Every year on March 21, families across Egypt and the Arab world celebrate Mother’s Day—a day dedicated to honoring the love, sacrifices, and dedication of mothers.
While the tradition of celebrating motherhood dates back to ancient civilizations, the modern version of Mother’s Day in Egypt has a unique origin, rooted in the country’s media landscape and the efforts of two pioneering journalists, Mostafa Amin and his twin brother Ali Amin.
The concept of celebrating motherhood is far from new. In ancient Egypt, particularly during the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BCE) and into the Greco-Roman period, women, especially mothers, were highly revered. The goddess Isis, often depicted nursing her son Horus, was considered the ultimate symbol of motherhood and protection.
The annual festival in her honor involved floating boats filled with flowers along the Nile, a tradition that later influenced Greek and Roman celebrations of maternal figures.
Over time, the celebration of mothers evolved from religious symbolism to a more personal appreciation of individual mothers.
The modern idea of Mother’s Day began taking shape in the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly in the United States, where activist Anna Jarvis successfully campaigned to make it an official holiday in 1914. However, in Egypt, the initiative to establish Mother’s Day came not from political leaders or activists, but from the press.
A Journalist’s Campaign for Mothers
The story of how Mother’s Day became an official celebration in Egypt begins with Mostafa Amin, the co-founder of Akhbar Al-Youm newspaper and one of the country’s most influential journalists.
In the early 1950s, a widowed woman visited Amin at his office, sharing a heartbreaking story, after raising her children alone and sacrificing everything for them, they had abandoned her completely once they became successful. Her story deeply moved Amin, who saw it as a reflection of countless unrecognized mothers across Egypt.
Determined to bring attention to the role of mothers in society, Amin proposed the idea of a national Mother’s Day and launched a campaign to promote it. His twin brother, Ali Amin, who was also a journalist and the co-founder of Akhbar Al-Youm supported the effort by writing about it in his daily newspaper column Fikra (An Idea) on December 9, 1955. In his column, Ali Amin posed a question to readers:
“Why don’t we dedicate a day to celebrate mothers, just as we celebrate other national occasions? On this day, children can express their gratitude through small gifts and acts of kindness, making their mothers feel like queens for a day.”
The idea resonated with the public, and readers overwhelmingly supported the proposal. The chosen date, March 21, symbolized the beginning of spring, a season associated with renewal and giving, making it a fitting tribute to mothers.
In 1956, Amin successfully persuaded then-President Gamal Abdel Nasser to officially declare March 21 as Mother’s Day in Egypt. The tradition quickly spread across the Arab world, with many neighboring countries adopting the same date for their own celebrations.
However, the holiday faced a temporary setback when Amin was arrested in 1965 on charges of espionage. During this time, the Egyptian government attempted to rename the holiday as “Family Day” to distance it from Amin’s legacy. Yet, the public outcry particularly from Egyptian mothers was so strong that the original name was reinstated.
Today, Mother’s Day is an integral part of Egyptian culture, marked by heartfelt gestures, gifts, and public appreciation for mothers. The day is not only about individual families but also about recognizing the collective role of mothers in shaping society.
From the ancient reverence of Isis to a heartfelt plea in a newspaper column, the journey of Mother’s Day in Egypt is a testament to the enduring importance of mothers, and the power of media in shaping cultural traditions.
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