Western Mimicry or Cultural Hybridity: 

Deconstructing Qasim Amin' s 

"Colonized Voice" 

Nergis Mazid 

Abstract 

Qasim Amin ( 1865-1908) remains one of Egypt's most contro­

versial figures in the early modem women's rights movement. 

His use of Orientalist arguments to support the advancement of 

women's rights and to reform veiling was inflammatory to 

Egyptians demanding their rights for self-determination. Yet 

embracing aspects of the imperial value system did not mean 

that Amin succumbed to colonialism. Instead, he found compat­

ibilities between his interpretations of Orientalism and lslam 

regarding women's morality and the nation's strength. The 

fusion and hybridity of indigenous and colonial epistemologies 

can be found in Amin's demand for reforming women's rights in 

Egypt. 

Introduction 

It is difficult to avoid Qasim Amin's name when discussing the early 

women's movement in modem Egyptian history.' A jurist, philosopher, and 

social reformer, he remains best known for his two controversial treatises 
demanding the reform of women's rights. In 1899, Amin published The

Liberation of Women, in which he maintained that the decline of Egypt's sta­

tus as a strong global power was directly correlated to the subjugation of 
Egyptian women. He argued that Egypt could regain its past status only 

Nergis Mazid has recently completed a research and teaching position with the Department 
of American Studies at the University ofNijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. She is cur­
rently a communications instructor at Georgian College, Barrie, Ontario, Canada. She holds 
an M.A. in history from the University of Toronto, Canada.