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INTRODUCTION
The Islamic and Arabic world today has been influenced in many
areas by the western world, through various channels including
colonisation, -the media, translations.
ýliteraturej, or through the
, presence, of Muslim-students in western countries. One of the
, principal. areas to have been! affected, is the, status of women. - ýý
Muslim women have been, -and still are, often portrayed as
submissive and subordinate to their male counterparts. While there
are many parts of the world-in which women in practice seldom enjoy
real equality with, men., Muslim, and Arab women are repeatedly singled
out as. illustrative of-suppression, and degradation brought about - it
is held
- by the teaching of., their faith. - Since the last century,
different schools of, opinions in the, Muslim countries have hold -
contrasting views, as to -the status of Muslim women.,! At, one'end'of
the spectrum, -unconditioned
liberation of the Muslim and Arabian
women, and equality with men was advocated. ý, The beginning, of this
C6-
appeared in the writings of Rifa, aý, Rafiýal-Taht; wiAn Egypt. -He
0 IN
called for-co-educational schools, -as an, end-to, segregation ofýthe-,
sexes from an early age. and, for., the removal of -the-, -veilý' Qisimýý -
Amin in Egypt contributed two books to this field;
(Taýir.
(al-Marlah
- the first called
al-Marlah) "Liberation of Woman" in 1898. His-second, book
al-JaZdah) I'The, New Woman",, established his reputation
amongst some readers as an extremist due to the uncompromising
arguments and. proposals it contained. 2 There was also Huda ShFarawl'
in Egypt. who is considered to be the founder'of the Egyptian womenlsý
l... For more detail, see MuDammad. Atmads al-Marlah al-Mauriyyah Bayn-al-
Magi Wa al-Ua4ir, (The Egyptian Woman between the past and the present).
P. 46.
2, Ibid, P* 47
2