The Muslim Brotherhood and women’s issues under Sadat: dogmas and discussions

Abstract

This paper examines why the MB was cautious in its revision of views on women under Anwar Sadat when it was, at the same time, changing the way it dealt with politics and the issue of revolutionary violence, by looking at the movement’s view on women as expressed in its own writings. I argue that the MB’s view on women was in line with the Islamic revival Egypt experienced. Given the nature of Egyptian society under Sadat, in which women still mainly played central roles in the domestic setting, reconsidering their traditional position was not viewed by the movement and many of the Egyptians it reached out to as something that needed change, contrary to the country’s administrative situation. Additionally, women’s issues were used by the MB as a tool to showcase its piety. This was instrumental in its search for political and religious authority, which the movement needed in order to expand its membership, lead the fragmented Islamic movement, deal with its own divided rank-and-file, and challenge the Sadat administration.