Background of Study INTRODUCTION

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter presents background of the study. In brief, it is about women in Egypt as one of Islamic countries. It also covers problem formulation, objectives of the study, benefits of the study, and definition of terms. The problem formulation is consisted of three questions to be analyzed in this thesis. The objectives of the study describe purposes of writing this thesis. Benefits of the study explain about what are the benefits of the study and who can get benefits from it. In the last part of this chapter, some explanations of some terms related to the study are presented to avoid misunderstanding.

1.1 Background of Study

Egypt is one example of Islamic countries. The Arab invasion in Egypt in 639 introduced a new religion and a different language in Egypt, which were Islam and Arabic respectively. The impact of Islam and Arabic on the Egyptian society could not be underestimated. Within a period of five hundred years, Egypt became an Arabic speaking country. Further, by the ninth century Egypt became an Arab Muslim society. Egypt as a part of Islamic world used Islamic law to regulate the country. The Islamic law gave contributions to Egyptian thought, belief and tradition Vatikiotis 25. Islam is a religion which speaks about equality. Azizah Y. Al-Hibri 51-52 in an Introduction to a Muslim Womens Rights states that equality in Islam comes from the concept of tawhid. The concept of Tawhid claims that God is the Supreme PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 2 Being and all human beings are creatures of God. Through the concept of Tawhid, it becomes clear that humans as Gods creatures are all the same while the higher being upon all is God. Therefore, no man is superior by the nature of his gender alone. In fact, the most honored humans in the sight of God are those who are the most pious. Koran also states that male and female believers are each others walis. The word walis refers to the protectors or guardians. It means that these two genders should protect or guard each other. Therefore, there is no reason for men to dominate women. Through these views of equality in Islam that are explained before, it is ironic that the discrimination of women in an Islamic country still exists. Although women in some countries have an equal position with men in society, in a certain Islamic country like Egypt, women are still considered to have a lower position than men. The patriarchal society in Egypt is very strong. Humm describes that patriarchal system is a system with male authority strongly dominates its social, political, and economic institution 408. Women are kept down in many aspects of their life. They have been shut at home, are not allowed to eat before their husbands are full and do not deserve to get a high level of education as what men can get. Qosim Amin, an Egyptian writer in describing Egyptian women says that from the time of her birth to the time of her death a woman is a slave because she does not live by or for herself. A woman lives through and for the man, and depends on him for all her needs 18. Yet, there is a woman named Firdaus, whose journey of life was written into a novel, entitled Woman at Point Zero written by Nawal El-Saadawi. Firdaus life is always miserable. Since she is a child, men have taken control of her life. As the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 3 result, she has no power to have her freedom. So she searches for freedom to make her life better. Abraham Maslow qtd in Petri 302-304 proposes a theory of human motivation called Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It is portrayed as a pyramid consisting of five levels. They are physiological needs, safety needs, love needs, esteem needs, and self actualization. Human behaviours depend on their motivation. If a person fails to fulfil his or her needs, the needs will emerge and motivate him or her to fulfil his or her needs. As Firdaus fails to fulfill her needs of freedom, her motivation to get a freedom increases. To fulfill her freedom, she even ignores the power of a society toward its people. She refuses to conform societys expectation toward women and dares to break the societys rule regardless of what the consequences may be. Thus, these become the reasons for choosing Woman at Point Zero , a novel by an Egyptian writer, Nawal El-Saadawi and present the issue of her motivation in searching for freedom. A work of literature, like novel for example, can portray such issue described above. Literature is surely a device to learn about everything in our lives. Novel as a branch of literature invites people to read, to feel and then to be involved in it. Novel becomes something pleasant to be read because it represents the reality of life; or maybe not real but something in the author’s imagination in which the readers may have a wish to experience it. Sometimes when we read a novel we can feel some feeling which also appears in the story. Henkle says that in literature, we can find some aspects of life. They are values, emotions, the power of love, and so on. The work of literature is close to what people think, see, feel, and do in daily experiences. Therefore, it can help people to learn about everything 6. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 4 Nawal El-Saadawi’s famous novel, Woman at Point Zero reflects such realities. This book was published in 1983. In this novel, Saadawi portrays the main character as a female who struggles for her freedom and revolts against the societys rule. Woman at Point Zero tells about a woman named Firdaus. She is a woman who comes from a poor family who realizes that she is being differentiated from men. She struggles to get her freedom on many ways. She desires to get a high education and she becomes a prostitute to prove that she is independent and has a power over her own body. At the end of the story, Firdaus is sentenced to death because she kills a pimp who tries to take over her life. She refuses to sign an appeal to the President that her sentence to death is commuted to imprisonment for life. Woman at Point Zero , a novel by Nawal El-Saadawi, is one example of Egyptian novel which criticizes unfair treatments to women in Egypt. This novel tells about a women’s struggle in an Islamic country to get her freedom which she has never gotten. She fights against the society and the view that women’s position is lower than men. This is the voice of a woman in an Islamic country who asks for her right. This novel is ironic, very strong and gives an inspiration to the reader. The reader will feel sad, curious and proud at the same time. Because of the uniqueness of the novel, it is very interesting to discuss.

1.2 Problem Formulation