When we search in the record of ideal mothers, we will find many women who are more creative in their distinction and difference from others throughout Egyptian history ... mothers and creators in the front seat.
From one father and from one house.. two brilliant sisters emerged to reserve for themselves the seat of the pioneering ladies in two different fields- Tawhida and Moufid Abd al-Rahman, the former, an Egyptian doctor to be appointed to the government health ministry and the latter was the 1st female lawyer to penetrate this field competently in Egypt.
Education.. Sister's priority
The two are daughters of Abd al-Rahman Effendi Muhammad, who decided to educate his daughters to the highest levels of education in a society that did not believe in educating girls at all.
The older daughter, Tawhida, born in 1906, was chosen for her academic excellence in the Sunni School for girls. She was 16 years old and among 6 Egyptian girls to travel on a mission to Britain to study medicine. She was the first girls ’mission to graduate from Egypt to study medicine 1922 based on King Fouad’s decision.
She did not care about the length of the period and alienation from her family because she dreamed of excellence and doing something for her country.
Her father bought her a private clinic to practice the profession, but she refused and asked to work in hospitals of the Ministry of Health. Indeed, she was appointed to the Shubra General Hospital, "Kitchener", to become the first Egyptian doctor in the government.
Meanwhile, she got to the position of "the chief female doctor in the Ministry of Education, she wanted to give back to her homeland; she trained doctors on the latest developments in modern medicine in the world.
Most of her attention was to the poor and she preferred working in government hospitals to serve them and relieve their pain. Her main concern was developing health supervision in schools and students caring.
She gave birth to five of the children, all of whom received higher degrees. She resigned from the Ministry of Health due to attempts to interfere in her work and force her to do what she did not want. She died in 1974.
Moufida.. Marriage first
On the other hand, Moufida, (7 years younger than Tawhida) was born in 1914. She was also superior in the Sunni school and her father wanted her to enroll in medicine like her sister, but she refused and married and formed a family.
She was the first Egyptian girl willing to be a lawyer; she performed well in the Sunni school and surprised the administration to the extent that they requested an acknowledgment from her husband and her father to complete her studies in the Law Faculty.
The husband encouraged her to enroll in the university to be the first married woman to join the Faculty of Law; she enrolled and continued her studies till she graduated. She was the mother of four children by 1935.
In 1959, she became a member of Parliament for Al-Ghurya and Al-Azbakeya; she was the only woman who participated in the working with a committee tasked to amend the laws specific for Muslims that started in the sixties.
She was the only woman who participated in formulating the Muslim Status Law Reform Commission that started in the 1960s.
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