Nawāl al-Sa^cdāwī was born in Kafr Tahlah in Egypt's Delta, in 1931. Her father was a civil servant at the Ministry of Education. Her parents who had 8 other kids sent al-Sa^cdāwī along with her brothers to school. Al- Sa^cdāwī entered the medical school, University of Cairo in 1949. In 1955 she got her M.D. In 1966 she received her Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University, New York.

Al-Sa^cdāwī started her medical career as a physician at the university 1955-1965. Then she spent two years at the Rural Health Center in Tahlah.

Her first marriage to Ahmad Hilmī, a medical-student, ended in divorce as well as her second marriage to a wealthy traditionalist, who did not accept her writing In 1964 Nawāl al-Sa^cdāwī married Sharīf Hatātah, a physician and novelist whom she met while sharing an office in the Ministry of Health. Hatātah had been imprisoned for 13 years for his political views translated several of al-Sa^cdāwī's books into English. Al-Sa^cdāwī has a daughter , Dr/Muná Hilmī , a novelist, and a son, ^cĀtif Hatātah, a cinema director. In 1958 al-Sa

In 1958 al-Sa^cdāwī was hired as the Director General of Public Health Education in the Ministry of Health. At the same time she was the editor-in-chief of the "Health" magazine (which she had founded and edited for more than three years), and assistant general secretary for Egypt's Medical Association. In 1972 al-Sa^cdāwī lost her position the Ministry as a consequence of her political activities and for publishing her book entitled Al-Mar'ah wa-alJjins,(Women and Sex) which dealt with the taboo subjects of sex and religion in the Egyptian society. In the same year the magazine, "Health", was closed down and her books were censored.

From 1973 to 1976 she worked on researching women and neurosis in the Ain Shams University's Faculty of Medicine. She worked as an author in the Supreme Council for Arts and Social Sciences, Cairo, 1974 -1978. From 1979 to 1980 she was the United Nations Advisor for the Women's Programme in Africa (ECA) and Middle East (ECWA)

In 1981 President Sadāt put her in prison, among other, in a crackdown on the opponents of the peace (with Israel) process he launched however she was released one month after his assassination. 1,2

Nawāl al-Sa^cdāwī has been awarded several national and international literary prizes, and has lectured in many universities and organized and participated in many international and national conferences.

Al-Sa^cdāwī was invited as a Visiting Professor in different universities:

- Duke University, 1993- 1996
- University of Washington, Seatt1e, 1995
- University of Illinois at Chicago, 1998, Florida Atlantic University 1999
- Montclair State University 2001-2002
- University of Southern Maine January to December 2003
- University Autonoma at Barcelona Spain 2004
- Smith College Northampton MASS. USA Autumn 2004
- Claremont Graduate School , California USA Spring 2005

 

Arab Women's Solidarity Association (AWSA):
Arab Women's Solidarity Association (AWSA) was founded in Egypt in 1982 by a group of 120 women who agreed that the struggle for the liberation of Arab people and freedom from economic, cultural and media domination cannot be separated from the liberation of Arab women. The Association which was headed by al-Sa^cdāwī came to existence as an international non-profit organization that aims at promoting Arab women's active participation in social, economic, cultural, and political life.

In 1991, the government issued a decree that closed down the Association and handed over its funds to an association called Women in Islam. ³

Presidential Elections:
On 8 December 2004 al-Sa^cdāwī presented herself as an independent candidate for the first presidential elections in Egypt. There was a wave of rejection at the public opinion level mainly because she is a woman. However that was not the only reason, at least for some of those who objected to al-Sacdāwī being a president of Egypt. One of them was Dr. Āmnah Nusīr (the ex-dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies - University of Alexandria ). Nusīr justified her stance saying that al-Sa^cdāwī is not qualified for holding such a position, moreover she denies many of the principles of the Islamic sharī^cah.

