The Nur al-Fayha was founded in January 1919 by a group of elite women in Damascus under the leadership of
Nazik al-Abid. This was during an intense period of political nationalism during the establishment of the Faisal government, before it was defeated by the French in July in 1920. The purpose of the organization was the mobilise the women of the nation in work for the independence of the country and support of the government, and in line with the modernist nationalist perspective of the time, this mobilization included women's liberation, and supported "women's awakening, literary societies, and philantropic works". Women's rights activists in the modernist Interwar period viewed the veil as a hindrance to women's participation in society as productive citizens, preventing them from benefiting a successful independent nation, and combined their criticism against hijab with their criticism against colonialism. During a nationalist demonstration in Damascus during a visit of Lord Balfour the women demanded the abolition of the veil, which created tension with their male counterparts. When a petition on women's suffrage was discussed in the Syrian Congress in 1920,
Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Kaylani stated that to given women the right to vote would be the same thing as abolish sex segregation and allow women to appear unveiled. The Government stated that women would be allowed to remove their veil when conditions allowed for it, but criticism from male conservatives caused the government to warn women from dressing provocatively in April 1920. In June 1920, the Red Star Society was founded by the Nur al-Fayha, in order to nurse the soldiers of the government, and several of the members of the Nur al-Fayha became members of the Red Star Society. Since the government was defeated by the French the same year, however, the Nur al-Fayha was not revived. It was replaced as the leading force of the Syrian women's movement by the
Syrian-Lebanese Women's Union.
School The Nur al-Fayha founded a girls' school, School for the Daughters of the Martyrs, where girls related to soldiers were allowed to study in accordance with the modernist ideals. == Magazine ==