Hiam Elgousi - Womens Rights in Authoritarian Egypt: Negotiating Between Islam and Politics

Hiam Elgousi is a former lecturer in the Department of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Leeds, where she was awarded her PhD. Currently she is working as a national coordinator for the HEYA Center for Public Policy (Egypt), and as a research associate with various NGOs in the UK and Egypt.

This work takes a serious look into the status of the ulama in contemporary Egypt through examining their relationship with the state and their influential role within Egyptian society as it affects the status of Egyptian women.

Zahia Smail Salhi, Professor of Modern Arabic Studies, University of Manchester

This book provides a thorough multidisciplinary introduction to the various religious, cultural, historical, political, economic and social factors that affect the status and implementation of women's rights in authoritarian contexts such as Egypt and the broader Middle East.

Helen Rizzo, Associate Professor of Sociology, The American University in Cairo

WOMEN'S RIGHTS
IN
AUTHORITARIAN
EGYPT

Negotiating Between Islam and Politics

H IAM E LGOUSI

Published in 2016 by

I.B.Tauris & Co. Ltd

London New York

www.ibtauris.com

Copyright 2016 Hiam Elgousi

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

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Every attempt has been made to gain permission for the use of the images in this book. Any omissions will be rectified in future editions.

References to websites were correct at the time of writing.

Library of Modern Middle East Studies: 174

ISBN: 978 1 78453 245 1

eISBN: 978 0 85772 978 1

ePDF: 978 0 85772 779 4

A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library

A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: available

For
my beloved parents,
Hiba and Mohamed Elgousi

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Figures

Changes in gender disparities in primary education gross enrolment ratios 19992005, Arab region

Changes in gender disparities in education gross enrolment ratios 19992005, Arab region

The stated framework of the study, and how the data was collected

How the data collection instruments were used as a means of triangulation, with co-operation of the third angle in the triangulation

Initial timetable

Age distribution

Level of education

Social status

Influence of occupation/housework on women's knowledge of their rights

Women's knowledge of the rights granted to them by Islam

Knowledge of the rights granted by Islam

Source of knowledge of the rights

Definition of the words customs and traditions

Difference between customs/traditions and religion with regard to women's issues

What prevails in the communities: traditions and customs, religion or a mixture of both, and the causes?

Whom do you consult to answer questions regarding women's rights?

Existing laws that aim at improving the status of women in society

The evaluation of existing laws and the need for additional laws aiming at improving the status of women

Knowledge of the feminist movement in Egypt

Sources of information on the feminist movement

The meaning of feminism

Knowledge of activists and pioneers in the field of women's rights

Title of the law that was given by its opponents, its official title and one of its famous articles

Author's interpretation of how the state transmits its message

Tables

Knowledge of the rights

Methods that help to differentiate between customs/traditions and religion

Discrepancy of the responses regarding causes that influence women's status

Knowledge of the existing laws

The need for more laws to improve the status of women

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

PREFACE

Over the last three decades, women's rights have taken priority in the global development agenda for underdeveloped countries. In 1979 the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which was adopted by the UN General Assembly, was a turning point for women as it represented a significant vision of equitable human rights for both women and men.

The 1979 convention provides fundamental realizations and understandings of equality between women and men in terms of, for example, access to political life, public life, education, employment opportunities and health with a focus on reproductive rights, and also targets culture and tradition as influential forces shaping gender roles and family relations. Nonetheless, women have come to realize that the struggle to achieve their rights and maintain their identity in society is still in its early stages.

There is a general perception in the West regarding women living in Arab and Muslim communities. The belief is that Islam, as a religion, looks down upon women and encourages discrimination against them in terms of equal rights with men. Unfortunately, some Muslim communities have reinforced this, enhancing the widespread misinterpretation of religious teachings. Thus, the status of Arab and Muslim women has become a controversial issue, drawing significant research attention from scholars in different fields such as sociology, social development, theology and feminist studies.

The heated debate is not always helpful for the women involved. In fact, it can have a negative impact on their development, by generating general confusion and social resistance, even among the women themselves. This kind of attention has failed to help those women who strive hard to improve their status, as they face even greater resistance from within their societies, even from other women, to receiving and accommodating new, incoming ideas and suggestions for improvement. Muslim women often feel they are being attacked by scholars who describe them as oppressed, retarded and lacking intellectual capacity. Suha Sabbagh provided an analysis of the image of Arab and Muslim women in Western literature. According to her: