Region | Palestinian Territories

Conservatives slam appointment of female marriage registrar

Egypt's first woman marriage registrar has promised to endeavour to reduce divorce rates, but conservatives have slammed the appointment.

  • By Ramadan Al Sherbini and Mariam Al Hakeem, Correspondents
  • Published: 13:18 February 28, 2008
  • Gulf News

Cairo/Riyadh: Egypt's first woman marriage registrar has promised to endeavour to reduce divorce rates, but conservatives have slammed the appointment.

"As a female marriage registrar, I will be in a better position than my male counterparts to listen to women facing marriage difficulties, and assist them and their partners in resolving their differences," said Amal Sulaiman Afifi, after a family court appointed her as the first woman marriage registrar in Egypt, a country of 76 million.

However, Muslim scholars in Saudi Arabia denounced the appointment. Talking to Gulf News, they said this step opens all doors for woman, running contrary to the teachings of Islamic Sharia. Dr Abdul Rahman Bin Shraim Al Azahrani, a Saudi Sharia scholar, said it is a man's job. "Women are not permitted to take the post of a marriage registrar and no case was reported in the history of Islamic fiqh (Jurisprudence) that can be taken as a precedent," he said.

The court in Zagaziq, some 70km north of Cairo, chose Afifi, 34, over ten other applicants for the job (all men) due to her "distinguished legal qualifications".

"I was always confident that the court would support my application for the job," a jubilant Afifi told Gulf News. "I was the only one among the applicants holding an MA degree in Sharia (Islamic law). Besides, I was sure that I would not be excluded on gender grounds. Islam and the law treat men and women on equal footing."

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