The Immortal Leader Huda Shaarawi

Friday, December 11, marked the anniversary of the immortal leader Mrs. Huda Shaarawi, and Radio Lebanon presented a special program for the occasion in its weekly corner 'Woman's Talk,' in which Mrs. Jihan Gazawi Aony delivered the following address:

If I wish to speak today of the great fighter Huda Shaarawi on the occasion of her fifth anniversary, then I must speak as well of the stretch of time that surrounded that blessed leap taken by the first woman of our Arab East, so that the discerning listener may know how it was granted to that one woman to lead millions of women behind her, bearing in her noble hand the torch of light, without heeding the leaders of religion, or troubling herself with the disputation of the rigid, or caring for the debates of the approvers with these or with those. Her aim was one alone: to raise woman's standing and to lift her up from that level in which she had so long acquiesced — to lift her up in deed, after having prepared the way for it in word over a period of time which, for all the ruggedness of the path, was radiant and alluring, taking such hold of her thinking that she never ceased laboring at it night and day with a conviction of steel.

True, a few striving individuals had prepared the ground for this movement of transition with bold and righteous pens — such as Qasim Amin, Bahithat al-Badiya, May, and a few others besides — yet not one of them dared to put into practice what he said; for to change the face of history and to carry it from one condition to another is no light or easy matter, and there stand its inherited beliefs, religious and traditional. Hence there had to exist a personality of revolutionary genius, with a self-assurance no barrier could withstand; a devoted, strong soul whose lance never bends and whose zeal never rests, and a daring... in harmony with deep-rooted stock and nobility of lineage; a forcefulness joined to a great deal of woman's delicacy, the softness of femininity, and the innocence of angels — all of it encompassed by a splendor of beauty and a leap of intelligence. And that personality, which history prepared to be alone a fabric unique of its kind, was: Huda Shaarawi.

Huda — this wondrous woman, on whose study volumes ought to be written, and to whom, in every house of the women's unions, in every land of the Arab world, a memorial of marble ought to be raised, that all may know that Huda will remain through the ages one of the women of genius and greatness of this world, women who ought to be taken as examples. Not because her life was one long chain of struggle stretching to nearly forty years; nor because she was the first to lift from woman's face the veil of ignorance and abasement; nor because she stood to defy history and say to it: after today there shall no longer be written in your glorious register 'men and men'... but 'women and men.' No — not for this, nor for that, but because she showed us a new face among the faces of women: a face in which, beside the freshness of beauty, there is a captivating radiance of thought; in which, beside woman's natural tenderness and compassion, there is the firmness of leadership; and in which, beside nobility of lineage, there are dignity and poise — all of them together that very thing

which the man-leader lacks, with his arrogance and vanity, his tyranny and recklessness.

Huda Shaarawi showed us the face of a young girl over whose eyes there fluttered a thrilling, tempting dream; she let her eyelids fall upon it with devotion and determination, and went on, in a kind of burning trance, holding it fast, striving that it should not slip from her, for fear it might never come back to her again — for there were those who would stand between her and it, to cut off her way. The way was rugged, unfit for her tender feet; along its sides staring eyes all but devoured those innocent charms; and between step and step vipers hissed and scorpions stung.

But the young Huda, with her great aims, her sweet thoughts, and her wondrous mission, did not swerve at what she saw; her resolve did not weaken, nor was she diverted by what diverts girls of her age at that early time of life. In the midst of that wealthy setting in which she grew up amid comfort, indulgence, and unconcern, neither the palaces with all they held could tempt her, nor the world of youth with all its bustle; for above all this there was that which filled her thinking and possessed her mind.

This bewitching doll, prisoner of stately mansions — this woman, as mother and sister and wife and daughter — she who is commanded and obeys, for whom laws are laid down and who accepts them meekly, without objection... what harm would it do her to know that she is a true human being, possessing all that man possesses of the faculties of thought and of the rights to life and liberty, with no difference between them save the softness of femininity and the roughness of masculinity — or, in the medical phrase, a fine psychology that has no bearing whatever on understanding and makes no difference in mental gifts?

And then, what harm would it do her to make of herself a lamp lighting the straight road for this woman, relying in that upon her eminent social position, her abundant private fortune, her intelligence and her beauty, her learning, and the breadth of her knowledge?

And so Huda Shaarawi turned her face toward the hope that had robbed her of sleep and occupied her soul, and set about cutting through the thorny road toward it with a daring heart that, in speaking its decisive word, feared no reproacher's blame; neither the persuading of the persuaded nor the rebuke of those who clung to the old could turn her from her resolve.

And the luminous dream began to come true little by little, and the light began to scatter the veils of darkness one by one. How beautiful, then, is struggle!... And oh, the sweet hopes, when they come true!...

She cut her path first by preparing the ground for what she wanted among families and in social gatherings; and when she found no listening ear or conscious heart, she began calling for the founding of associations, charitable and literary, and in 1912 she formed the Society for the Literary Advancement of Ladies. Then, around the year 1914, she set about arranging a series of lectures at the old Egyptian University, inviting women to them; and they answered the call — at first under compulsion or out of politeness, then eagerly and with enthusiasm. And she took part in works of piety and charity, drawing in with her the ladies of the upper class as helpers who sought for it neither praise nor thanks.

Upon the outbreak of the First Great War, Huda took the leadership of the women's movement in Egypt; and in the Egyptian national revolution of 1919 she headed the Wafd Central Committee for Ladies. And when the appointed hour drew near, she was at the forefront of the thousands of women demonstrators crying out behind her for red liberty, exposing their breasts, beating with patriotism, to the fires of the colonizer, offering up their lives cheaply as ransom for Egypt and for precious freedom.

In 1923 the International Women's Union invited Egypt to be represented in it; Huda answered the call and traveled to Rome with some of her Egyptian colleagues, and there all eyes turned toward her in astonishment — for it had never crossed the minds of the Westerners that the Eastern woman had attained such a splendid station of bearing, intelligence, and daring.

When she returned to Egypt, the first thing she thought of was lifting the veil from woman's face, so that she might keep pace with the Western woman in her activity. And she carried out the idea in a graceful, captivating manner: when the thousands who came to welcome her at the port of Alexandria, men and women alike, cheered her, she swiftly lifted the veil from her face and cast it into the sea... then returned their greeting, unveiled and thankful.

And in a lightning flash she saw the women among the welcomers lift their veils and throw them to the ground without hesitation, following her example, standing with her even at this decisive turning point. Thus it was decreed that the Arab woman should take her first great step at the hands of the first woman leader whom men could not withstand — nor could history. For hers was an integrity that bridles tongues, and a self-assurance that imposes itself upon time.