Women’s veiling and their seclusion have been controversial debates for long ages. Qasim Amin (1863-1908), an Egyptian jurist and philosopher, was one of the early Arab writers who advocated women’s emancipation. Born in Alexandria, Amin received international attention while he published his thought-provoking book Tahrir al-Mar’a (The Liberation of Women) in 1899. In this work, he criticized Egyptian women’s veiling and seclusion, spoke against polygamy, advocated women’s education, and called for their liberation. This paper throws light on the works of Qasim Amin with special reference to Tahrir al-Mar’a and focuses on the issue of the veil and seclusion of women in Egyptian society.
Sibte Hadi (Tue,) studied this question.