Egyptian Writers: Sayyid Qutb, Amru Khaled, Nawal al-Sadawi and Zaynab al-Ghazali Presented by

1. Egyptian Writers: Sayyid Qutb, Amru Khaled, Nawal al-Sadawi and Zaynab al-Ghazali Presented by Haneesa Zahidah Nuruljannah Hj Usop Juriati Jumat Raja Noraidlin Sueraya Edited by Dr. Md. Mahmudul Hasan International Islamic University Malaysia 2010

2. SayyidQutb (1906-1966) Biography Works Critical Analysis The Person

3. Biography • 1906: Sayyid Qutb was born and schooled in Musha, Egypt. In addition to being a hafeez, he pursued both religious and general studies. • 1929: He later attended the University of Cairo (then known as Darul Ulum), and 1933: Graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Education and Literature. He later began his career in the Ministry of Education, and became a ‘Nazir’ for the public schools under the Ministry. • 1948: He went to America and studied at Colorado State College of Education. He also taught and travelled a lot around the country.

4. 1954: By this time, Sayyid Qutb was already part of the Muslim Brotherhood and was the chief editor for the magazine Al-Ikhwan Muslimun. Unfortunately, the magazine was banned by the Jamal Nasser regime 2 months after Qutb was appointed its editor. In addition to this, he and other members of the Brotherhood were arrested for their vocal opposition to government policies. The regime also accused them of an attempted assassination of President Jamal Abdel Nasser. They were then jailed in a prison of horrid state and brutally tortured. Sayyid Qutb was then freed on the behest of the then Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Salam Arif.

5. 1965: No more than a year after he was freed, Sayyid Qutb was again accused of plotting to overthrow the government. These charges were actually because of his views and writings. Again, his freedom of speech was violated through another arrest by the regime. • 1966: Together with Muhammad Yusof Hawwash and Abdul Fatah Ismail, Sayyid Qutb was executed by hanging .

6. “He was sentenced to death as the leader of a group planning to assassinate the President and other Egyptian officials and personalities, though he was not the instigator or leader of the actual plot.”Sivan (1985) p. 93.; FouadAjami, "In the Pharaoh's Shadow: Religion and Authority in Egypt," Islam in the Political Process, editor James P. Piscatori, Cambridge University Press, 1983, pp. 25–26.

7. Works Literary • Mahammat al-Sha'ir fi'l-Hayah wa Shi'r al-Jil al-Hadir (The Task of the Poet in Life and the Poetry of the Contemporary Generation), 1933 • al-Shati al-Majhul (The Unknown Beach), 1935 • Al-Taswir al-Fanni fi'l-Qu'ran (Artistic Imagery in the Qur'an), 1945 • Al-Atyaf al-Arba'a (The Four Apparitions), 1945 • Tifl min al-Qarya (A Child from the Village), 1946 • Al-Madina al-Mas’hura (The Enchanted City), 1946 • Kutub wa Shakhsiyyat (Books and Personalities), 1946 • Askwak (Thorns), 1947 • Mashahid al-Qiyama fi'l-Qur'an (Aspects of Resurrection in the Qur’an), 1946 • Al-Naqd al-Adabi: Usuluhu wa Manahijuhu (Literary Criticism: Its Foundation and Methods), 1948

8. Theoretical • Al-Adala al-Ijtima'iyya fi'l-Islam (Social Justice in Islam), 1949 • Ma'arakat al-Islam wa'l-Ra's Maliyya (The Battle Between Islam and Capitalism), 1951 • Al-Salam al-'Alami wa'l-Islam (World Peace and Islam), 1951 • Fi Zilal al-Qur'an (In the Shade of the Qur'an) 1954(written in prison) • Dirasat Islamiyya (Islamic Studies), 1953 • Hadha'l-Din (This Religion is Islam), n.d. (after 1954) • Al-Mustaqbal li-hadha'l-Din (The Future of This Religion), n.d. (after 1954) • Khasais al-Tasawwar al-Islami wa Muqawamatuhu (The Characteristics and Values of Islamic Conduct), 1960 • Al-Islam wa Mushkilat al-Hadara (Islam and the Problems of Civilization), n.d. (after 1954) • Ma'alim fi'l-Tariq (Signposts on the Road, or Milestones), 1964

