Abstract :

This research highlights the way in which women are living within a traditional Muslim society like Egypt as described in Alifa Rifaat's short story Distant View of a Minaret (1983). The focus will be on the role of religion as well as the issue of sexual fulfillment in marriage life, and the frustrations of everyday life in a male-dominated Islamic environment. The research also pays attention to the importance of female Egyptian writers, especially concerning feminist issues in the Arab world. A special focus will be on the different challenges that these Arab female writers have encountered in order to publish their works, mainly the ones which include certain censored issues in conservative and conventional societies. As a part of Arab feminism, the analysis of this research will depict Rifaat as a pioneer writer in what is called "Protest literature", in which she strongly criticized the way women are treated in protest against their status of being placed in an environment that does not give them freedom of choice. The situation of the Egyptian women will be analyzed from Arab feminist perspective, highlighting issues of gender segregation, culture restrictions, gender equality, and mainly, the role of religion and sexuality in marriage institution. The research will conclude that because most of these women live in a male-dominated society that suppresses their voice, they have chosen silence as a way of protest and resistance through  the case of carelessness.