Dr. Safaa Hassanin
Spouse of Dr. Khaled ElKomy
Ambassador of Egypt to Yemen
Those who know about the history of Egypt – of all its ages – realize that women have had an important role in both Ancient and Modern Egypt.
Names like, Hatchibsut, Nefertiti (which means the pretty is coming) and Nefertari (which means the most beautiful among beautiful women), are names of queens who ruled or helped rule old Egypt.
Moreover, the stories of Isis, Osiers and Horus, although they are legendary stories, tell us about the important status and role of ancient Egyptian women.
These legends suggest women in Ancient Egypt were entrusted with planning and running society, protecting national security, and needless to say, raising families and other sacred duties.
Noticing the respected status of women in Ancient Egypt, after Islam came to Egypt, women obtained more rights status thanks to what God gave her through Islam. For example, a woman keeps her economic status. And she keeps her maiden name, unlike many parts of the Western World.
While the status of women in Egypt, both before and after Islam, remained dignified through different ages, here status did weaken, along with other social aspects, during Memlouk and Ottoman empires, which saw political, economic and social poverty all over Egypt.
At the beginning of the 20th Century, Kassem Amin, a social reformist, sparked a movement to liberate Egyptian women from social, cultural, and intellectual oppression.
A few years later, led by Saad Zaghloul, the Revolution of 1919 erupted. Zaghloul’s wife Safeya, played an essential role to include the liberation of Egyptian women within the goals of the national revolution.
Since then, Egyptian women have again started to regain their status. With the Revolution of 1952, which considered education “As important as water and air”, according to Taha Hussein’s appeal, the Egyptian government secured free education, and medical care for everyone. This enabled Egyptian women to stand next to her husband on equal footing, with fair chances to become a doctor, teacher, researcher, scientist, ambassador or minister with no restrictions.
Education is, in fact, key to liberate. Without, there can be no liberation.
What’s important for women in Yemen to realize is that while it’s easy to believe many things, what matters is the actions of people and a society. They should understand that as they also seek to find their own fair status.

Ma – Now I would just like to know whether you are really a citizen like everyone else, or whether you’re a representative of the government. I’ve no idea which, Mus’id.
M – What on earth do you mean, a representative of the government?
Ma – I don’t know. Ask yourself! You woke me up first thing this morning upsetting the garage mechanic. Poor man! He’s only trying to make a living for himself and his family. No one does what you do unless they’ve been commissioned by the state!
M – Are you trying to say that I can only stop someone doing something wrong if I’ve been commissioned by the state, or what, Mus’ida?
Ma – I’m not thinking about anything in particular, but you have no right to be so arrogant and agressive towards the poor garage mechanic when all he’s trying to do is earn an honest living for himself and his children.
M – The way you’re talking you’d think I’d approached him with five mates carrying automatic weapons by their sides, Mus’idih?
Ma – If you ever did manage to get mates with automatic weapons and bombs with you being so stupid and disagreeable, you’d run people over like a mad bull! But God is merciful, and made sure you didn’t have that power.
M – First of all, understand what’s going on before you go making accusations! I went over to the garage mechanic and spoke to him perfectly politely. I said to him, ‘The people of this neighbourhood had to petition the state for two years to get them to asphalt our street.’ Do you see, or not?
Ma – The state agreed and paved the streets of our neighbourhood, then each of us had the pavement in front of our houses paved.
M – Exactly! So after all this asphalting and paving, our neighbourhood became clean and something to be proud of. Now it is up to everyone here, young or old, to maintain this level of cleanliness.
Ma – Quite so! But it is not right for you to attack the garage mechanic and tell him if he doesn’t get out of the neighbourhood you’ll have his workshop closed down and have him arrested! Why? Who on earth do you think you are? Pride is forbidden by God, and being spiteful is typical of scorpions, not men!
M – God preserve us! Can we stop this stupid talk? I’m trying to tell you that I spoke to the garage mechanic as politely and with as much respect as I could muster. I told him that every man, woman and child in the neighbourhood had decided that we had to maintain the level of cleanliness we now had in the area, by not dropping any rubbish or litter; and at the end, we said that everyone was responsible for cleaning the pavement in front of his own house. And you, mate, have come and smeared the street, and the pavement, and the walls with oil and grease and diesel. And this type of pollution not only makes the streets and the pavements and the walls look disgusting, it also ruins the soil and will probably leak into our drinking water too!
Ma – You’re absolutely right, and this is something we all have to understand, but you should lay off interfering until you’re actually made a representative of the government so that you can attack more effectively, Mus’id.
M – Stop going on about responsibility and representation and attacking. As a citizen, it’s my duty to make other people realise they need to abide by basic laws of cleanliness.