Reading through the articles of the constitution, I took a long pause at Article 40, which read, “The state shall be obliged to take all legislative and executive measures necessary to bolster the principle of equality between women and men in all political, cultural and socio-economic fields in a way that is not violating the rulings of the Islamic sharī’ah.Reading through the articles of the constitution, I took a long pause at Article 40, which read, “The state shall be obliged to take all legislative and executive measures necessary to bolster the principle of equality between women and men in all political, cultural and socio-economic fields in a way that is not violating the rulings of the Islamic sharī’ah. The state shall provide free motherhood and childhood services and guarantees women socio-economic and health protection and care and the right of inheritance and also guarantees balance between women’s rights towards their families and their work in the society”.

Breaking out of that circle of backwardness gripping our Egyptian as well as Arab society, which marginalizes women and violates their simplest of rights and a citizen and a human being will not take place before breaking the pillars of that manly paternal system that haunts all society, including the family and the tribe and the religious, cultural, social and political state institutions. [‘Azzah Kāmil, al-Shurūq al-Jadīd, Aug. 23, p. 11] Read original text in Arabic