Historical Influence of Arab Women, by Kyle Medernach

When reading Fadia Faqir’s Pillars of Salt, it is particularly important to understand a timeline of influential Arab women. Looking back to the past, present, and future circumstances faced and endured by women of Middle Eastern descent might provide insight to the fictitious happenings within Pillars of Salt. Gender plays an essential role in the daily lives of Arab society. Perhaps a good majority of this male-dominated lifestyle can be attributed to widespread verses from the Qur’an. The historical context of notable Arab women is also significant to the setting, characters, and plot in Faqir’s Pillars of Salt.

Set in the 1920s, Pillars of Salt exposes the unfair treatment and unfulfilled uprising of Arab women. Maha, the main character, can be frequently empathized with; she catches her brother, Daffash, raping two women, is beaten senseless and toothless, and is ultimately banished from her Transjordan society. Around the same time Maha must fight to defend her honor and land, Aswa Zahawi, founder of the Women’s Rising Group, helped promote education and employment rights for women. Then, in 1923, three Egyptian women unplaced their veils in public; they demanded equality, the right to vote, and law reformations (Global Connections 1-2).

Middle Eastern nations soon faced the challenges posed by women such as Zahawi and the three Egyptians. This revolution-hungry attitude is present in Faqir’s main character. Maha displays the opinions similar to the real-life influential Arab women. These opinions were given the right to be heard when Turkey granted women full voting rights in 1934. Over the next thirty years, nine Middle Eastern countries approved of women’s full rights to vote (Anatolia 1-2). The pattern illustrated by several Arab nations can be described as a domino effect because women clearly made a positive impact on the decision-making in their respective governments.

In 1965, Islamic activist and founder of the Muslim Women’s Association, Zaynab al-Ghazali, was imprisoned shortly in Egypt. Similarly, Maha is basically imprisoned in present-day Jordan for her rebelling. Women were gaining momentum in the gender battle during the 1960s, and Israel’s Golda Meir made magnanimous strides in government when she served as prime minister from 1969 until 1974. Government was finally becoming gender-diverse, and political and religious figures were angered in 1972 by Nawal El Saadawi’s book, Women and Sex (Global Connections 2-3). Her ideas and opinions were presented much like the mentalities of Faqir’s female characters.

Arab women were gaining rights in government, causing debate in literacy, and soon were allowed to attend Saudi Arabia’s King Saud University. In 1975, women could finally earn degrees by attending King Saud University as full-time students. Women characters in Pillars of Salt speak clearly, but are severely uneducated about foreign concepts and practices. It wasn’t until some fifty years later that Arab women could learn beside men. More recently, from 1996 until 2002, the infamous Taliban ruthlessly restricted women’s freedoms and role in society. During this same timeframe, Iranian women were admitted permission to wear head scarves farther back on their heads by President Mohammed Khatami in 1997, Turkish men are held liable and arrested for domestic abuse in 1998, Lieutenant Dr. Elina Weismann becomes the first Arab women to see combat as an Israeli physician in 1999, and female attendance in Arab schools reaches a record high in 2002 (Global Connections 3-7).

History can provide a timeline of influential Arab women’s actions. Many of the motivations behind these female figures are shared by Faqir’s female characters in Pillars of Salt. Maha, Um Saad, and even Esra are fictitious replicas of Arab women living in the early 20th century. The attitudes heard in their dialogue mirrors the real-life attitudes of women such as Zahawi, al-Ghazali, Meir, Saadawi, Weismann, and obviously Faqir. Unfair treatment sparked these women to act, resulting in their respective accomplishments and historical significances. Perhaps more significant than their individual accomplishments was the rebellion they led. Since 1934, a total of 18 Arab nations now allow women to vote (Anatolia 1-2). In the setting of Pillars of Salt, barely any female voices were considered authority. This difference enables readers to gain and appreciate Faqir’s perspectives.


Works Cited
Faqir, Fadia. Pillars of Salt. London: Quartet, 1996. Print.

"Global Connections . Timeline | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 02 Dec. 2011. .
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"History Timeline of Jordan - Anatolia Tours and Travel." Private & Group Escorted Tours to Turkey, Morocco, Jordan & Egypt. Tour Packages, Italy Guided Tours, Morocco Travel, Turkey Tours, Egypt Travel, Greece & Dubai Hotels. Web. 02 Dec. 2011. .