Al-Sa^cdāwī said that one of the main reasons why she nominated herself for the position of the state president was to provoke momentum in the Egyptian political and intellectual life around the controversial question of women holding the position of presidency. She said that obtaining the position was not her goal; rather it was supporting the public movement and the political and intellectual dialogue which aims at a real process of democratization, reform and progress in the Arab world.

The wave of objection eased, however, after the Shaykh Muhammad Sayīd Tantāwī, the Grand Imām of the Azhar, released a fatwá stating that it is not prohibited for a woman to be a state president.

The main features of the electoral program al-Sa^cdāwī suggested were:
- Changing the philosophy upon which the Egyptian educational system based in a way that would boost freedom of debate, critical thinking and break the limits on free thinking, and create more comprehensive vision by eliminating the borders between different cognitive fields, and finding the connection between economics, law, sociology ,history , philosophy, medicine and art as well internal and external politics.

- Strengthening decentralization and turning the pyramidal type of governance into a flatter type, which will increase the sense of responsibility among people. Also eliminating all kinds of immunity so that everyone is accountable and can be subjected to the (nullified) Law of Illegal Profit Making ,known in media as "where did you get this?". All positions in the state will be by election and the principle of nomination will be canceled especially in the legislative body and high ranking executive positions including the post of the grand imam of the Azhar, the professors of the university as well as the deans of colleges, also positions at the National Council for Human Rights and the national council for women.

- Nullifying all legislations that lead to discrimination between citizens based on religion or sex or race, so that nomination to any position in the state including the head of the state will be equally available for everyone.

- Nullifying all kinds of legislations that restrict freedom, including the Emergency Law, and all financial terms of issuing publications, or producing movies and launching TV channels. Also nullifying all conditions on forming political parties, unions and civil society organizations.

- Liberating the Egyptian economic system from American, European or Israeli control, encouraging local industrial and agricultural product, and combating corruption.

- Solidarity with the international public movement against war and exploitative globalization and colonial control of the United States ,Europe and Israel .

- Supporting resistance against occupation in Palestine and Iraq.

Notably that al-Sa^cdāwī was excluded from the first presidential elections as well as all independent candidates as the constitutional amendment that was run to the article 76, was undertaken in a way it that was meant to exclude independent candidates ⁴

Constitutional Reform
In 2007, coincidently with the President Mubārak's suggestions of amending 34 of the Egyptian constitution al-Sa^cdāwī was one of those who criticized, and asked for changing the second article of the Egyptian constitution which states that "Islam is the religion of the state…and the principles of the Islamic Sharī^cah are the main source of legislation.

Al-Sa^cdāwī criticized those who defended the article and said that this article of the constitution distinguishes between people according to their religion. She also criticized the article 11 which has it restricts the equality between men and women "in accordance with the Islamic sharī^cah".

She said that some intellectuals try to "flirt" with Islamists by inviting the authorities to give them the space to express themselves freely. She accused people adopting such calls of being against progress and aiming at halting the constitutional reform process, which would boost national unity by making people equal before the law regardless their religion or sex throughout promoting the notion of citizenship. In her writings she raised the question of the religious reference of Egypt and the relationship between the Egyptian state and Islam:

"What is the cultural reference for the Egyptian society and political regime? Is it an Islamic reference? is it Islamic even though the Egyptian history tells us that Egypt had been concurred many times by Greeks, Romans, Turks and British Colonialist power and that most of Egyptians were Copts till the Islamic Arab concur came over ,then the majority of people converted? And even though the fact that Egyptians are not all Muslims?" ⁵

The Azhar: Freedom of Expression vs. Accusations of Apostasy:
In 2001 a Muslim lawyer filed a suit of forceful divorce against al-Sa^cdāwī (according to Hisbah law) awake an independent magazine, Ākhir Sā^cah, published an interview was run with her. The lawyer, Nabīl al-wahsh, assured that he is not against freedom of expression however he was "provoked" by al-Sa^cdāwī's statements in the interview as she ,according to the interview, attacked the Islamic pilgrimage, veil, the Azhar's ^cUlamā' and the principles of the Islamic Sharī^cah ( Jurisprudence). Al-Sa^cdāwī, who accused the magazine of falsifying many of the published statements, won her case in Cairo court against the forceful divorce lawsuit. ⁶

