Tahar Haddad

[2] In 1928 and early 1929, Haddad wrote numerous articles on women's education and their legal and social emancipation in the As-Sawab newspaper, edited by Hédi Laâbidi.

These writings laid the foundation for his most famous work, Our Woman in Shari'a and Society (1930), in which he outlined his societal reform program through the emancipation and liberation of women.

The Tunisian poet and friend of Haddad, Aboul-Qacem Echebbi, was ill and could not attend, but sent a written message to excuse his absence, while Mohamed Tlatli, who was supposed to preside over the ceremony, withdrew.

Haddad was subjected to a vicious smear campaign by members of the Destour party and the conservative hierarchy of Zitouna,[5] even though his work was based on a questionnaire sent to senior teachers of the prestigious Tunisian university.

[6] A major Zitouna scholar, Mohamed Salah Ben Mrad, wrote a scathing response to Haddad's book, though it was later revealed that he had not even read it.

[1] His final years were marked by social withdrawal and depression, as he was shunned by virtually the entire legal, theological, clerical and intellectual establishment for his feminist views.

Indeed, his ideas about women's role in society, along with other social issues, greatly influence the members of the Neo-Destour party, including Habib Bourguiba, who would become Tunisia's first president following independence.