"Women's consciousness in itself is an abundant blessing, and many peoples have profited by it in bettering their conditions; but the Islamic nations have not been able to do so, because their women are deprived of the element of stability necessary to achieve the freedom to devote oneself to sound production.
"The root of the trouble in the Muslim woman's anxiety lies in the legislative laws in force, which threaten her life with dangers, make her feel as though she were living on the palm of a demon, and keep her in constant terror of losing her home, her husband, and her children without cause. This anxiety takes hold of women's thinking and confines their concern to the point of danger and nothing else, and thereby turns them away from taking part in the productive efforts that have so palpable an effect in the renaissances of peoples.
"And whether these legislative laws conform to the spirit of religion or contradict it, they have become unsuited to the spirit of the modern age, and their survival is a waste of any efforts expended on the advancement of the Islamic peoples. I see no hope to be looked for before these legislative laws are changed, so that life may keep step with the demands of true civilization; for the laws of inheritance, divorce, maintenance, custody, polygamy, and the house of obedience squander woman's dignity morally, socially, and economically, and stand between her and her feeling that she is a complete human being.
"It is futile to expect any good of the Muslim woman before we do away with all her legislative troubles, making her equal with the male in inheritance and stripping the man of his right to trifle with the sanctity of married life." (1)
(1) Excerpted from the Egyptian magazine al-Hilal, in its issue for January 1955, p. 155, from an article on "The Problems of the Muslim Woman" by Mrs. Amina al-Said.
"By lamp and wick" we searched long for a Muslim lady of considered opinion who would make such a declaration, that we might take it as the starting point of a great constructive project.
And The Woman's Voice, which has been known from its founding to this very day for its frank progressive policy, has been known likewise for its moderate and sincere disposition toward all the elements of womankind, favoring none of them over another. How it would have delighted her had this sincere and daring declaration come from our own midst, so that we should not have to borrow it from a dear sister of ours who by right occupies the leadership of the Arab women's procession.
The woman of letters Mrs. Amina al-Said has realized, after long reflection upon our present condition, that no true renaissance can be hoped for that would strengthen the institutions of our civic life so long as we drag chains hard to unlock, before which we surrender and sit resigned.
And The Woman's Voice, moreover, believes in the unity of the work, not in its parceling out.
The demand for equality in inheritance for Christian women alone is a project in which she does not find the whole good; she prefers an absolute equality for all the communities, the cry for which should go up from every side, with stubborn insistence, until what we want is made right for us..
These are the words of Mrs. Amina al-Said; we send them out today from our first page, consulting by them the honored leaders, men and women, of our renaissance, appealing to them to comment freely upon these words and to give their view of them, whether negative or affirmative (provided the text does not exceed one hundred and fifty words). With the request that replies be sent to the magazine's administration — P.O. Box 1284 — Beirut — accompanied by a picture of the commentator, man or woman, so that we may publish them one after another in its issues, thanking their authors for their useful contribution.
The Woman's Voice enters this thorny path with courage, and never has it believed more firmly in its mission: to defend the causes of woman and to carry them forward to the goal.