Bahithat al-Badiya

Early 20th-century Egyptian feminist writer advocating for women's rights in the Arab world

Bahithat al-Badiya (1886–1918), born Malak Hifni Nasif, was a trailblazing feminist whose essays and speeches challenged patriarchal norms in pre-revolutionary Egypt. Writing under a pseudonym to avoid backlash, she demanded educational access, divorce rights, and an end to polygamy in her seminal work Al-Nisa'iyyat (Women’s Issues).

In 1911, she delivered a historic speech at Cairo University, urging men to 'free your minds from arrogance' and recognize women as equals. Her ideas influenced later activists like Huda Shaarawi. Bahithat also founded vocational schools for poor women, blending Islamic ethics with modernist reforms.

Though her life was cut short by Spanish flu, her writings remain foundational to Arab feminism, bridging tradition and progress in a region undergoing colonial upheaval.