“I defend moderate women and wouldn’t accuse them of being religiously delirious if they wore a hijab or niqab, (veil). On the other hand, not wearing the hijab does not mean they have abandoned their Arab-Islamic roots.”

With these words, Souad Abdul-Rahim, Constituent Assembly Member of the Islamist Ennahda Party summed up her attitude towards veiled and unveiled women, with a pragmatic bias toward moderate  women and staying away from extremism. Her words silenced her opponents who consider her unveiled face controversial in an Islamic party.

“I defend moderate women and wouldn’t accuse them of being religiously delirious if they wore a hijab or niqab, (veil). On the other hand, not wearing the hijab does not mean they have abandoned their Arab-Islamic roots.”

With these words, Souad Abdul-Rahim, Constituent Assembly Member of the Islamist Ennahda Party summed up her attitude towards veiled and unveiled women, with a pragmatic bias toward moderate  women and staying away from extremism. Her words silenced her opponents who consider her unveiled face controversial in an Islamic party.

Her sudden rise to the political stage, her western style dress, her serious features, coupled with an appearance in disharmony with Ennahda ideology— which promotes itself as a civil party inspired by Sharia— have all enabled her to attract the spotlight and establish a position in the headlines of local and international media.

Despite this political fame, the 47-year-old pharmacist and mother of two children, has labeled her family life as “top secret,” preventing anyone from intruding.  Meanwhile, her political career is still shrouded in mystery, with many question marks.

No one knows how the relationship between Abdul-Rahim, who practically stopped political activity once she graduated from the university in 1992—amid the crisis between the Islamists and Ben Ali who, according to the Islamists themselves, threw more than 30,000 of them behind bars—and Ennahda Party, whose male and female members barely survived imprisonment or “voluntary” or forced deportation.

A habit of protesting

Her joining the faculty of pharmacy in 1984 coincided with a political and social crisis that swept the country, culminating in the bread riots of January 1984, which were triggered by increases in bread prices. That uprising made the Tunisian people challenge President Bourguiba’s control for the first time and revolt against marginalization and poverty.  It caused a number of deaths and injuries and the ousted Ben Ali played a “ heroic” part in quenching it.

That historic landmark influenced young Abdul-Rahim, who suddenly turned from a dreamy young girl to a rebel who refused to remain under the tutelage of the leader.  Her involvement with the Islamic-oriented Union of Tunisian Students in 1985 marked the beginning of her student political and unionist struggle.

In the 1980s, while at university, Abdul-Rahim faced expulsion from the university on several occasions, but she was always returned, more determined than ever to succeed.  The country, she said “needs those who say ‘no’ in the face of those who want to always hear the word ‘yes'”.

She was expelled from pharmacy college for political activity and allegedly inciting students to revolt against the regime at the time. Consequently, she was forced to relocate to the capital, Tunis, and change her course of study to earn a diploma in agronomy by the end of the 1980s.

Sudden rise to fame

In the early 1990s, Abdul-Rahim returned to the Monastir Faculty of Pharmacy and earned a degree in pharmaceutics.  Then, she chose to abandon politics and become a “good” wife and mother, away from the limelight.

Even several few weeks after the revolution started, her name was still unknown in the political arena. Yet the moment at which she became a difficult and strange equation in the local political and partisan life came when she was nominated by Ennahda to run for the October elections. Her name was on the top of Tunis (2) Constituency, which politicians called ” Death Constituency,” due to the difficulty to achieve success there, given the political weight of the competing figures.

Ennahda supporters held their breath for fear of losing a seat earmarked for an “unveiled” woman, who was brought to the electoral forefront by a party that promoted itself as having religious background and as an advocate of tolerant Sharia values, with the hijab remaining a mainstay in the party doctrine.

Amid hordes of veiled Ennahda women, “unveiled” Abdul-Rahim emerged on the scene. Adversaries considered her a cosmetic action to convince the community that Ennahda was a civil political movement, which would not put the Sharia “sword” on the neck of the people, and would not quench public liberties.

Others considered her an election campaign gimmick to which she said, “I am not an athlete, a singer or a brilliant name to be traded by the Ennahda Party.”

She claimed that the party is open to all social spectrums and believes in civil state and liberties. She further affirmed that her presence carried an encrypted message to the Tunisian people that there is no regression in the country’s civil gains and accumulated cultural wealth. She added that her presence stood as a conclusive evidence of what she said, despite the feeling of restlessness in the ranks of her veiled colleagues in the party.

Drawing the line on liberalism

Her attitude towards single mothers, broadcast on Radio Monte Carlo, was a painful blow to her rocket-like ascent, which put her political future at risk. She was accused that her rejection of extramarital affairs was against women’s rights and freedom in a country that earned women an honorable position amongst other women across the world, and that her words were construed as an exclusion and marginalization of a group of people who slipped up, while she must as a politician and a woman who understands their suffering.

This incident has faded the luster that surrounded Suad, the constituent assembly member, who sought in all her assembly interventions to restore rights and freedoms, as she says.

Abdul-Rahim has not compromised with the Salafists and has called for the need to apply the law on those who promote violence or engage in attacking the others under the umbrella of religion. “We are at a cross roads and must take bold decisions in this regard, with an emphasis on the necessity of respecting others’ opinion and the principle of freedom of association and thoughts”.

Her opponents and supporters agree that the political career of brave Suad Abdul-Rahim will not end with the conclusion of a constituent assembly work, but “the unveiled lady with a renaissance garb” is yet to have other rounds in the political arena.