Khreegi, Yusra (2014) Women in the writings of Muhammad 'Abduh. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/20318 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this PhD Thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This PhD Thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination. WOMEN IN THE WRITINGS OF MUHAMMAD µABDUH By Yusra Khreegi Thesis submitted to the School of Oriental & African Studies For the degree of PhD in the Faculty of Languages & Cultures Department of Islamic Studies Supervisor: Dr. Katherine Zebiri 1 Declaration for SOAS PhD thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination. Signed: ____________________________ Date: _________________ 2 Abstract The “Woman question” in Islam, under its various titles – “women in Islam”, “women’s rights in Islam”, “the status of women in Islam”, “gender in Islam” – is one that has been a topic of heated debate for the last century, and continues to be a field of intense debate and thriving scholarship. Likewise, pioneers of modern Islamic reform are often referred to in relation to modern discourses on gender, and the issue of gender is often touched on in discussions of these pioneers’ reform projects, but often in a generic and superficial manner. While the Egyptian reformist scholar Muhammad µAbduh is a figure often referred to in this context, this aspect of his thought has never been studied in detail. This study aims to deepen the study of these two questions – gender and reform – and the intersection between them. Various general books on “the father of Islamic reform” exist, often devoting a few pages to “women’s reform” (or more commonly referring to the question of women’s reform under the few pages devoted to µAbduh’s “social reform”), creating a rather vague view of this critical figure’s views on this topical question, often with unsubstantiated generalisations. This study aims at addressing this through a detailed study and analysis of µAbduh’s own discourse on women in order to discover its themes, distinctive characteristics, the questions it poses and the answers it attempts to give, as well as the tensions and contradictions within it. The study locates the gender question within the bigger context of the reform discourse that emerged in a specific historical context in response to the Muslim world’s encounter with modernity. The study further addresses the extent of µAbduh’s influence on subsequent discourses on women and his legacy which continues to be contested and competed over. The study provides, for the first time, a detailed study of µAbduh’s writings on women and gender, based on primary sources, and addresses the overlaps between various rival trends often seen as distinct, pointing to the multiple and diverse roots of the contemporary genre of “Muslim feminism”, which indeed draws influence from the reformist views of µAbduh, but not necessarily through a single linear and coherent route. 3 Table of Contents Acknowledgements……………………………………………….…………….…………8 Introduction……………………………………………………….………………….……9 1 Muhammad µAbduh, Father of Modern Islamic Reform 1.1 Context, Influences………………………………………..…………………………50 1.1.1 Revival, Reformism and Modernism………………….…………….…………...50 1.1.2 Rural Origins: Simplicity, Conservatism, Pride………………….……………...51 1.1.3 Sufism: Sheikh Darwish……………………………….………………………...52 1.1.4 Al-Azhar: Orthodoxy and Sufi Reformism……………………….……………..53 1.1.5 Afghani: Politicisation…………………………………….…….……………….54 1.1.6 Western Influences: How Significant?..................................................................55 1.2 The Many faces of µAbduh………………………….…………………….………….57 1.2.1 Educator…………………………………………………………….….………...58 1.2.2 Social Reformer………………………………………………...….….…………61 1.2.3 Political Activist and Leader………………………….……………….…………63 1.2.4 Jurist and Mufti…………………………………….………………….…………68 1.2.5 Religious Reformer…………………………….…………………....….………..71 1.3 µAbduh’s Legacy.……………………………………………………...….………….78 2 The Woman Question in Nineteenth-Century Egypt 2.1 The Nineteenth Century: A Time of Change……………………………..………….79 2.2 Travel literature: East and West Through Travelogues’ Eyes………………..……...82 2.2.1 Al->ah~¥wÏ in Paris……………………………………………………..………..82 2.2.2 Edward Lane and Stanley Lane-Poole in Egypt…………………….