In 2004 the Azhar banned her play The Fall of the Imam. In 2007 the Azhar's Islamic Research academy, chaired by the head of the institution, Shaykh Muhammad Sayīd Tantāwī, agreed to file a suit against the play, which was according to the introduction of the play, a rewriting of an old novel al-Sa^cdāwī had written when she was imprisoned by Sādāt and which was entitled God Resigns in the Summit Meeting. ⁷

The Azhar accused al sa^cdāwī of contempt of God and his prophets in her play. The Azhar's decision wrested on the fact that the play embodied God and his prophets: Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad as well as Eve, the Virgin Marie and the Satin, which is prohibited in Islam. One of the objected parts of the novel by the Azhar was: the dialogue between Moses and Jesus where the earlier is telling the latter that God had distinguished the people of Israel by providing them with the means to communicate with him as they are the "chosen people of God". The Azhar also objected to a dialogue between Eve and the satin where Eve is asking the satin about the "fake circulated story" about her being created out of Adam's rib. The Azhar banned the play. Al-Sa^cdāwī- wrote that she was referring to al-Sādāt by "the Imām" as he used to call himself "the believing president" however she burnet the novel out of fear. ⁸

Al-Sa^cdāwī criticized the Azhar's decision saying that criticizing fiction is non of the Azhar's business :"Since when do men of religion pass judgment on plays? That is something for theatre critics to do, not them," she said. "It is a piece of fiction and fiction has no limits." She added. She criticized the performance of the Azhar institution saying that since the royal episode of the Egyptian history the Azhar has been dependent on the government and accordingly adopting its visions : "Under King Fārūq, the Azhar used to picture the king as the Amīr al-Mu'minīn, under (president) Nāsir socialism was (pictured by the Azhar) as accordant with Islam, and under (president) Sādāt making peace with Israe wasl supported by the Azhar ,based on the (the Qur'ānic verse) :" But if the enemy incline towards peace, do thou (also) incline towards peace, and trust in Allah…" (8/61), and under the current president Mubārak whoever expresses an opinion that is not
accordant with the official one is (being pictured by the Azhar as) Kāfir".9

Noteworthy that in 2007 al-Sa^cdāwī and her daughter Dr/ Muná Hilmī were called before the Prosecutor General as they called for allowing children to carry the names of their mothers along with the names of their fathers, which contradicts with a Qur'ānic text "Call them by (the names of) their fathers: that is juster in the sight of Allah" (33/5). ¹⁰

Dār al-Iftā' in Egypt : Why Does not it close?!
In 2006 she wrote an article entitled "Why does not the Dār al-Iftā' Close?" In which she attacked the Dār al-Iftā' and the Muftī ^cAlī Jum^cah for a fatwá he released stating the prohibition of sculpture. She thinks that the fatwá is irrelevant to the real challenges encountered by inside the Egyptian society such as poverty, or to the pressing questions in the Islamic and the Arab world, such as the situation in Palestine and Iraq. She considered this fatwá misleading for the Egyptian public and increasing ignorance.

"Why does not the Muftī and other Islamic scholars, as well as scholars in other fields call the Egyptian people for a public campaign condemning the atrocities in Iraq and Palestine and corruption and external exploitation? ¹¹

Political Islam and Democratization
She criticized the idea propagated by some intellectuals, which states that social peace in Egypt and the region is related to allowing Muslim brotherhood to express their visions freely, since freedom of expression is the core of democracy, and since political Islamism is an existent trend as a matter of fact.
Al-Sa^cdāwī finds a relation between obedience to God and the flourish of authoritarianism: "If people believe in obedience to God…in fate and destiny then autocratic, authoritarian ideas and systems will flourish". She questioned in one of her writings: "How come it is only one trend of thought, the Islamic, that had prevailed over social, cultural and political life in Egypt? Is it because they are scaring people by punishment in life and after life, while their slogan is the Qur'ān and the sword? Or is it because successive Egyptian regimes have weakened all other cultural and political movements for the favor of the liberal patriarchal ideas that preserved by the government along with the Islamists both internally and externally? Or could it because the Egyptian government had struck all other potential forces: leftist, feminist, youngsters, as a first step towards allowing an American and Israeli occupation of the Egyptian market, which has started in early 1970s?" ¹²

