2 - 8 August 2001
Issue No.545
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 2 - 8 August 2001 Issue No.545 |
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'Life will go on'
A Cairo court threw out a lawsuit seeking forcibly to divorce prominent feminist writer, Nawal El-Saadawi, from her husband of 37 years. Khaled Dawoudwas present at the conclusion of the hearings
In her stylishly-decorated apartment overlooking the Nile, prominent feminist and novelist Nawal El-Saadawi, 70, sat happily with her husband, Sherif Hetata, 78. The Zananiri Personal Status Court had just thrown out a case seeking to forcibly divorce the couple, who have been happily married for the past 37 years.
Nawal El- Saadawi
"Mabrouk (congratulations), Sherif, we remain married," she told her husband jokingly. But she held both his hands firmly, and while there was joy in her eyes, there was also determination.
The separation case was brought against Saadawi two months ago by Nabih Al-Wahsh, a lawyer, who claimed that the views she had expressed in an interview with Al-Midan newspaper three months earlier made her a non- Muslim who should be divorced from her Muslim husband. On Monday, however, the case was thrown out by the court on the grounds that a law in force since 1996 made the initiation of this type of legal action the prerogative of the prosecutor-general.
Saadawi was quoted early in March as saying that the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia, was "a vestige of pagan practice." Al- Wahsh took the matter to court, alleging that such a statement "ousted her from Islam" and that she should no longer be allowed to remain married to her husband.
For her part, Saadawi insisted that she was "misquoted" by the little-known newspaper and that her words "were taken out of context."
Saadawi did not appear in the courtroom on Monday, but her husband was there and afterwards told reporters that he was "very happy" that the court had dismissed the case, which he called "the real insult to Islam and the image of Muslims worldwide."
As the influence of political Islamic groups rose in this country, a number of Islamist lawyers opted to file what are known as hisba cases against intellectuals and artists, claiming that their work violated Islamic teachings. Claiming to be filing the cases on behalf of society, the lawyers would ask the courts to ban the intellectuals' work or send them behind bars. In 1995, a Cairo court ordered the separation of university professor Nasr Abu Zeid from his wife, against their will, after bringing a similar case against him. Since then, Abu Zeid and his wife have been living in exile in the Netherlands .
To confront the actions of these extremist lawyers, seen by observers as attempting to prove their influence, the People's Assembly, acting on a government request, amended the law to limit the right of filing hisba cases to the prosecutor-general.
Al-Wahsh, before asking the Personal Status Court forcibly to divorce Saadawi, filed a complaint with the prosecutor-general's office accusing her of "deriding religion" and demanding she be put on trial. Prosecutor Maher Abdel-Wahid dismissed the complaint. Al- Wahsh then used the legal technicality of taking the matter to the Personal Status Court.
"I was lucky to have an enlightened prosecutor-general who refused to make a case against me," Saadawi told Al-Ahram Weekly. "But this cannot be guaranteed all the time. This is the reason why I insist that hisba law should be abolished once and for all."
Monday's Zananiri courtroom was the scene of similar verbal exchanges to those that have marked Saadawi's case since the hearings opened in May. Al-Wahsh stood in the middle of the packed room, reiterating his claim that Saadawi had "insulted one of the holiest rituals in Islam (pilgrimage) and questioned verses in the holy book. This is something she must be punished for."
He also claimed that he would appeal against the court ruling. But Judge Hassanein Al-Wakil told the Weekly that the law which limited the right of filing hisba cases to the prosecutor- general did not grant those who made such complaints the right to appeal.
Confronted with this, Al-Wahsh said he would file a case challenging the constitutionality of the hisba law following its amendment by the People's Assembly. "I will not give up until she comes to court and apologises for what she said," he insisted. "Even if I lose all my cases, I am happy in feeling that the majority of the public is on my side, rejecting the insults directed by Saadawi against Islam."
Al-Wahsh and other lawyers base their hisba cases on Article Two of the Constitution, which states that "Islamic Shari'a (law) is the main source of legislation."
"This means that we are an Islamic country," Al-Wahsh said. "And anyone who insults Islam must pay the price."
But for Saadawi, who is no stranger to heated cultural debates, the case is that of freedom of expression. "When I argue for equal inheritance rights for Muslim men and women, or question the necessity of kissing the Black Stone [at the Qaaba in Mecca] during the pilgrimage, I am raising issues which have always been a subject of debate in Islam."
Although the Personal Status Court has dismissed the separation case, more legal battles are expected between Saadawi, on the one hand, and Al-Wahsh and Al-Midan newspaper on the other. On 15 August, a Cairo court will begin hearing a libel case filed by Al-Midan against Saadawi on the grounds that she accused the newspaper of "forging" the tape of her interview. For her part, Saadawi has filed a libel case against Al-Midan for "falsifying" her statements and damaging her reputation. Hearings will begin on 17 September.
Meanwhile, both Saadawi and Hetata say their "life will go on." Hetata has just produced a new novel, while Saadawi is preparing for the Sixth Arab Women Solidarity Conference, due to take place in Cairo at the beginning of next year. A call for abolishing the hisba law would be one of the main recommendations the conference was likely to make, Saadawi said.
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