9. Critical Analysis • John Calvert is one of the many writers who have commented on Sayyid Qutb’s life and works. Among his books are Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations (2000) and Sayyid Qutb and the Origins of Radical Islamism (2010). • He pinpoints the fact that Qutb faced a culture shock when in America, after seeing actions that were compared to “jahiliyah” (darkness). • Hisham Sabrin in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations (2000) quotes Qutb: “Should I travel to America, and become flimsy, and ordinary, like those who are satisfied with idle talk and sleep. Or should I distinguish myself with values and spirit. Is there other than Islam that I should be steadfast to in its character and hold on to its instructions, in this life amidst deviant chaos, and the endless means of satisfying animalistic desires, pleasures, and awful sins? I wanted to be the latter man.”

10. The Person • Gentle in natureFirstly, based on articles and various points of views on Sayyid Qutb, it is apparent that he was a man of gentle nature. Only by reading his writings, one is able to realise the mild manner of this noble man. • Fundamentalist?Firstly, as his writings show, it is clear that he stays true to the essential and core (thus fundamental) teachings of Islam. On the other hand, the word ‘fundamentalist’ has been so badly tainted and twisted to a meaning that is associated with terrorism and violence, that it is less than compelling to give such a noble man such a corrupted title.

11. Misunderstood Sayyid Qutb is misunderstood as someone who inspired terrorism and spread a radicalist ideology. It was unfortunate that his strong influence of good and pure Islamic teachings drove the then Egyptian regime to apprehend him and his men, which subsequently led to his execution.

12. AmruKhaled Biography Awards and Achievements Contributions and Influences TV Programs and Shows Book Publications

13. Biography • Full name is Amr Muhammad HelmiKhaled. • An activist and an avid preacher. • Founder and chairman of the board of trustees of Right Start Foundation, U.K. • Born on 5 September 1967 in Alexandria, Egypt into an affluent Muslim family. • Graduated from Cairo University with a Bachelor Degree in Accounting in 1998. • Received a diploma from an Islamic Studies Institute. • Obtained PhD at the University of Wales in 2010.

14. Began preaching in 1990 in Egyptian masjids while working as an accountant . • Became a full time preacher in 1998 via satellite TV and the Internet. • Has an official website: http://amrkhaled.net/newsite/ • Very influential and famous especially among youths. He speaks zealously from the heart and urges the youth to get closer to Islam and be active in building a better future for their communities. • In 2003, he was banned from giving speeches and asked to leave Egypt by the government as the regime was uncomfortable with his great public influence and fame.

15. Awards and Achievements • The New York Times Magazine in 2006 described him as the world's most famous and influential Muslim television preacher. • Listed in the Time Magazine and Prospect Magazine as one of most influential people in the world and one of the 50 Global Elites in Newsweek Magazine in 2008. • Won “International Non-smoking Day Award” by WHO (World Health Organisation)in May 2004 for his great efforts in the Program “Sunaaal-Hayah”(Life Makers). • Chosen as the second most popular figure in a questionnaire held by Al-Shabab(one of the most famous Egyptian magazines). • Awarded the Gold Medal of Merit by the President of the Republic of Yemen in appreciation of his efforts.

16. Contributions and Influences • He promotes the importance of wearing hijab and highlights that it protects women’s integrity and decency. As a result, an immense amount of teenagers in Egypt who were previously not hijab wearers began to wear it. • Disseminates his speeches on Islam through his television shows, audio lectures, books, the Internet, etc. He emphasizes the importance of personal piety, political reform, social activism and also promotes charity work and job creation as means of fighting extremism and despair among Arab and Muslim Youths.

17. He rejects terrorism, as he says: "This is nowhere in Islam. If anyone kills children or women, this is not acceptable, not only in Islam - in Jewish faith, in Christianity, in all the religions.“ • He promotes the ideology of “Faith Based Development” in which people will develop their communities and countries with faith as the motivator and guide. His comment about the ideology reads: "Faith is the motor of development and one can't do without it. I am not a Mufti, and I don't deliver legal judgments on what's permitted or forbidden under Islamic law. What I want to do is to move the Arab Youth”

18. He condemns Muslims’ attempts to blame Western imperialism for causing all their problems and tries to bridge the gap between them, as he states, "Muslims are living as parasites on the world. Our problem is that we have got used to taking without ever giving. Don't tell us it is a Western conspiracy against us, it is not.” • He has produced hundred of many television shows regarding Islam.

