Al-Azhar rejects Essibsi’s recent religious decisions

CAIRO – 16 August 2017: Egypt’s religious authority Al-Azhar has rejected on Tuesday the recent religious decisions declared by Tunisian President Beji Caed Essibsi.

In his speech during National Women’s day, Essibsi has called on amending a publication released by the Ministry of Justice in 1973 that bans Tunisian Muslim women from marrying non-Muslims, and also called on establishing equality between men and women in terms of inheritance.

Abbas Shouman, the Deputy Chief of the Al-Azhar Islamic institution, said in a Facebook post, that the marriage of Muslim women from non-Muslims, not in the favor of men or women as both are required to follow provisions of their religions, could impact the stability of their life together due to differences.

As for the part of inheritance, Shouman said it is unjust and against the provisions of the law of Islam, explaining that the “inheritance is divided in verses of peremptory significance and could not be changed,” and not granting lesser rights to women than men.

The cleric also added that inheritance is one of those few topics that were explained in details in the Holy Quran and it was commonly approved by the scholars of Islam in past and present.

Islam grants a specific division to women in terms of inheritance, and prohibits them to marry men from other religions, while it allows men to marry non-Muslim females.