A call by Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, for reviving an old edict (fatwa) that gives married women the right to half of their husbands’ wealth has received massive support.
The fatwa, made in the early years of Islam, gives working women the right to half of their husbands’ wealth, as well as their rightful share in the other half after the husbands’ death.
Religious scholars have welcomed the call of the grand imam, considering it proof of the protection Islam offers women, in general.
“Islamic law protects women’s right to a dignified life,” Mahmoud Mehana, member of the Council of Senior Scholars, the most prestigious body inside al-Azhar, told The Egyptian Gazette.
He said the same law obliges husbands to take care of the financial needs of their wives.
Mehana noted that working women are obliged in no way to shoulder the financial responsibilities of the family with their husbands.
“Nonetheless, women can do this on their own free will, if they want,” he said.
He added that the fatwa referred to by the grand imam of al-Azhar, known as ‘Toil and Pursuit’, guarantees the financial rights of married women in case of divorce or the death of their husbands.
Fathia el-Hefni, a professor of comparative jurisprudence at al-Azhar University, shared the same view.
She said women sometimes have to work because of skyrocketing commodity prices and financial hardships.
“They sometimes have to share the financial burdens of the family with their husbands,” el-Hefni told this newspaper.
“This makes Islamic laws on women’s financial rights extremely important,” she added.
She said the money earned by both married couples should be divided equally between them.
Women, she added, may end up getting a larger share of the wealth, if they spend more money in the course of their marriage.
The National Council for Women, the government body that stands up for the nation’s women, also welcomed the call of the grand imam of al-Azhar for reviving the aforementioned fatwa.
Council member, Rania Yehia, said the call comes in the favour of the defence of women who work to share the financial responsibilities of their families with their husbands.
This fatwa, she says, confirms the positive role played by wives within the family institution.
“It also guarantees the rights of women without abuse or coercion,” Yehia told The Gazette.
Sheikh el-Tayeb called on married couples to assist each other.
Marriage, he said, is not about rights and duties.
“It is rather about affection and support,” he said. He said wives and husbands assisting each other would be able to bring up their children in an ideal manner.
Some people have, meanwhile, called for turning the ‘Toil and Pursuit’ fatwa into applicable laws.
“It is now the turn of the legislature to turn this fatwa into law,” Osama el-Hadidi, the executive director of the al-Azhar International Centre for Electronic Fatwa, said.
