Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn

Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn ( Arabic نظيرة زين الدين, DMG Naẓīra Zain ad-Dīn * 1908 ; † 1976 ) was a Lebanese suffragette and feminist. She belonged to the Druze religion . With her book Unveiling and Veiling , she became a pioneer of Islamic feminism . She fought for the liberation of women and equality between men and women. Miriam Cooke wrote a biography. In it she goes into her life path and the contradiction between her active youth and later retreat into the private sphere.

Life

Childhood, youth and education

Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn was born in Istanbul in 1908 , but lived for the first few years with her parents Saʿīd and Halā and their younger siblings Munīra, Munīr and Kāmil in Beirut . In 1914 the family left Beirut and moved to ʿAin Qani in the Chouf Mountains, where they received home tuition in Arabic, English and Turkish.

Her father, who was an Islamic scholar and high-ranking lawyer, was very concerned about the school and religious education of his daughter. To him she later dedicated her first book Unveiling and Veiling , in which she showed the patriarchal oppression to which she was exposed.

After the family moved to Karakol Druze in 1918, Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn attended the Catholic Primary School St. Joseph de l'Apparition and then the Sisters of Nazareth Convent School with her sister Munīra . There she was taught in French and introduced to European philosophers and ideas. Despite the Catholic education, she saw herself as a devout Muslim and strongly connected to Islam .

As a teenager she campaigned for women's rights and worked for the Lebanese Women's Union. In 1928 she was the first Lebanese woman to graduate from the Lycée Français Laique in literature and Arabic.

Her father took over her training in Islamic law , Koran exegesis and hadith science. He pointed out to his daughter that the hadiths were mainly interpreted by male religious scholars and that there was a neglect of those traditions that emphasized the equality of men and women. In addition, Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn was strongly influenced by the Islamic reformers Muhammad ʿAbduh and Qāsim Amīn .

Zain ad-Dīn attended the meetings of the Sunni scholars in her father's house with great interest and did not hesitate to confront them with their own views. It was at these meetings that she met the scholar Mustafā al-Ghalāyinī for the first time, who became one of her greatest critics after the publication of her first book.

In 1927 and 1928, Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn gave her first lectures on unveiling and the need for education for girls and women. In 1928 her first book The Unveiling and Veiling ( as-Sufūr wa-l-ḥiǧāb ) appeared, and in 1929 she published her second treatise The Girl and the Sheikhs ( al-Fatāt wa-š-šuyūḫ ).

Later years of life

Despite the scandal surrounding her second book The Girl and the Sheikhs , Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn was still active: in 1932 she published further treatises on Arab society and an open letter to al-Ghalāyinī. She also became a founding member of the Union of Arab Women in 1933. To do this, she traveled across the country to repeat her argumentation of The Unveiling and Veiling . In 1934 she spoke at the conference of the Arab Feminist Union (AFU) about the progress made in the field of education and work for Arab women.

She lived with her parents until she was 30 years old. Although she feared the loss of her freedom, in 1937 she married the 46-year-old Shafeeq al-Halābī, who was President of the Court of Cassation at the time of the marriage . They regularly invited guests to the shared apartment. Once a week Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn received visitors who asked them for advice on personal problems.

Their first son Amīn was born in 1939, Nabīl in 1941 and again two years later their last son Arīdsch was born.

Although Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn continued to publish texts and give lectures, she largely withdrew into family life. She took care of the upbringing and education of her sons and stayed largely out of public activities because of her husband. However, her husband failed in his political career and therefore insisted that her sons stay away from political positions.

In 1954, Zain ad-Dīn's father died, and that same year her brother Munīr died in a motorcycle accident. Fearing that Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn’s mother would not be able to cope with the death of her son, they kept Munīr’s death a secret until her death in 1959.

In 1972, when Nādya al-Jurdī Nawāhid was writing an encyclopedia on prominent Lebanese women, Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn received more attention. In it Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn makes it clear again that the political engagement of women is important. She is very grateful that women's suffrage was introduced. However, amazingly she said in an interview in 1974 that political participation by women is against feminine nature.

