam, and Egyptian nation-building, focusing on how gender was constructed through modern social and political change. Drawing on historical materials and research across Egypt and the West, the study traces the rise of feminist consciousness, the development of feminist movements, and widening networks including Arab feminism. Chapters follow public space, citizenship, education, family reform, and women’s labor, with extensive notes, bibliography, and index.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages371

Reading Time15 h 35 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

First heard of Huda Sha‹rawi and early research journey

Note on Transliteration and Translation

Abbreviations

Introduction

Part One: Rising Feminist Consciousness

Two Lives in Changing Worlds

Claiming Public Space

Thinking Gender

Egypt for Which Egyptians?

Part Two: The Feminist Movement

The House of the Woman

City Sisters, Country Sisters

Recasting the Family

Educating the Nation

Women Have Always Worked

Trafﬁc in Women

Suffrage and Citizenship

Part Three: The Widening Circle

Arab Feminism

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Feminists, Islam, and Nation Feminists, Islam, and Nation GENDER AND THE MAKING OF MODERN EGYPT • MARGOT BADRAN • P R I N C E T O N U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S P R I N C E T O N , N E W J E R S E Y Copyright © 1995 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, Chichester, West Sussex All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Badran, Margot Feminists, Islam, and nation : gender and the making of modern Egypt / Margot Badran. [p. cm](p. cm). Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-691-03706-X 1. Feminism—Egypt—History. 2. Women—Egypt—History. 3. Muslim women—Egypt—History. I. Title. HQ1793.B33 1994 305.42′0962—dc20 94-19055 CIP This book has been composed in Laser Sabon Princeton University Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources Printed in the United States of America 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 MARGARET WOODS FARRANTO • • JOSEPH DOMINIC FARRANTO • C O N T E N T S • PREFACE ix NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION xiii ABBREVIATIONS xv INTRODUCTION 3 PART ONE: RISING FEMINIST CONSCIOUSNESS 29 CHAPTER 1 Two Lives in Changing Worlds 31 CHAPTER 2 Claiming Public Space 47 CHAPTER 3 Thinking Gender 61 CHAPTER 4 Egypt for Which Egyptians? 74 PART TWO: THE FEMINIST MOVEMENT 89 CHAPTER 5 The House of the Woman 91 CHAPTER 6 City Sisters, Country Sisters 111 CHAPTER 7 Recasting the Family 124 CHAPTER 8 Educating the Nation 142 CHAPTER 9 Women Have Always Worked 165 CHAPTER 10 Trafﬁc in Women 192 CHAPTER 11 Suffrage and Citizenship 207 viii • C O N T E N T S • PART THREE: THE WIDENING CIRCLE 221 CHAPTER 12 Arab Feminism 223 NOTES 251 BIBLIOGRAPHY 317 INDEX 339 • P R E F A C E • I FIRST HEARD of Huda Sha‹rawi when a fellow American graduate student suggested I study her. Who was Huda Sha‹rawi, I silently wondered. He confessed that he too had never heard of her until he moved into a ﬂat on Huda Sha‹rawi Street in the center of Cairo. After making inquiries he discovered that she had led the ﬁrst feminist movement in Egypt early in this century. I instantly became interested. This was in the 1960s, when“women’s history” had scarcely been imagined. I had no idea how to go about researching this feminist leader except by “asking around,” as one would seek out a lost friend. One day I met two women who had been close to Huda Sha‹rawi: her lifelong feminist associate Saiza Nabarawi and her niece Hawwa› Idris, also a committed feminist. They became the ﬁrst women in a long chain who over the months and years led me to far corners of Cairo, to Alexandria, to Minya, and beyond Egypt. These many women unlocked their memories, shared their personal papers, and opened up their private libraries to me. Newly armed with names of women writers and titles of books, I marched to the old Dar al-Kutub in Port Sa‹id Street where I discovered a cache of women’s magazines and newspapers from the 1890s. At al-Azhar, where I was studying Arabic, I borrowed books on women and Islam and debated at great length with my teacher, Shaykh Yahiya Hashim. A few years later I began graduate studies at Oxford University where I continued my historical investigation of Egyptian feminism under the supervision of Albert Hourani, writing a dissertation entitled “Huda Sha‹rawi and the Liberation of the Egyptian Woman.” By this time women’s studies and women’s history were taking shape as disciplines, and I eagerly plunged deeper and deeper into more research, continually thinking and rethinking Egyptian feminism as I moved between Egypt and the West. Earlier fruits of this labor have appeared in two books and numerous articles I

FAQs

What central relationship does the book analyze?

The book analyzes the connections between feminism, Islam, and the making of the modern Egyptian nation through the historical construction of gender.

How is the book structured?

It is organized into an introduction and three parts, covering the rise of feminist consciousness, the feminist movement, and a widening circle that includes Arab feminism.

Which topics appear in the chapter titles?

Topics include public space, thinking gender, citizenship and suffrage, education, reforming the family, women’s work, and traffic in women.

Sep 20, 2026

Uploaded by Riley