Reem Leila surveys a constant sore point -- the right of women to be judges An often contentious three-hour debate on the right of women to be judges marked Saturday's meeting of the Islamic Research Council (IRC). Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, who headed the meeting, had previously ruled that there was nothing in the Quran or Sunna that bans women from becoming judges. However, Tantawi has not given a decisive opinion regarding the issue. Instead, he has limited himself to sending to the Administrative Court the opinions of the various schools of Islamic jurisprudence, thus leaving the Administrative Court to make its own decisions. The Hanafi school of jurisprudence approves women judges in civil, personal status and financial courts but disapproves of them in criminal courts. Most schools of Islamic jurisprudence are totally against women judges. Only Al-Tabari and Ibn Hazm allow women to wear judicial robes. MP Mohamed El-Omda has filed a lawsuit against the minister of justice for appointing 30 female judges. El-Omda is requesting that the government annul the appointment on the grounds it contradicts Islamic Sharia. Religion has never been far behind the controversy over women judges in Egypt. Supporters say Sharia allows women to sit on the bench, while other interpretations of religious texts argue against female judges. The Administrative Court has asked the opinion of the IRC in order to put an end to the controversy once and for all. "Women cannot succeed as judges because the burdens of the task are enormous; working on cases at home and attending hearings that might be anywhere in the country," stated El-Omda. One of the new women judges, Doaa Emadeddin, submitted her resignation when the Ministry of Justice asked her to work in Kafr Al-Sheikh even though she is a Cairo resident. El-Omda criticised supporters of the appointment of women judges as advocates of Western values. "If women want equality, why aren't they applying to go to the army, or looking for work as bus drivers or mailmen?" According to a report conducted by Human Rights Watch (HRW) the present governmental practice denies Egyptian women the right to become criminal judges. Their exclusion, say observers, is not due to legal, religious or constitutional reasons, but because of stereotypical and biased views about women. By excluding women from the criminal courts, Egypt is not only violating internationally protected equality provisions but is palpably violating its obligation to guarantee equal opportunities to all men and women under its own constitution. "It is a fight between those who are convinced that women do not have the right and are not qualified to be judges and the few who are enlightened, convinced that women can be judges. But they are powerless," Abdel-Moeti Bayoumi, a member of the IRC, said. Another IRC member, Abdel-Fattah El-Sheikh, argued that women should not be criminal prosecutors or judges. "The nature of criminal prosecution, which paves the way to criminal court work, is exhausting and does not suit women because they have to investigate crimes such as murder and rape," El-Sheikh said. "No one can imagine women playing this role. When the culture of the people changes, maybe they'll accept it." El-Sheikh said women are emotional and very sentimental by nature, thus hindering them from taking competent decisions. "Women who get tired, anxious, get angry easily, or are sometimes not in the right psychological or biological state of mind, should not hear serious cases like criminal proceedings," added El-Sheikh. Egypt's Grand Mufti Sheikh Ali Gomaa has said the appointment of women to judicial positions does not contradict Islamic precepts. "The job of a judge is merely to know the law well and to implement it fairly. The inclusion of women is a right owed to society as a whole." In addition, women often teach law and run legal faculties even in the conservative Al-Azhar University. "Women practise becoming legal attorneys, consultants and professors," Abdel-Moeti said, adding that their absence from top posts in public courts "is a matter relevant to the evolution of society". From women judges to the just as controversial urfi and mesyar marriages; the urfi marriage is unregistered while the mesyar marriage takes place via an official marriage contract but one in which the wife abandons all her financial rights, including the right to live together. According to the agreement between the couple, the husband is not obliged to spend on his wife. Although mesyar is not illegitimate, IRC stated in its opinion that Muslim scholars do not advise people to get involved in it. Zeinab Radwan, the People's Assembly deputy speaker, who is also professor of Islamic philosophy, believes these types of marriages are inconsistent with Islamic teachings. Islam is meant to create a legal and sincere relationship between a man and a woman, and provide physical and spiritual stability for them in order to bring up their children well, whereas marriages of convenience are devoid of these conditions. "The mesyar and other unofficial types of marriage such as urfi do not fulfil Islam's aim of marriage, which is to secure a stable family surrounded by love and care," said Radwan. Even if a few sheikhs accept it, Radwan believes mesyar and urfi marriages create many social problems, especially for children who are not financially and emotionally supported by the fathers of such marriages. "A husband must provide for his family -- food, housing, medical treatment. "These are illegal marriages because women are not given any of their rights which Islam has given to them," added Radwan. According to IRC member Mustafa El-Shakaa, nothing is wrong with either the mesyar or urfi marriage as long as they meet Islamic requirements for a marriage -- the couple's agreement, a public announcement, the presence of the bride's guardian (wakil) and two witnesses. "This will solve the problem of many women who reach their late 30s and 40s without having married," stated El-Shakaa.