…………...86 2.3 Historical accounts of the occupier and occupied………………………..…………..91 2.3.1 Al-JabartÏ and the French invasion………………………………….…………...91 2.3.2 Lord Cromer and the British occupation………………………………….……..93 4 2.4 Reformist discourses: “Elevation of woman” central to elevation of the nation; woman as one of the primary causes of the nation’s backwardness…….……..…….99 2.4.1 Al-Afgh¥nÏ………………………………………………………..…………....100 2.4.2 Al-Kaw¥kibÏ………………………………………………………..…………..102 2.4.3 Al-NadÏm………………………………………………….……………………105 2.5 Direct discussion of “equality” and “the liberation of women”……………….…...108 2.5.1 ShiblÏ Shumayyil and Social Darwinism……………………………….……....109 2.5.2 Q¥sim AmÏn & The Liberation of Women……………………………….….…111 2.5.3 Muhammad FarÏd WajdÏ & the Muslim Woman versus the New Woman…..…114 2.5.4 RashÏd Ri\¥ & Al-Man¥r………………………………………………..……...117 2.6 Women’s Discourses…………………………………………………….…………120 3 View of Women: Creation & Essence 3.1 Creation: Equivalence and partnership, or inferiority and dependence…………….123 3.2 Eve and Essential Feminine Characteristics………………………………….…….127 3.3 Testimony and Gender Difference………………………………………..………...131 4 Contracting Marriage 4.1 Marriage & the Family System……………………………………..……….….137 4.1.1 Definition of marriage……………..……………………………………..….….138 4.1.2 Purpose of Marriage………………………………………..…….……………..139 4.2 Arranging Marriage: the Marriage Contract……………………………………143 4.2.1 Guardianship.. ………………………………….………….………….………..144 4.2.2 Kaf¥’a ………………………………….…………………………………..…...147 4.2.3 Context & Considerations for the Above Views……………………………….150 4.3 Mahr………………………………….……………………..…………………..153 5 5 The Marital Equation of Rights and Duties 5.1 Nafaqa – an Absolute Right/Obligation?..................……………… …………..159 5.1.1 µAbduh’s proposals for the enforcement of husbands’ duties……………..……161 5.2 Obedience and Nushuz………………………………….…………….………..169 5.2.1 Qiw¥ma, Men’s and Women’s ‘Shares’ and the division of roles………….…173 5.2.2 Nushuz and Discipline……………………………………………………..…...182 6 Polygyny 6.1 Classical and Modern Discussions of Polygyny……………………..…………187 6.2 µAbduh’s articles: Early Concerns about Polygyny………………..………...…194 6.3 Fatwa on Restriction of Polygyny……………………………………..………..199 6.4 Polygyny in TafsÏr al-Man¥r………………………………………..…………..203 6.5 The question of TahrÏr al-Mar’a: µAbduh & AmÏn on Polygyny: Similarities & Divergences……………………………………………………………………..207 6.6 Polygyny in Twentieth-Century Egyptian Legal Reform………………..……..214 7 Divorce 7.1 Divorce in Turn-of-the-century Egypt: Perceptions and Realities……………..217 7.1.1 Statistics & Trends…………………………………………………………..….217 7.1.2 Nationalist Concerns about Divorce…………………………………..………..220 7.2 µAbduh’s writings on divorce……………………………………..…………….224 7.2.1 Concern about Family Breakdown & Consequences for the Nation. ………….224 7.2.2 Facilitating Divorce and Ensuring Women’s Financial Rights………….……..225 7.2.3 Post-Divorce Compensation: Mutµa……………………………..……………...227 7.3 µAbduh & Contemporary Calls for Restricting Male Repudiation……………..230 7.3.1 Divorce in a State of Anger or Intoxication………………………………..…...230 7.3.2 Triple Divorce…………………………………………………………..………233 6 7.4 µAbduh & TahrÏr al-Mar’a Revisited………………………………..…………..235 7.5 µAbduh’s proposals and Subsequent Divorce Law Reform……………..……...239 8 Conclusion 8.1 Reform Strategies and Approaches…………………………………………..………….243 8.2 Contradictions and Unresolved Paradoxes……………………………..………………..259 8.3 Subsequent Discourses & µAbduh’s Legacy…………………………………….………264 Appendix A: Divorce Fatwa 1…………………………………………….…………..271 Appendix B: Divorce Fatwa 2……………………………………………..…………..273 Bibliography……………………………………………………………..………………..275 7 Acknowledgements “His is all praise in the former and the latter (state)” After five years – as well as a baby, a revolution and a return home – this thesis is finally complete. I am indebted to my supervisor, Dr. Katherine Zebiri, for all her help, guidance and feedback over all those years. I would like to thank Prof. Mohammed Abdel Haleem and Dr. Nadje al-Ali for their useful feedback on my first chapter. I would also like to thank Prof Abdel Haleem for his help and encouragement to start this PhD, coming from a completely different academic background. My sister Intissar, who has been my “unofficial editor”, had to read all chapters