In 1976 she died in Beirut of complications from her cancer.

Works

Unveiling and concealment

In 1928 Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn published a book called The Unveiling and Veiling ( as-Sufūr wa-l-ḥiǧāb ), in which she called for freedom for women and declared the veil to be un-Islamic. She also emphasized the equality of men and women. At that time, however, the veil meant the face veil, the religious, historical and social foundations of which she examined in her first book.

Claiming the right to ijtihad for herself , she provided new interpretations for various verses of the Koran that deal with the gender order (so sura 33:33).

For example, she emphasized that in the Koran only a veiling of the wives of the Prophet Mohammed and not all women is prescribed (Sura 33:53). In addition, Mohammed himself said at a meeting with Abū Bakr's daughter that a woman had to cover everything except her face and palms. She also emphasized that there was no clear evidence of the veiling of the woman's face in either the Koran or the Sunna ; there is also no agreement among religious scholars on this question.

She argued that God gave women freedom, but that veiling the face was prescribed by men. This practice cannot be legitimized with Islam. The veiling is the outward sign of the oppression of women. Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn saw the face veil as an insult to both women and men. The inner attitude as well as virtue are decisive and not a piece of material that covers the face.

She also referred to the Egyptian Qāsim Amīn , who came to the opinion that the face veil was a custom from pre-Islamic times. Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn as well as Qāsim Amīn therefore demanded that the veiling should be handled according to Islamic guidelines. Accordingly, they excluded the veiling of the face.

In her demands for the liberation of women, she also relied on the Islamic reformer Muhammad ʿAbduh . Access to education and knowledge for women is therefore the way out of oppression. In her opinion, equality between men and women is also compatible with the Koran and freedom of both sexes is given by God. As was already the case with the rural population, the two sexes should not be separated from one another, but rather learn to interact with one another.

The Islamic law, which allows the man to have up to four wives at the same time, saw them as a temporary solution. The Prophet longed for a ban on polygyny , but could not immediately solve all problems at once.

Through the thoughtful selection of quotes from the Koran and hadiths, she explains that Islam is the religion of freedom and that Muslims are only accountable to God. That is why it is not in the power of people to define who is a believer or who is unbelieving. Rather, it is a matter between the individual and God. Nor should one condemn those who reject Islam, because belief should come from the heart. From this she concludes that no one - not even the Prophet Mohammed - is authorized to "punish people for lack of faith". For Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn it is clear that all Muslims are free and therefore also Muslim women. The problem lies with the religious scholars, who misinterpret religious law ( Sharia ) and thereby curtail the rights of Muslim women:

It is a shame that some local Muslim authorities dare to disregard the words of God and restrict the freedom of Muslim women in the cities while non-Muslim women in the cities and Muslim women in the countryside enjoy complete freedom. (It is a great shame that some Muslim local authorities dare to disobey the words of God and impose constraints on the freedom of Muslim women in towns, while non-Muslim women in towns and Muslim women in the countryside enjoy their full freedom.)

In the Koran she cannot see any hint that men are better than women, but that God prefers the most pious people. She emphasizes that the lower social position of women is not due to their intellect or belief. An honorable woman stands up for herself and others and "is not locked behind walls and veils". Today's face veil, on the other hand, is a status symbol of wealthy families and cannot be justified with Islamic law.

Considered by many to be an attack on Islam, the book caused a tremendous stir in the Muslim world and was banned by many.

The girl and the sheikhs

In her second book, The Girl and the Sheikhs (al-Fatāt wa-š-šuyūḫ) , Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn published the criticisms of unveiling and veiling in 1929 and took a critical position on them. Nazīra was the first woman to write an entire book on women's rights in Islam. However, there is some frustration and anger evident in her second book. She repeatedly cites passages from her first book that were misunderstood or misinterpreted by scholars.

One of their loudest critics was Mustafā al-Ghalāyinī. He accused her of not having written the book herself, claiming that it was written by missionaries instead .

