Roquia Sakhawat Hussain

Roquia Sakhawat Hussain ( Bengali: রোকেয়া সাখাওয়াত হোসেন, Rokeya Sākhāoẏāt trousers; * 1880 in the village Pairabondh; † December 9, 1932 ) was an Indian writer and social worker in Bengal in the early 20th century. It is famous for its commitment to gender equality. It was an important Islamic feminist.

Name

Hussain's birth name was Roquia Khatun, but they are known as Begum Roquia Sakhawat Hussain was. In their written English texts, she transliterated her name as Rokeya.

Life

Roquia Khatun 1880 Pairabondh in the district Rangpur born in the village, which is presently located in Bangladesh. Her father was Jahiruddin Muhammad Abu Ali Haidar Saber, an educated zamindar ( landowner ). Roquia had two sisters, Karimunnesa Khatun and Humayra Khatun, and three brothers, one of whom died as a child. Roquias eldest brother Ibrahim and her older sister Karimunnesa both had great influence on their lives. Karimunnesa wanted to study Bengali, which was the language of the majority in Bengal. The family disapproved because many Muslims of the upper class at that time preferring Arabic and Persian their native language. Ibrahim taught Roquia and her sister Karimunnesa English and Bengali; both sisters were writers.

Roquia Hussain married in 1896, when she was sixteen years old. Her husband was the urdusprachige Khan Bahadur Sakhawat Hussain, deputy magistrate of Bhagalpur, nowadays an area in the Indian state of Bihar. He continued the work of her brother, calling them encouraged to learn Bengali and English. He suggested she write what Roquia Hussain in Bengali, the language of the masses, did. Your literatische career began in 1902 with her ​​work Pipasa ( thirst).

Died in 1909 Sakhawat Hussain. He had his wife encouraged to put aside money so that they could start a school for Islamic girls. Five months after his death Roquia founded a grammar school, which was named as a memorial to her husband, " Sakhawat Memorial Girls High School ". It started with only five students in the Urdu-language area Bhagalpur. After a lawsuit Roquia Hussain had to move into bengalischsprachige Kolkata school in 1911; she remained one of the most popular girls high schools in the city.

Begum Roquia also founded the Anjuman e Khawateen e Islam ( Islamic Women's Association ). They advocated reforms, and she believed that parochialism and excessive conservatism was mainly to blame for the relatively slow development of Muslims in British India.

Hussain died on December 9, 1932 from heart problems. In Bangladesh, the Rokeya Day is celebrated to commemorate it on 9 December.

Gender equality

To raise public awareness of gender equality and to advocate for women's emancipation, Hussain wrote many articles, stories and novels she wrote mostly in Bengali. They used humor, irony and satire to bring attention to the injustices that were exposed to bengalischsprachige women. She claimed that women who fulfilled their potential as human beings, could best demonstrate the glory of Allah. She emphasized that discrimination would only end when women could exercise the profession they chose themselves.

Works

• Sultana 's dream ( dream Sultanas ), an important early work of feminist science fiction, which is a utopian role reversal between men and women.
• Oborodhbashini ( The woman in captivity )
• Motichur
• Paddorag ( essence of the Lotus )
• (unfinished) Narir Adhikar ( Rights of Women ), an essay for the Islamic Women's Association