Nazik Al Abid (; 1887–1959) known as the "Joan of Arc of the Arabs" was a

Syrian Syrians () are the majority inhabitants of Syria, indigenous to the Levant, most of whom have Arabic, especially its Levantine and Mesopotamian dialects, as a mother tongue. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend ...

women's rights activist, nationalist, and critic of Ottoman and French colonialism in Syria. She was the first woman to earn rank in the Syrian Army for her role in forming the Red Star Society, a precursor to the

International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

, during the battle of Maysalun. She was a revolutionary for

national independence Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international l ...

and

women's right Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

to work and vote in Syria.

Activism

Against Ottoman Empire

Abid was an activist for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffra ...

and resistance to the Ottoman occupation of

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

, often writing under a male

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

for Damascus newspapers during the 1919 Syrian women's movement. She established a group to advocate for women's rights in 1914, and was exiled to

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

by Ottoman leadership, where she stayed until the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. In 1919, Abid founded ''

Nur al-Fayha Nur al-Fayha ("Light of Damascus"), was a women's rights organization in Syria, active during the Faisal government, between January 1919 and July 1920.Intellectuals and Civil Society in the Middle East: Liberalism, Modernity and Political Discour ...

(Light of Damascus) society and magazine, and later, in 1922, a school of the same name which offered English and sewing courses for young girl orphans of the war dead.

Against French occupation of Syria

As the head of a women's delegation to the King-Crane Commission, Abid spoke to American diplomats without a

veil A veil is an article of clothing or hanging cloth that is intended to cover some part of the human head, head or face, or an object of some significance. Veiling has a long history in European, Asian, and African societies. The practice has be ...

to signal her intention for a secular rule of Syria, and to testify against the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

mandate for occupation. In 1920, Abid founded the Red Star Association, an early form of the Red Crescent Society, and was awarded the rank of "honorary president" of the

Syrian Army The Syrian Army is the land force branch of the Syrian Armed Forces. Up until the fall of the Assad regime, the Syrian Arab Army existed as a land force branch of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces, which dominanted the military service of the fo ...

Prince Faysal Faisal I bin Hussein bin Ali Al-Hashemi (, ''Fayṣal al-Awwal bin Ḥusayn bin ʻAlī al-Hāshimī''; 20 May 1885 – 8 September 1933) was King of Iraq from 23 August 1921 until his death in 1933. A member of the Hashemite family, he was a l ...

. Abid led Red Star nurses in the Syrian Army's battle against French forces during the

Battle of Maysalun The Battle of Maysalun (), also known as the Battle of Maysalun Pass or the Battle of Khan Maysalun (), was a four-hour battle fought between the forces of the Arab Kingdom of Syria and the French Army of the Levant on 24 July 1920 near Khan M ...

in July 1920. Despite being exiled by the French government after the defeat of the Syrian Army, Abid was hailed domestically as the

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

of Syria. As the first woman general in Syria, she was photographed in military uniform and without a hijab, but returned to wearing a veil after outcry from conservatives. The French government granted her amnesty in 1921, and Abid returned to Syria on the condition that she avoid politics. After founding the Light of Damascus school that year - viewed as competition for resources with French humanitarian agencies and programs—the French authorities threatened to arrest her, and she fled Syria for

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Women's rights

In 1933 she founded ''Niqâbat al-Mar'a al-'Amila'' (The Working Women's Society), which worked on labor issues on behalf of women in Syria, advocating economic liberation as a means to political liberation for women.

Personal life

Abid was born into an influential

Damascene Damascene may refer to: * Topics directly associated with the city of Damascus in Syria: ** A native or inhabitant of Damascus ** Damascus Arabic, the local dialect of Damascus ** Damascus steel, developed for swordmaking ** "Damascene moment", the ...

family. Her father, Mustafa al-Abid, was an aristocrat charged with administrative affairs in

Kirk Kirk is a Scottish and former Northern English word meaning 'church'. The term ''the Kirk'' is often used informally to refer specifically to the Church of Scotland, the Scottish national church that developed from the 16th-century Reformation ...

and later as an envoy to

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

under Ottoman Sultan

Abdulhamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

; she was the niece of Ahmad Izza al-Abid, a judge and advisor to the sultan. While living in Turkey, she was educated in several languages in Turkish, American and French schools. She graduated with a BA in agriculture from the Women's College in Istanbul. Her family was exiled to Egypt for ten years after the

CUP A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

1908 revolution. In 1922, after her exile to Lebanon, she met and married Lebanese intellectual and politician,

Muhammad Jamil Bayhum Muhammad Jamil Bayham (; 1887–1978) was an Arab-Lebanese historian, politician, writer and reformer who wrote dozens of books and articles. Hailing from an influential Sunni Muslim family in Beirut, Bayham advocated for Arab unity, emphasizin ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abid, Nazik 20th-century Syrian women 20th-century Syrian people 1887 births 1959 deaths Syrian feminists Syrian human rights activists Syrian women's rights activists Syrian nationalists Politicians from Damascus People of the Franco-Syrian War Women's suffrage in Syria