In the book The Girl and the Sheikhs she replied that she had written her first book by herself and without any tools except pen, ink, books and paper. The only people she was in contact with were her father and her Arabic teacher. She stressed that she was not influenced by anyone. She also accused him of unfairly fighting because he could speak to the community in the mosque and spread his views.

In the book she also dealt with the comments of other religious scholars and urged readers to form their own picture without blindly trusting their critics. She emphasized:

The scholars prevented equality between men and women and were therefore responsible for preventing the nation from benefiting from it. (It was the shaykhs who were responsible for preventing the nation from improvising through the elevation of women to full partnership with men.)

The book also received positive reviews from supporters from Lebanon, Syria and Egypt, but also from some South American countries such as Argentina and Venezuela. She praised her for her fight for women's rights.

Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn dedicated this book to women because their freedom is needed to advance the region.

Critics and supporters

Some of their critics were well-known Muslim scholars such as Mustafā al-Ghalāyinī or Muhammad Ibrāhīm al-Azharī from the Azhar University in Cairo. Al-Ghalayini tried in his rebuttal, he a few months after the appearance of obfuscation and concealment published to refute the arguments of Nazira Zain al-Din. He denied her the right to speak on behalf of opponents of veiling and Muslim women in general.

But there was also criticism from Syrian women's rights activists: They called Zain ad-Dīn a "traitor" because she had asked the French authorities in Lebanon for support.

At the first major conference of the Syrian and Lebanese Women's Union, which took place shortly after the publication of unveiling and veiling in Beirut and in which 27 women's groups from Syria and Lebanon participated, Nazira Zain ad-Dīn was not invited to speak:

Perhaps she was too new a personality, or her demands were seen as too bold - too aligned with the old political rights agenda. (Perhaps she was too new a personality. Or Perhaps her message was already seen to be too bold, too closely aligned to the old agenda for political rights.)

Nevertheless, it also received encouragement from supporters: For example, the author Amīn ar-Rīhānī , the President of Syria Tādsch ad-Dīn al-Hasanī and the Syrian Minister of Education Muhammad Kurd ʿAlī sent letters of praise. The French consul in Beirut had parts of her first book translated. Even Lebanese emigrants in North and South America wrote about Nazīra Zain ad-Dīn in their newspapers and agreed to support her. Ultimately, she received letters from all over the world: from religious scholars, heads of state as well as editors and publishers.

literature

• Margot Badran, Miriam Cooke: Opening the Gates: An Anthology of Arab Feminist Writing . 2nd Edition. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 2004. pp. 270-278.
• Miriam Cooke: Nazira Zeineddine: A Pioneer of Islamic Feminism. Oneworld Publications, Oxford, 2010. - ( Review )
• Leyla Dakhli: Beyrouth-Damas, 1928: voile et dévoilement . In: Le Mouvement Social , 231/2, 2010, pp. 123-140, cairn.info
• Claudia Knieps: History of the veiling of women in Islam . Ergon, Würzburg, 1993. pp. 399-405.
• Charles Kurzman : Liberal Islam: A Sourcebook. Oxford University Press, Oxford 1988, pp. 101-106.
• Bouthaina Shaaban: The Muted Voices of Women Interpreters . In: Mahnaz Afkhami (ed.): Faith and Freedom: Women's Human Rights in the Muslim World . IB Tauris, London, 1995, pp. 61-77.
• Werner Ende, Udo Steinbach: Islam in the Present. Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn, 2005. pp. 656–660.
• Elizabeth Thompson: Colonial Citizens: Republican Rights, Paternal Privilege, and Gender in French Syria and Lebanon. Columbia University Press, New York, 2000.