19. TV programs and shows 2001-2003: Wa-NalqaAl-Ahebba(Let’s Meet the Beloved Ones) – 85 episodes 2002: Islamuna(Our Islam) – 15 episodes 2002: Ramadan Lectures – 30 episodes 2003: Episodes on Family Problems – 8 episodes 2003: Until They Change Themselves – 22 episodes 2003: Ramadan Lectures – 30 episodes 2003:Qur’anic Reflections – 30 episodes 2005: On the Path of the Beloved - 28 episodes 2004: Life Makers - 25 episodes 2006: In Thy Name We Live - 25 episodes

20. Book publications • Al-Akhlaq(Manners) – translated into various languages • Al-Ebadat(Acts of Worship) – translated into various languages • Islah al-Quloob(Mending the Hearts) • Al-SabrWal-Dhuk(Patience and Courtesy) • Yusuf – AS (Joseph – PBUH) • Until They Change Themselves • Stories of the Prophets – translated into various languages • On the Path of the Beloved – translated into various languages • Life Makers – translated into various languages

21. Nawal al-Sadawi Biography Works Ideas Comparison with RokeyaSakhawatHossain

22. Biography • She is a writer, activist, and physician (psychiatrist). • Her father was a government official in the Ministry of Education. • She was graduated from Cairo University in 1955 and then became a medical doctor.

23. She has observed women’s physical and psychological problems and connected them with oppressive cultural practices. • She views that the problem facing by the women are caused by patriarchal oppression, class oppression, and imperialist oppression. • Her third husband, Sherif Hetata had been a political prisoner for 13 years.

24. In September 1981, she was imprisoned by Egyptian Government. • In 1988, Sadawi left Egypt. • She moved back to Egypt in 1996. • In 2004, she was awarded North-South Prize by the Council of Europe. • She ran the 2005 Egyptian Presidential Election but later withdrew from that election because of the tight rules for the first time candidates.

25. Her Works/ writings • Sadawi’s earliest writings include a selection of short stories entitled I Learned Love (1957) and the novel Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (1958) • In 1972, she published her first non-fiction work, Al- Mar’aWa-al-Jins (Women and Sex) which deals with sex, religion, and the trauma of female genital mutilation. • Some of her other works are: - The Hidden Face of Eve - God Dies by the Nile - The Circling Song - Searching - The Fall of the Imam - Woman at Point Zero

26. Her ideas 1) Her ideas tend to create hatred towards men. As she states: “Was this a man’s body, the outside covered with hair and the inside full of decaying stinking organs, his brain floating in a sticky white fluid and his heart in thick red blood? How ugly man was, both inside and out […] as ugly as could be!”- Memoirs of a Woman Doctor - She seems overly concerned with the physical differences between men and women. As she reminisces: “My brother’s hair was cut short but otherwise left free and uncombed, while mine was allowed to grow longer and longer and my mother combed it twice a day and twisted it into plaits and imprisoned the ends of it in ribbons and rubber bands.[…] how I wished I could cut them off with a sharp knife!”- Memoirs of a Woman Doctor “The heavy long hair I carried around everywhere on my head held me up in the morning, got in my way in the bath and made my neck burning hot in the summer, why wasn’t it short and free like my brother’s? His didn’t weigh his head down or hinder his activities. - Memoirs of a Woman Doctor

27. 2) She seems to confuse between culture and religion. For example, genital mutilation is a cultural practice, but Sadawi tends to regard it as an Islamic one. - Decision making in marriage “[D]ecision-making in marriage is still largely a family matter and most fathers are still prepared to sell their daughters into wedlock for a good price. Parental authority is shamefully misused when the matter concerns daughters. The Arab family being highly patriarchal, both socially and legally, the authority of the father over his daughters is absolute. In the name of a good marriage young girls are given to old decrepit husbands just because they can pay a big price.” - The Hidden Face of Eve * Unfortunately, Sadawi does not mention that in Islam a father has no right to force his daughter to marry someone that she does not like. - Accusing elements of Hajj for Muslim had pre- Islamic pagan roots.

