A few days ago, Jihan El-Sadat, the wife of the late Egyptian President Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat, who was the first "first lady" in the history of the Egyptian Republic to graduate to the public sector, passed away.

Who is Jihan El-Sadat, born to an Egyptian father and a British mother, who fell in love with a junior officer in the Egyptian army to become his second wife after he divorced his first wife, and entered into a challenge with the Sheikh of Al-Azhar Abdel Halim Mahmoud and the famous scientist Muhammad Al-Ghazali, and some called her the "Iron Woman"?

Birth and upbringing

Jihan Safwat Raouf was born in Cairo on August 29, 1933, as the first girl and third child of an upper middle class family.

Her father, Safwat Raouf, was a surgeon, and he married Englishwoman Gladys Cottrell, who worked as a music teacher, and was the daughter of Charles Henry Cottrell, Sheffield Police Commissioner, England.

Jihan grew up Muslim according to her father's wishes, but she also attended a Christian secondary school for girls in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.

Jihan and Anwar Sadat (Getty)

love story

When she was a student in her teens, Anwar Sadat caught her attention as a hero in the popular resistance, while following media reports of his courage, loyalty and determination in resisting the British occupation of Egypt.

I heard many stories about Sadat from her cousin, whose husband was a colleague of Sadat in the ranks of the resistance, and later in prison.

Jihan met Anwar Sadat for the first time in Suez with her relative in the summer of 1948, and she was 15 years old, and Sadat (30 years old) had just been released from prison.

Jihan fell in love with Sadat and decided to marry him, even though he was married to another woman before her (Iqbal Madi) and had 3 daughters (Rawiya and Kamelia) before they separated.

On May 29, 1949, she married Jihan with a dowry that did not exceed 150 Egyptian pounds, and her husband, Anwar Sadat, was a junior officer in the Egyptian army before he later became President of the Republic, specifically in 1970.

Jihan gave birth to three daughters from Sadat: Lubna, Noha and Jihan, and one son, Jamal.

In his book "Women of the Leaders.. Secrets of Love in the Hearts of the Owners of Excellence", the Egyptian writer Moamen Al-Mohammadi talked about the love story of Jihan and Anwar Al-Sadat, and said, "Although she was the second wife, their love was born and grew quickly, and later met with a family rejection, as the mother of Jihan Raouf, the Englishwoman, is related to her daughter's relationship with Anwar Sadat, who was married before.

He added, "But her daughter, the bride, was swept away by love and attached to the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, and she fiercely defended her love until she accepted her mother, and her father helped her a lot in that, who tended to whom she chose as a partner for her life."

President Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat and his wife Jihan El-Sadat (communication sites)

scientific certificates

Jihan received her BA in Arabic literature from Cairo University in 1977.

She received her MA in Comparative Literature from Cairo University in 1980.

She received her PhD in Comparative Literature in 1986, from the Faculty of Arts, Cairo University under the supervision of the scholar Dr. Suhair Al-Qalamawi.

She worked as a university lecturer at Cairo University, a visiting professor at the American University in Cairo, and a lecturer at South Carolina State University.

Jihan Sadat's wife and a romantic moment (communication sites)

"Jehan's Law"

- Jihan El-Sadat used her influence to amend some laws in Egypt, especially the Personal Status Law, which is still known in Egypt until now as "Cihan's Law".

Some of these amendments received sharp criticism from prominent religious scholars, led by the late Sheikh of Al-Azhar Abdel Halim Mahmoud and the late Sheikh Muhammad Al-Ghazali, who considered them to be in violation of Islamic law.

Jihan El-Sadat wanted to restrict divorce and polygamy, but she failed to do so after religious scholars criticized the law and the Sheikh of Al-Azhar refused to ratify it, saying, "There are no restrictions on divorce except from the conscience of a Muslim, and there are no restrictions on polygamy except from the conscience of a Muslim."

Public work

Jihan shared her husband, President Anwar Sadat, all the important events that Egypt witnessed, starting from the revolution of July 23, 1952, until his assassination in 1981.

She is the first first lady in the history of the Egyptian Republic to graduate to the Department of Public Work.

She personally supervised some projects, such as the family planning project and supporting the political role of women.

She founded the Al-Wafaa wa Al-Amal Association, and she was one of the promoters of women's education and their access to their rights in society, such as the right to support children and custody of children in the event of divorce

Jihan El-Sadat's book translated by Hala Salah El-Din (Al-Jazeera)

Books and awards

Jihan had two authors: the book "A Lady from Egypt", which contains her memoirs and stories of her experiences in political work, as she is a wife to President Sadat.

- The second author is the book "My Hope for Peace", which was published in 2009, and it presents an analysis and political visions of what the Middle East is witnessing and ways to reach a desired and real peace.

In 1993, she was awarded the "Community of Christ International Peace Prize" from the Community of Christ Foundation in the United States of America.

In 2001, she won the "Pearl S. Buck Award" granted by the (Pearl S. Buck) Foundation in the United States.

In 2021, immediately after her death, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced that she had been awarded the Order of Perfection, with her name given to one of the main roads in Cairo, which is the axis of Paradise.

She has also received more than 20 honorary doctorate degrees from national and international colleges and universities around the world.

illness and death وال

Jihan was suffering from cancer for two years, and she was treated for it in the United States, but months before her death, she returned to Egypt and was continuing her treatment in Cairo.

On June 24, 2021, sources from the family of her late husband revealed that 87-year-old Jihan was exposed to an emergency health crisis, but the sources did not reveal the nature of her health condition or the cause of her injury.

The health condition necessitated the admission of Jihan to a hospital for treatment, and the sources confirmed at the same time that she was not infected with the Corona virus.

On July 9, 2021, Jihan El-Sadat died at the age of 88, and her funeral was held in Al-Manassa area in front of the monument to the Unknown Soldier in Nasr City, east of Cairo, in the presence of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and a number of officials.

The late woman recommended that she be buried next to her husband in his grave.