Dena Rashed investigates the female side of the Muslim Brotherhood The Nasr City Muslim Brothers' campaign office was swarming with insiders and outsiders alike. In the main room sat Makarem El-Deiri, the Brotherhood's only woman candidate for the upcoming People's Assembly elections, surrounded by nine male and female members. Right next to her was Essam Mokhtar, her fellow candidate for the Nasr City labour seat. El-Deiri, assistant professor at Al-Azhar University and member of the League of Islamic Literature, is the second woman candidate to be fielded by the outlawed group, after Gihan El-Halafawi who ran for the 2000 parliamentary elections representing Alexandria. El-Deiri says she is participating out of her belief in higher goals: "I have a message to deliver through the People's Assembly in its capacity as both legislative authority and supervisory body, and I am competing in this year's elections because I believe in the greater cause of the nation." In a remarkably calm tone, El-Deiri outlined her interests and the causes she wants to work for: "I am very interested in social problems, most importantly women's issues and education." The level of the latter has deteriorated, she argued -- so much so that it necessitates an active call for improvement. "We are hoping to upgrade education by adding more to it in the way of religion, patriotism, history and morals -- to preserve the unity of our society," she said, "and most importantly to introduce sophisticated, scientific teaching methods." Attending to the teachers themselves, and selecting the best among them as well as providing them with a sufficient financial reward are also among El-Deiri's aims: "The country does not care enough for teachers, their status needs to be reaffirmed -- and that is because there is not enough religious awareness. It is well to remember that, lacking something, you will be unable to give it." Although the more seats the Brothers win the more credible their position as a group, the inclusion of a woman candidate seems intentional -- a question of image. El-Deiri feels strongly about the role of women in society and believes her participation delivers a message. When their candidate is a politically active woman, a widow, mother of six and grandmother of five, with a career at university, she argued, "the Muslim Brotherhood's stance on the role of women in society becomes clearer. "Society looks down on women and that is because there are many misconceptions whereby customs and traditions are mistaken for religion, and that brings us back to the notion of society being far away from religion. There must be a balance between the feminine side of the woman and her human side." El-Deiri claims that Western ideas have degraded social values: "Equality is not the right wording for women's rights. Men and women are not identical to each other; rather, they complement each other. And it is calling for parity that causes conflict. They have to work side by side." While Islamists have been the target of critiques for their views on the role of women, El-Deiri contends that the problem is rooted in society: "If society looked up to women the way we do, then women would be better off. The religious man follows Prophet Mohamed's teachings in treating his wife and family, and if people actually did so women's rights would be truly realised. But she admitted that there are hardliners in the group who might not share these thoughts: "We represent the moderate side." El-Deiri also argued that before they pursue a career in politics, women should set their priorities: "Family and children come first, the rights of society come before the rights of the person. So if my family needs me I will take care of them, then I can pursue my political career." For the Brothers' motto, "Islam is the answer", to hold true, she argued, it must be preceded by "correct upbringing" -- a re- education, especially of the young, so they will understand difficult concepts. And it is at this point that Mokhtar joins in the discussion, elaborating on the notion of men being in harmony with their wives' political careers: "Many prominent female figures in Islam practised politics, as early as the time of the prophet. And the effectiveness of the role they've played counts for more than their numbers." El-Deiri nodded her agreement: nothing in Islam prevents a woman from playing such a role. And female participation in Egypt was once strong. Following the 2000 elections, however, only 11 out of 454 members of the house were female; 2.4 per cent. And within the Muslim Brotherhood, Halafawi and El-Deiri have been the only two female candidates. Yet despite their low profile at the assembly, "women are not to blame: in the 1930s Zeinab El-Ghazali was one of the Brotherhood's politically active female members -- we have never been against female participation." Confronted with the views of the prominent Muslim Brotherhood thinker Said Qotb -- a woman's natural role is that of housewives and bearers of children -- El-Deiri argued that this is not what he meant. "Once again it is a question of priorities: the family comes first, that is what Qotb meant." In her opinion, from the 1950s to the 1970s, Muslim Brothers were routinely detained, "so their women had to take care of their families. Had they too engaged politically, their families would have fallen apart. And later on, whenever they tried to participate in the legislative elections, they were under threat of arrest." She added that the Brotherhood had 25 female candidates who were ready to compete in this year's parliamentary elections but was afraid that, "if more than one ran, the candidates would be subject to harassment by state security." Nevertheless, El-Deiri argued that the political participation of the Muslim Brotherhood's women is not to be seen as a development in their beliefs: "We can call it a strong need, now that the political scene is changing supposedly to the better." Though aware of the strong competition she is facing in "the businessmen's district", El-Deiri has high hopes. "She will definitely win," according to her assistant. But both the woman and Mokhtar are too wary for such sweeping statements -- candidates may simply buy their votes. Yet the Muslim Brothers have mastered other means of persuading their constituencies, namely social services and awareness campaigns. "Our women have been helping people out in the district and organising activities for them," El-Deiri says. "We provide all that we can..."
