Al-Tahir al-Haddad (1899 -1935): A Lonely Reformer

Al-Tahir al-Haddad’s book, Our Women in the Shari^,a and Society,^{[130] [131] is part of a considerable nationalist and reformist literature dating to the early twentieth century and the fierce debate on the ‘status of women in Islam’ ignited by the encounter with Western colonial powers.}

Haddad’s book belongs to the second genre, and is not free of the ambiva­lence that permeated the nationalist/modernist texts of the time, which have rightly been criticised for their patriarchal undertones.^{[132] [133] [134] But it differs from the rest in two respects. First, in his proposals for reform Haddad went much further than other twentieth-century reformers, even arguing for equality in inheritance, an issue that became a priority for Muslim women’s movements only in the next century.25 Secondly, Haddad provided a framework for rethinking fiqh legal con­cepts, and offered a definition of marriage that was premised on mutual affec­tion and responsibility. In that sense, it is indeed a feminist text.}

Haddad received only a traditional education, first at Qur’anic school and later at the Great Mosque of Zaytouna in Tunis, where he studied Islamic scien­ces?⁶ He obtained accreditation as a notary in 1920, but opted for journalism in­stead of a seminary life. As a journalist he became involved in the movement for independence from France, and joined the Dustur Party that promoted a vision of a socially just, democratic and modern Tunisia. Critical of its policies, howev­er, Haddad left the party after a short time to became active in labour move­ments, helping to launch the country’s first independent trade union. These ac­tivities sensitised Haddad and made him deeply concerned about the situation of workers and women, and the injustices to which they were subjected, for which he held erroneous interpretations of Islam’s sacred texts accountable. In 1927 he published a book on labour law and three years later his second book: Our Women in the Shari^,a and Society, which contains his critique of the way in which women are treated in Tunisian society. The book caused immediate out­rage; Haddad was denounced and declared an apostate; Zaytouna revoked his degree and notary licence. Many of his modernist and nationalist friends desert­ed him; they were in a politically difficult situation at the time, and an easy way out was to compromise on an issue that was sensitive and was already triggering the anger of the religious establishment and conservative forces.^{[135] [136] Haddad died in 1936 in poverty and isolation.}