Encyclopedia of Islam

Ghazali, Zaynab al-

---

She was sentenced to 25 years of prison in 

1965 for conspiring to overthrow Egypt’s govern-

ment but served only six. Al-Ghazali’s memoirs 

about her prison years were published in 1977 

(published in English as Return of the Pharaoh: 

Memoirs in Nasir’s Prison). In this autobiographi-

cal account, she described how her faith helped 

her withstand the horrible tortures she suffered at 

the hands of government agents, and she denied 

charges that the brotherhood had ever conspired 

to overthrow the government violently. a

nWar

al

-s

adat

 (r. 1970–81) freed al-Ghazali and other 

members of the brotherhood after he became 

president as part of a strategy to win support of 

Muslim activists. He needed them to consolidate 

power and undermine the influence of the late 

Abd al-Nasir’s supporters, many of whom were 

Arab socialists. After her release, al-Ghazali con-

tinued an active career of teaching and writing for 

Islamic periodicals. Her articles on women and 

family life urged women to educate themselves 

about what she held to be Islam’s true values, 

arguing that the religion offers both women and 

men all their rights and that they do not have to 

turn to the West to obtain them. She hoped that 

by cultivating Islamic values at home, women 

could contribute to the moral and political trans-

formation of the wider society. In her later years, 

al-Ghazali avoided overt political activity but 

worked on a Quran commentary. Al-Ghazali 

was married twice, divorcing her first husband 

because he had interfered with her 

Jihad

 and mar-

rying the second only after he had agreed not to 

interfere with her daawa activities. She never had 

children.

See also i

slamism

; s

haaraWi

, h

Uda

.