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Alifa Rifaat (Egypt)

Pronounce: www.pronouncekiwi.com/Alifa%20Rifaat

The Dangerous Women Project http://dangerouswomenproject.org/2016/04/30/alifa-rifaat/
Writing women’s desires and domestic lives in 20th century Egypt 30th April 2016
Alia Soliman Alia Soliman holds an MA in Comparative Literature from The American University in Cairo. She is currently an external PhD student of Intercultural Studies at University College London. Excerpts follow.…

Born in 1930 as Fatimah Rifaat (d.1996), she wrote under the pseudonym of Alifa Rifaat to avoid embarrassing her family. Not a stranger to oppression herself and like many women of her generation, Rifaat wished to attend the College of Fine Arts yet was married off instead to her cousin. She spoke only Arabic and her life and writing were deeply rooted in the Arabic and Islamic traditions. Rifaat’s husband, after initially allowing her to write under the nom de plume of Alifa, later denied her to publish her stories for more than a decade. Her themes of eroticism and sexuality posed a threat and embarrassment for her family.

Rifaat stands with the likes of de Beauvoir in shining a light on the problematic expression of the feminine body and further on the existential loneliness of married life…. Her scathing criticism of arranged marriages, the separation of male and female lives, as well as husbands who do not provide sexual satisfaction for their wives, are at the center of her oeuvre and philosophy……

Rifaat gave volume to that very tentative voice inside every woman to seek what men receive as a matter of birthright. Her stories also point to the genesis of male superiority drawn from wrong interpretations of the Quran and Muslim religious teachings. A pioneer on many levels for body awareness, Rifaat, through her stories, criticizes males for not honoring women according to the teachings of Islam. Under Islam, the man is responsible for the happiness and well-being of his wife. Cultural misinterpretations of Islam lead to the supremacy of men and the marginalization of women’s needs.…

A Dangerous Woman

Rifaat is a powerful voice in the history of Arab women thought that challenges both indigenous and external views of what a woman should be and how she should think. To me she is dangerous on two levels. On one level, Rifaat candidly portrayed domestic inequalities and the normalization of such inequalities. On another level, she did not subscribe to Westernized notions of liberation.

In true Muslim form, the family and its unity remain a priority for her heroines. In Islam the mother is the nucleus of the family and the warm womb around which all other members huddle. Similarly, Islam dictates that the man is, in turn, responsible for the happiness and well being of the members of his household. Her stories are subversive spaces in which Western depictions of Muslim women as silenced, complicit, abject, and helpless are challenged. She does not equate liberation from oppression with abandonment of cultural roots and Muslim traditions.

As a monolingual woman, educated in Arabic and never attending university, Rifaat was untouched by Western influences. Unlike many women intellectuals, she lived her whole life in her home country. Her stories are set in Cairo or rural areas of Egypt. Further, Rifaat’s stories are punctuated with the Muslim call for prayer, a dear sound to any Muslim, drawing attention to the presence of Islam in all aspects of social life in Egypt. Her uniqueness and “perceived danger” emerge from coupling devoutness and mental liberation…

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Another Evening at the Club

The previous series of excerpts provides an overview of the majority of Rifaat’s work. Another Evening at the Club does not deal with sexual control directly, but rather gender inequality In Egypt at the time of writing. The keys provided above are salient points that help reveal the intense interplay of the characters.

Note that the Samia goes from her father’s decision-making concerning her to that of her much older husband. Her education is curtailed in order for her to have a good match, “a real find.”

Tension intensifies when the maid is falsely accused, arrested, and beaten. Clearly, this is evidence of a class system in which the lower levels have limited, if any voice. Add to that being female in a male dominated society, the combination is volatile.

In an attribution to Western mores is the fact that Samia and her husband frequent a club (another evening) where liquor is probably served. Typically, faithful Muslims do not drink alcohol. If no drinking, the club still functions as a meeting place where “deals are made” and alliances are formed.

False faces. Sami’s husband had told her to lie about her familial situation and, when the ring is discovered, to keep quiet about the finding it.

Notice the physicality of the treatment of both women.