Al-Sa^cdāwī thinks that fundamentalism and political religious movement is a universal post-modernist phenomenon that is not confined to the Islamic world (fundamentalism can obviously be seen in the United States, Israel and India). However there is a deliberate focus on Islamism which serves the economic and political agenda of the western powers.

In Egypt, the increase of fundamentalism (on both Islamic and Coptic sides), is a reaction to the globalization and its economic and cultural affiliations:

"The "cultural change" characterized by the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Egypt is an integral part of our post-modern era, of the changes that have affected all countries, and all peoples, of developments in multi-national global capitalism. It is a reaction to the socio-economic crisis of the so-called free market, to the lack of perspectives for the future, to the sufferings, the insecurity, the economic difficulties, the lack of opportunities for youth, the unemployment, the loss of hope amongst people… The "religious revival" and the growth of Islamic fundamentalism has also been a retrograde "cultural reaction" against the "West" perceived as being responsible for the increasing woes of people".

Muslim Brotherhood:
Al-Sa^cdāwī thinks that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt is more of a theological or clerical nature compared to the formal Islamic institution (including the Ministry of Endowments /Awqāf and the Azhar, mosques and religious schools) as the latter has tended to "adapt itself to semi- secular interests and policies of successive governments in Egypt" meanwhile the Muslim Brotherhood is of a militant nature ,more popular and competing to obtain power.
Al-Sa^cdāwī has referred to the "process of modernization" within the Muslim Brotherhood, namely to what she perceived as "democratic changes in the mentality and attitudes of its protagonists who belong to new generations of the movement", she thinks that, however, such changes are very limited in scope as they confined to a small number of Islamic intellectuals and professionals who have been trying to introduce a liberal interpretation of Islam. One main reason why the democratic changes inside the Muslim Brotherhood continue to be of a minor nature is the lack of the necessary requirements in the Egyptian political environment in general. ¹³

War on Terrorism:
In 2003, in the anniversary of September the 11^th attacks she wrote an article entitled "How Can We Fight Terrorism for Humanity".
Al-Sa^cdāwī criticized the tough security measures which were declared by the United States for the purpose of combating terrorism and she considered them , the security measures, as sort of terrorism. She also criticized the American military practices in Afghanistan and Iraq and expressed her wonder about how can it be claimed that such violent practices are working for humanity: "Why military invasion and mass massacres by "coalition troops" are not described as "terrorism" but as civilizing, democratizing missions meant to free our world of the "Bin Lādins" who have arisen, and continue to arise in different parts of the world".

Al-Sa^cdāwī argues that if peoples want a violence-free world then they should actually fight against both the "Bin Lādin's" and the American terrorism.
She related the American violent practices in the name of war on terror to the violent practices of the Israeli forces in the occupied territories in the name of self defense. She also referred to the imbalance in power between the highly equipped Israelis and the almost unarmed Palestinians. One of the main questions she raised in this respect in her article was: Is resistance to foreign occupation considered "terrorism"?

Al- Sa^cdāwī considers the Palestinian practices against the Israeli forces as very justified and should be understood in the frame of legal self-defense: "On the one hand we have military aggression, on the other self-defense, a right recognized by the international and national law". She also thinks that suicide bombing is not terrorism in itself it rather is a product of state terrorism and complete injustice and a sign of extreme desperation.
The key idea for Combating terrorism according to al-Sa^csāwī is combating "war" and dismantling nuclear weapons from every part of the world starting from the United States and Israel. ¹⁴

Women and Islam:
Notably that al-Sa^cdāwī believes that religion is a "political ideology" and that rulers cannot practice their power over people without the religious dimension of their power.

