".. so much energy has been expended by Muslim men
             and then Muslim women to remove the veil and by
             others to affirm or restore it .." (Ahmed 167).
             This paper explores these efforts in two specific stages: the first and the last
             thirds of the twentieth century. Through an analysis of some of the various
             arguments on the veil, I will try to induce some general characteristics of the
             debate on the issue and on women during these two specific periods of time.
             The starting point will be Kasim Amin's "Tahrir el Mara'a" (Liberation of
             Woman) and the counter argument of Talat Harb's "Tarbiet el Mara'a wal
             Hijab", (Educating Women and the Veil). The debate between those two
             protagonists which has become a "prototype" of the debate on the veil
             throughout the century (Ahmed P. 164). Malak Hefni Nassif's and Hoda
             Sha'arawi's attitudes towards the veil represent an interesting insight to two
             different interpretations of the hijab issue by feminist activists that prevail
             throughout the century. The whole synthesis of this early debate is then put
             in juxtaposition to the debate later in the century as represented by the
             avalanche of literature on the topic in the seventies, the views of some
             famous sheikhs like Mohammed Metwally el Shaarawi and others, and the
             heated debate initiated by the Minister of Education's decree of 1994 to
             prevent school administrations from imposing the hijab on girls as part of the
             Kasim Amin's Tahrir El-Mara'a (Published 1899)
             It may not be an exaggeration to say that Amin's "Tahrir al-Mara'a" was one
             of the most controversial book in Egypt's modern history. It has ignited a
             strong debate and prompted more than thirty reaction articles and books
             either to defy or assert his argument against the veil (Ahmed P. 164).
             The ideas of the book were not totally new, they echoed the writings of some
             writers like Mariam al-Nahhas (1856-1888), Zaynab...