Egyptian Women's Rights Activist Nawal Al-Sa'dawi Talks about Her Beliefs and Explains Her Decision Leave Egypt

Following are excerpts from an interview with Egyptian women's rights activist Nawal Al-Sa'dawi, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on March 3, 2007.

Interviewer: Whatever the reason you are leaving [Egypt] may be, this, according to some people, does not change the fact that you are being accused of despising the monotheistic religions, including Islam, and of blasphemy. Isn't that true?

Nawal Sa'dawi: By Allah, I am nauseated by these accusations. Enough. If this is what we have come to in our country, the Arabs will become extinct, Allah willing. They will be defeated and cease to exist. We find ourselves at the tail-end of all nations, in the name of falsified and commercialized religion. Enough with that. Enough with religion, we want a livelihood.

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How come anybody from off the street can sue an author with 45 books to her name? Has the world become an anarchy?

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I am not responsible for the quasi-intellectuals who don't understand what I write, or for the quasi-journalists who publish empty words. What I say is that Allah is spirit, not a physical body. A body has gender, right? A body is either male or female, but Allah is a spirit and a symbol. therefore, He should not be considered either male or female.

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Your questions are nauseating.

Interviewer: How come?

Nawal Sa'dawi: You bring up all the people who curse me, and accuse me of heresy, although there are thousands and millions who wrote on the Internet that they support me and [my daughter] Dr. Muna. These are intelligent, enlightened people. Why don't you bring these people up?

Interviewer: Because we want to present you with what the other side has to say.

Nawal Sa'dawi: OK, enough with the ignorant view. Show me some enlightened views.

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Interviewer: Some people believe that you intentionally raise controversial issues, knowing in advance that you will provoke others.

Nawal Sa'dawi: Do I have nothing better to do? I am busy with my writing. I have reached 75 years of age, and I am a doctor. I am among the top doctors and authors, and I have won international awards. How am I provoking you? Do I have free time to provoke you?

Interviewer: Do you believe your books would have been translated into so many languages if they did not contain this kind of provocation?

Nawal Sa'dawi: How come the books of Naghib Mahfouz were translated, and how come he won the Nobel Prize? If I win the Nobel Prize - and win it I will - you will continue saying: "She's writing for the West."

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I write, knowing full well that I will be imprisoned. I don't care. I do not want to be a minister. I could have been health minister or prime minister, had I agreed to become a yes-man of Abd Al-Nasser, Al-Sadat, and Mubarak.

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The hijab has nothing to do with moral values. A woman's moral values are reflected in her eyes, in the way she talks, and in the way she walks. They put on a hijab and go dancing, wearing high heels and lipstick. They wear tight jeans that show their bellies. They do this in Egypt.

Interviewer: I want to ask you about that. You talk about the so-called Islamization and Americanization of women's clothing in Egypt. In other words, you criticize the hijab for its Islamization, yet you criticize jeans for its Americanization. So what do you expect women to wear?

Nawal Sa'dawi: The same things men wear. Do your wear a hijab or do you expose your belly? You wear appropriate clothes. I wear appropriate clothes. I don't wear jeans that expose my belly, and I don't cover my hair. You can sense my moral values from my voice, from the way I look at you, and from the way I walk.