Al-Sa^cdāwī has denounced the patriarchy of the three great Middle Eastern religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam), and argued for the theory that the ancient Egyptian tradition and the society built upon it were matriarchal.

She thinks that judging Islam apart from the other two religions is unfair and often politically motivated:"We have to compare the Qur'ān to other holy books before we judge Islam. A fair comparison will help us to discover that the Qur'ān or fundamental teachings of Islam are relatively progressive in relation to women and democracy". ¹⁵

- Founder and President, Arab Women's Solidarity Association (AWSA), 1982
- Founder, Noon Magazine, 1989-1991 and Health Magazine 1968-1973
- Co-Founder, Arab Association for Human Rights, 1983-1987
- Founder Vice-President, African Association for Women on Research Development, Dakar, Senegal, 1977 -1987
- President and Organizer, International Conference on the Challenges Facing Arab Women, Cairo, September, 1986, and other international conferences of AWSA, 1988, 1990, 1992, and 1997, 1999, 2002 and 2005 in Cairo.
- Founder, Health Education Association and Chief Editor, Health Magazine, Cairo, Egypt, 1968-1974 Founder, Egyptian Women Writer's Association, 1971
- Secretary General of Medical Association, Cairo, Egypt. 1968-1972
- Editor of Medical Association Magazine, 1968-1972 ¹⁶

All originals are in Arabic. Most have been translated into 30 languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Catalan, Portuguese, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Italian, Dutch, Finnish, Indonesian, Japanese, Iranian, Turkish, Urdu, Thai, and others.

Much of al-Sa^cdāwī's writings have roots in her personal life. She wrote: "Perhaps in some ways autobiography is more real, more true than fiction, more creative, and more steeped in art. Autobiography seeks to reveal the self, what is hidden inside, just as it tries to see the other"

- Memoirs of a Woman Doctor (Cairo, 1958)
- The Absent One (Cairo, 1969)
- Two Women in One (Cairo, 1971)
- Woman at Point Zero (Beirut, 1973)
- The Death of the Only Man on Earth (Beirut, 1975)
- The Children's Circling Song (Beirut, 1976)
- The Fall of the Imam (Cairo, 1987)
- Ganat and the Devil (Beirut, 1991)
- Love in the Kingdom of Oil (Cairo, 1993)
- The Novel(Cairo, 2004 )

- Memories (in Arabic)
- Memoirs in a Women's Prison (Cairo, 1983)
- My Travels Around the World (Cairo, 1986)
- Memoirs of a Child Called Soad (Cairo, 1990) (1944)
- My Life, Part I, Autobiography (Cairo, 1996)
- My Life, Part II, Autobiography (Cairo, 1998)
- My Life, Part III (2001)

- Women and Sex (Cairo, 1969)
- Woman is the Origin (Cairo, 1971)
- Men and Sex (Cairo, 1973)
- The Naked Face of Arab Women (Cairo, 1974)
- Women and Neurosis (Cairo, 1975)
- A New Battle in Arab Women Liberation (Cairo, 1992)
- The Hidden Face of Eve [study] (London: Zed Books, 1980)
- Woman at Point Zero [novel] (London: Zed Books, 1982)
- God Dies by the Nile [novel] (London: Zed Books, 1984)
- Circling Song [novel] (London: Zed Books, 1986)
- The Fall of the Imam [novel] (London: Methuen, 1987)and Saqi Books 2001
- Searching [novel] (London: Zed Books, 1988)
- Death of an Ex-minister [short stories] (London: Methuen, 1987)
- She Has No Place in Paradise [short stories] (London: Methuen, 1987)
- Memoirs from the Women's Prison [non-fiction] (London: Women's Press, 1985; University of California Press, 1995)
-Memoirs of a Woman Doctor [novel] (London: Al-Saqi Books, 1992; City Lights, USA, 1993)