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Women's empowerment — between support and rejection

تمكين المرأة — بين التأييد والرفض

The 'Al-Wasatiyya' episode on women's empowerment. The youth judged women's public-life participation at 53% of men's — and 67% in rural Egypt per a guest 1 2; on government support (quota seats, ministries, economic support): 35% endorsed it, 10% rejected it, the rest endorsed it outside politics 3 4.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Contemporary Era
Region
Arab world · Global / Diaspora
Review
Completeness 2/5 · Help complete it

Women

A hard questionTradition and modernity

The tension:

Other

أيّد 35% من الجمهور دعماً حكومياً شاملاً — كوتا ووزارات ودعم اقتصادي {cite:assabile-tareq-al-suwaidan al-wassitiya/ep14 00:55:00}.

Other

فضّل الباقون الدعم في غير السياسة وعارضه 10% كلياً؛ ولاحظ المتحاورون أن رموز العمل العام رجال بينما لا تُذكر للمرأة رموز ميدانية {cite:assabile-tareq-al-suwaidan al-wassitiya/ep14 00:55:00} {cite:assabile-tareq-al-suwaidan al-wassitiya/ep14 00:12:30}.

The museum does not resolve this tension.

The episode and the votes

The 'Al-Wasatiyya' episode debated women's empowerment — the quota seats, ministries, special legislation and economic support 5 3. The youth estimated Arab women's public-life participation at 53% of men's — weak and below aspiration for the panel 1 6; a guest put rural Egypt at 67% 2.

Where the problem sits

Panelists noted the absence of female symbols: public-work icons are men, and no field-level female exemplars can be named 7 — and the experience varies between countries, and between Mashriq and Maghreb 6 8.

Government support — the vote

On government empowerment of women: 35% endorsed it fully, 10% rejected it, and the rest endorsed it outside politics — a centrist equation 4.

People and things also explored

Obstructing a marriage (adl): the guardian and the husband· Fleshy growth in the wife's womb and the right to annul (afal)· The Arab woman and the international conventions· Family businesses· The woman left unmarried (anus) and the rules on her consent and maintenance· Maleness (dhukura) as a condition in the rulings· The scarcity of female symbols across history· Dyeing the hair (ikhtidab)

Sources

  1. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 14, at 00:09:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  2. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 14, at 00:16:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  3. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 14, at 00:01:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  4. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 14, at 00:55:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  5. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 14, at 00:01:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  6. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 14, at 00:20:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  7. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 14, at 00:12:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
  8. Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 14, at 00:21:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Women's empowerment — between support and rejection”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/tamkin-al-mara/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-26.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Obstructing a marriage (adl): the guardian and the husband

In the lexicon, adl means to prevent, and the jurists use it of a guardian who prevents his ward's marriage, and in the case of divorce for ransom of a husband who harms his wife so that she will pay him back. In principle it is forbidden for a guardian to prevent a ward's marriage to a suitable husband, and for a husband to harm his wife to force her to ransom herself; a guardian may be permitted to refuse for the woman's own benefit. A guardian is an obstructer when a woman asks for a suitable husband, or a suitable man proposes, and he refuses without a valid reason, whether or not she asks for her proper dower; the Hanafis do not count refusing a dower below the usual amount as obstruction, and the Malikis do not count a compelling father's rejection of suitors as obstruction unless harm is intended. Once obstruction is proven before the judge, he orders the marriage; if the guardian still refuses, guardianship passes to the ruler according to the Hanafis, Shafi'is, most Malikis and one Hanbali narration, or to the next guardian according to the main Hanbali view; if all guardians obstruct, the judge contracts the marriage.