Region | Egypt
Clerics oppose part of children's law in Egypt
Egypt's Muslim scholars on Sunday criticised aspects of a new law on children, saying it is un-Islamic.
- Agencies
- Published: 20:31 June 8, 2008
Cairo: Egypt's Muslim scholars on Sunday criticised aspects of a new law on children, saying it is un-Islamic.
The scholars said the legislation went against Islamic law by allowing women to register children under their own family names and by setting 18 as the minimum age for marriage.
Under the previous law, children had to take their family name from their father, even if his identity was in doubt.
A separate law, which remains in force despite the new legislation, allows girls to marry at 16 and men at 18. In the countryside some girls still marry at a younger age.
"The people who drafted this law are trying to transfer Western culture to the Islamic world regardless of whether this culture is suitable to the Islamic religion, customs and traditions," said Mohamed Ra'fat Osman, a scholar at the Azhar religious university.
Another Azhar scholar and teacher, Abdullah Samak, said he objected to any implementation of the law that prevents parents from disciplining their children.
The law allows for six months in prison for parents who harm their children or do not treat them with dignity.
The law also contains a ban on the widespread practice of cutting the genitals of girls, sometimes known as female genital mutilation, with a maximum penalty of two years in jail.
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