Tahar Haddad’s Feminist Thought: Between Tradition and Modernity

Abstract

Often regarded as the father of Tunisian feminist thought, Tahar Haddad was a Muslim reformer during the French protectorate in Tunisia. His most famous work, Imraʾatunā fī-l-sharīʿa wa-l-mujtamaʿ, published in 1930, encompasses most of his thoughts on gender roles and greatly impacted his society, to the point that it is rumored to have been one of the sources of inspiration for the drafting of the Tunisian Law of Personal Status (1956). The book was the first of its kind to express the need for inheritance rights to be the same regardless of the receiver’s gender, as well as one of the first ones to push for the abolition of polygyny and repudiation. It was also notable for stating the importance of national education, including physical education, and rallying to make it extensible to female students. As such, Haddad received much criticism, particularly from conservatives who thought he had deviated from the Islamic law, despite the book making continuous references to the Qurʾan and Sunna. As much as it was a revolutionary work, some of the author’s points of view still perpetuate certain gender stereotypes and norms regarding women. This paper aims to revisit the book, pointing out its key elements in the fight for gender equality as well as its strengths and weaknesses.