Web links

• Muhammad Ali Atassi: The Veiling of the City.
• Irmgard Pinn, Marlies Wehner: The Islamic woman from a western perspective

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Miriam Cooke: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford UK 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 , pp. 51 .
2. ↑ Miriam Cooke: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford UK 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 .
3. ↑ Miriam Cooke: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford UK 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 , pp. 18-23 .
4. ^ Margot Badran, Miriam Cooke: Opening the gates: an anthology of Arab feminist writing . 2nd Edition. Bloomington, ISBN 0-253-34441-7 , pp. 270 .
5. ↑ Miriam Cooke: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford UK 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 , pp. 29-39 .
6. ↑ Miriam Cooke: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford UK 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 , pp. 44-46 .
7. ^ Ende, Werner .: Islam in the Present . 5th, updated and exp. Federal Agency for Political Education, Bonn 2005, ISBN 3-89331-625-6 , p. 658 .
8. ↑ Miriam Cooke: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford UK 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 , pp. 99-126 .
9. ^ Ende, Werner .: Islam in the Present . 5th, updated and exp. Edition. Federal Agency for Civic Education , Bonn 2005, ISBN 3-89331-625-6 , p. 657 .
10. ↑ Claudia Knieps: History of the veiling of women in Islam . Ergon, Würzburg 1993, ISBN 3-928034-21-9 .
11. ↑ Claudia Knieps: History of the veiling of women in Islam . Ergon, Würzburg 1993, ISBN 3-928034-21-9 , pp. 399-405 .
12. ↑ Afkhami, Mahnaz .: Faith and freedom: women's human rights in the Muslim world . IB Tauris, London 1995, ISBN 1-86064-008-7 , pp. 66-67 .
13. ↑ Afkhami, Mahnaz .: Faith and freedom: women's human rights in the Muslim world . IB Tauris, London 1995, ISBN 1-86064-008-7 , pp. 67 .
14. ↑ Afkhami, Mahnaz .: Faith and freedom: women's human rights in the Muslim world . IB Tauris, London 1995, ISBN 1-86064-008-7 , pp. 67-69 .
15. ↑ Afkhami, Mahnaz .: Faith and freedom: women's human rights in the Muslim world . IB Tauris, London 1995, ISBN 1-86064-008-7 , pp. 72 .
16. ^ Ende, Werner .: Islam in the Present . 5th, updated and exp. Federal Agency for Political Education, Bonn 2005, ISBN 3-89331-625-6 , p. 658 .
17. ^ Cooke, Miriam .: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford, England 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 , pp. 87 .
18. ^ Margot Badran, Miriam Cooke: Opening the gates: an anthology of Arab feminist writing . 2nd Edition. Bloomington, ISBN 0-253-34441-7 , pp. 270-271 .
19. ^ Badran, Margot., Cooke, Miriam .: Opening the gates: an anthology of Arab feminist writing . Second ed.Bloomington, ISBN 0-253-34441-7 , pp. 277-278 .
20. ^ Cooke, Miriam .: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford, England 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 , pp. 80-81 .
21. ^ Cooke, Miriam .: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford, England 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 , pp. 82 .
22. ^ Cooke, Miriam .: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford, England 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 , pp. 77 .
23. ^ Margot Badran, Miriam Cooke: Opening the gates: an anthology of Arab feminist writing . 2nd Edition. Bloomington, ISBN 0-253-34441-7 , pp. 277 .
24. ↑ Afkhami, Mahnaz .: Faith and freedom: women's human rights in the Muslim world . IB Tauris, London 1995, ISBN 1-86064-008-7 , pp. 72 .
25. ^ Cooke, Miriam .: Nazira Zeineddine: a pioneer of Islamic feminism . Oneworld, Oxford, England 2010, ISBN 978-1-85168-769-5 , pp. 69-72 .
26. ↑ Thompson, Elizabeth: Colonial citizens: republican rights, paternal privilege, and gender in French Syria and Lebanon . Columbia University Press, New York 2000, ISBN 0-231-50515-9 , pp. 146 .
27. ↑ Thompson, Elizabeth: Colonial citizens: republican rights, paternal privilege, and gender in French Syria and Lebanon . Columbia University Press, New York 2000, ISBN 0-231-50515-9 , pp. 141-142 .
28. ↑ Afkhami, Mahnaz .: Faith and freedom: women's human rights in the Muslim world . IB Tauris, London 1995, ISBN 1-86064-008-7 , pp. 72-73 .