50 F. Zachs / Welt des Islams 53 (2013) 50-75 © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2013 DOI: 10.1163/15700607-0003A0003 Welt des Islams 53-1 (2013) 50-75 ISSN 0043-2539 (print version) ISSN 1570-0607 (online version) WDI Muḥammad Jamīl Bayhum and the Woman Question: Between Social and Political Rights Fruma Zachs Haifa Abstract his article sheds light on Muḥammad Jamīl Bayhum’s (1887–1978) activities and vision, and his historiographical writings on women which have received little scholarly attention. In this respect it is not a comparative study of Bayhum’s interpretations or the historical reality of women’s lives but rather a re-assessment of Bayhum’s historical oeuvres, and his synthesis of women’s history. he article examines the ways in which Bayhum’s historical writings, which were part of his political and national vision, contributed to constructing a local Muslim and Arab historiography of women during the 20 th century. It presents Bayhum as an advocate of women’s social and political rights, who favored the recognition of women as citizens (or their counterpart in modern Lebanese and Arab societies), both during the period of French colonialism and in the post-colonial era. Keywords Muḥammad Jamīl Bayhum, pro-feminist, woman question, nahḍa, Mandate period, Muslim/Arab historiography, Nāzik al-ʿĀbid Introduction Research on the history of feminist thought has rightly persisted in re- discovering the neglected voices of women and documenting women’s own perceptions of their social condition. It is clearly signiicant to analyze the ways in which women themselves have addressed their con- dition as a sex and sought to advance it. But in so doing, scholars should not ignore or neglect the many contributions to feminist issues made by men, what Karen Ofen has deined as male feminism. 1 1) Karen Ofen, “Ernest Legouvé and the Doctrine of ‘Equality in Diference’ for Women: