Cairo – Egypt's President 'Abdel Fatah al-Sisi' wades into another thorny issue that none—but a few—had the guts to open before. The House of Representatives' Religious Committee will prepare a draft law regulating verbal divorce in a few days, secretary of the parliamentary committee 'Amr Hamrouch' said. This comes in response to Sisi's call for a law to tighten divorce procedures for Muslims, during his speech on Tuesday for the Police Day celebration. ‘The verbal divorce' that allows men to end wedlock by uttering the word "taliq; you are divorcee" once or thrice, remained open for debate in the circles of knowledge, and confounded scholars of legal theory for centuries. Egypt is one of few Muslim countries that recognize verbal and triple talaq (divorce) - a practice under which a Muslim man can divorce his wife by simply uttering talaq thrice. An overwhelming majority of Muslim scholars in Egypt often clamoured for reforms in religious laws involving matters of divorce, alimony, polygamy and custody of children, according to a survey conducted by a rights group. These legislative aspects fall within the category of Muslim Personal Status Law, but they still have not been codified, which means their legislation is open to interpretation by local clergy, leaving a wide room for misinterpretation owing to the diverse and adverse views on the issue.
