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Why did Qassim Amin believe that Western culture would be beneficial to Egyptian society? How might a critic of colonialism have responded?
![Source: From Leila Ahmen, Women and Gender in Islam (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992), pp. 152-160.
European civilization advances with the speed of steam
The Civilizing Mission in Egypt
In many cases, European occupation served
to sharpen class divisions in traditional
societies. This occurred in Egypt, where
many elites benefited after the British
protectorate was established in the early 1880s. Ordinary
Eayptians, less inclined to adopt foreign ways, seldom
profited from the European presence. In response,
British administrators showed little patience for those
who failed to recognize the superiority of Western
civilization. The governor-general, Lord Cromer (KROH-
mer), remarked in exasperation, "The mind of the
Oriental, ... like his picturesque streets, is eminently
he
man] has not trodden underfoot. Any place he goes
takes control of its resources . . . and turns them into
FAMILY&
SOCIETY
profit ... and if he does harm to the original inhabitants,
it is only that he pursues happiness in this world and
seeks it wherever he may find it. . . . For the most part
he uses his intellect, but when circumstances require it,
he deploys force. He does not seek glory from his
possessions and colonies, for he has enough of this
through his intellectual achievements and scientific
inventions. What drives the Englishman to dwell in India
and the French in Algeria ... is profit and the desire to
acquire resources in countries where the inhabitants do
not know their value or hw to profit from them.
wanting in symmetry. His reasoning is of the most
slipshod description." Cromer was especially irritated at
the treatment of women, arguing that the seclusion of
women and the wearing of the veil were the chief causes
of Islamic backwardness.
Such views were echoed by some Egyptian elites,
who embraced the colonialists' condemnation of
traditional ways. The French-educated lawyer Qassim
Amin was an example. His book The Liberation of
Women, published in 1899 and excerpted here,
precipitated a heated debate between those who
considered Western nations the liberators of Islam and
those who reviled them as oppressors.
When they encounter savages they eliminate them or
drive them from the land, as happened in America . . .
and is happening now in Africa. . . . When they encounter
a nation like ours, with a degree of civilization,
with a past, and a religion... and customs and . . .
institutions . . . they deal with its inhabitants kindly. But
they do soon acquire its most valuable resources,
because they have greater wealth and intellect and
knowledge and force. .. . [The veil constituted] a huge
barrier between woman and her elevation, and
consequently a barrier between the nation and its advance.
Why did Qassim Amin believe that Western
culture would be beneficial to Egyptian society?
How might a critic of colonialism have
Qassim Amin, The Liberation of Women
of
and electricity, and has even overspilled to every part
he globe so that there is not an inch that he [European
responded?](https://content.bartleby.com/qna-images/question/398d5537-e9d5-42d5-abbd-d18214676d1f/26da155a-bed5-4fb9-9e3f-0f06c1949f18/xmjslc_processed.jpeg)
Transcribed Image Text:Source: From Leila Ahmen, Women and Gender in Islam (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1992), pp. 152-160.
European civilization advances with the speed of steam
The Civilizing Mission in Egypt
In many cases, European occupation served
to sharpen class divisions in traditional
societies. This occurred in Egypt, where
many elites benefited after the British
protectorate was established in the early 1880s. Ordinary
Eayptians, less inclined to adopt foreign ways, seldom
profited from the European presence. In response,
British administrators showed little patience for those
who failed to recognize the superiority of Western
civilization. The governor-general, Lord Cromer (KROH-
mer), remarked in exasperation, "The mind of the
Oriental, ... like his picturesque streets, is eminently
he
man] has not trodden underfoot. Any place he goes
takes control of its resources . . . and turns them into
FAMILY&
SOCIETY
profit ... and if he does harm to the original inhabitants,
it is only that he pursues happiness in this world and
seeks it wherever he may find it. . . . For the most part
he uses his intellect, but when circumstances require it,
he deploys force. He does not seek glory from his
possessions and colonies, for he has enough of this
through his intellectual achievements and scientific
inventions. What drives the Englishman to dwell in India
and the French in Algeria ... is profit and the desire to
acquire resources in countries where the inhabitants do
not know their value or hw to profit from them.
wanting in symmetry. His reasoning is of the most
slipshod description." Cromer was especially irritated at
the treatment of women, arguing that the seclusion of
women and the wearing of the veil were the chief causes
of Islamic backwardness.
Such views were echoed by some Egyptian elites,
who embraced the colonialists' condemnation of
traditional ways. The French-educated lawyer Qassim
Amin was an example. His book The Liberation of
Women, published in 1899 and excerpted here,
precipitated a heated debate between those who
considered Western nations the liberators of Islam and
those who reviled them as oppressors.
When they encounter savages they eliminate them or
drive them from the land, as happened in America . . .
and is happening now in Africa. . . . When they encounter
a nation like ours, with a degree of civilization,
with a past, and a religion... and customs and . . .
institutions . . . they deal with its inhabitants kindly. But
they do soon acquire its most valuable resources,
because they have greater wealth and intellect and
knowledge and force. .. . [The veil constituted] a huge
barrier between woman and her elevation, and
consequently a barrier between the nation and its advance.
Why did Qassim Amin believe that Western
culture would be beneficial to Egyptian society?
How might a critic of colonialism have
Qassim Amin, The Liberation of Women
of
and electricity, and has even overspilled to every part
he globe so that there is not an inch that he [European
responded?
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