28. Comparison between Nawal al-Sadawi and Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain

29. Nawal al-Sadawi and Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain come from two Muslim societies. However, the former seems to have a wrong notion about Islam and we need to evaluate her work accordingly.

30. Zaynab al-Ghazali Biography Views Works Jamaa’at al-Sayyidaat al-Muslimaat

31. Biography • She was born in the Egyptian Delta in 1917. • She died in 2005 at the age of 88. • Her father was an Al-Azhar student, an independent religious teacher and cotton merchant. He encouraged her to seek Islamic knowledge. • Early in her youth she was an active member of the Egyptian Feminist Union founded by Huda al-Sha`rawiin 1923, but later on she resigned her membership because she did not agree with Huda al-Sha’rawi’s Western approach of promoting women’s right.

32. At the age of eighteen, Zaynab al-Ghazali founded the Muslim Women's Association known as Jamaa’at al-Sayyidaat al-Muslimaat • Before she got married to her first husband, she postulated a pre-condition: ; Whenever a clash is apparent between his personal interests and economic activities on the one hand, and her Islamic work on the other, and that she finds her married life is standing in the way of Da'wah and the establishment of an Islamic state, then, each of them should go their own way.Thus when these conflicts occurred in their marriage, she asked for a divorce.

33. Her second husband was more understanding and never prevented her from fulfilling her mission in the service of the Islamist cause. He died while she was in prison. • She was imprisoned because the government falsely accused her of an assassination attempt on President Nassir, and was sentenced to twenty-five year of hard labor but was released under Anwar Sadat's Presidency in 1971. • After the release, she resumed teaching and writing for the revival of Muslim Brotherhood's magazine, al-Dawah.

34. Three Egyptian Feminisms • Western Feminism Founded by Huda al-Sha’rawi, it promotes women’s rights by using Western ideology and arguments. 2) Native Feminism It was promoted by MalakHifniNasif whose focus is more on Egyptian culture. Her source to fight for women’s right is based on the influence of culture.

35. Islamic Feminism • It was introduced by Zaynab al-Ghazali who uses Islamic ideas and arguments in fighting for women’s right. Her arguments are based on Islamic sources.

36. Views towards Women • In an interview at home in Heliopolis, Egypt in 1981 Zaynab al-Ghazali said: “Islam has provided everything for both men and women. It gave women everything — Islamic rights, political rights, social rights, public and private rights. Islam gave women rights in the family granted by no other society. Women may talk of liberation in Christian society, Jewish society, or pagan society, but in Islamic society it is a grave error to speak of the liberation of women. The Muslim woman must study Islam so she will know that it is Islam that has given her all her rights”.

37. Basically, from the excerpt we can infer that, Islam has provided women with many rights. However, the Islamic society has prevented them from enjoying those rights. Therefore, Zaynab al-Ghazali urges all Muslim women to study Islam so that they will get the benefit that Islam has given them. • Her main message is, Muslim women need to know about Islam in order for them to fight for their rights.

38. Besides, Zaynab al-Ghazali believes that Islam permits women part in these activities: • To take an active part in public life. • To hold jobs. • To enter politics and express their opinion. • To own property. • To do business. However, a Muslim woman’s first duty is to be a mother and a wife, and that no other activity should interfere with this role. Thus, their primary duty must be fulfilled first.

39. Works 1)Ayyam min hayyati(Days from My Life, or Return of the Pharaoh) • In this book, she incorporates her prison experiences, especially the terrible forms of torture she suffered. She was thrown into a cell locked up with dogs to confess assassination attempt on President Nassir. • She says that she was able to survive in the prison because of a miracle, as Allah helped her and granted her prayers.

40. 2) A creative writer, Zaynab al-Ghazali contributed regularly to major Islamic journals and magazines on Islamic and women's issues. 3) She was also the editor of a women's and children's section in the al-Dawah magazine.

41. Her Activities with Jamaa’at al-Sayyidaat al-Muslimaat • Gave lectures to women at Ibn Tulun Masjid to make them well-informed about Islam and to give them proper education about their privileges as Muslim women. • Published a magazine, maintained an orphanage, offered assistance to poor families, and mediated family disputes.