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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 January 2000 Issue No. 465 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 January 2000 Issue No. 465
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Living with the enemy
The new Personal Status law currently under discussion in the People's Assembly is long overdue. It offers at least a glimmer of hope that women who have suffering from patriarchal intransigence for so long will finally see partial justice done -- hope that extremely unjust rules, heretofore falsely maintained in the name of religion, will be dismantled at last.
The Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Sheikh Mohamed Tantawi, refuted the arguments of many MPs, not only on religious grounds, but also using logic and common sense. Sheikh Tantawi said: "Men are not made of gold and women of silver. We are all equal before God". From this perspective, the country's highest religious authority supports the proposed amendment, which will give Egyptian women the right to divorce themselves under certain conditions.
The country's courtrooms are full of women who have suffered years of indescribable ignominy to obtain a divorce. Men have often misused the rights given to them by the current Personal Status law to draw out legal procedures interminably, adding to the suffering of women who no longer want to live with them. They proceed with their lives, taking a second, third or fourth wife, while women put their lives on hold, waiting for the divorce that never comes to make a fresh start.
Women seeking a divorce are frequently subjected to humiliating scrutiny in court in order to prove to judges that great harm was done to them by their husbands. One amendment introduced in the draft law aims to put an end to this humiliation. It should be supported by parliament.
There will always be voices of dissent, of course; but they must respect the view of the majority. According to Sheikh Tantawi, in Al-Azhar's Islamic Research Council, which includes 40 of the Muslim world's top religious scholars, only five members oppose the draft. The majority are in favour; like most Egyptians, they see this development as a very important first step toward granting women their rights.
