CAIRO: Zeinab Radwan, deputy speaker of the People’s Assembly (PA) and member of the National Council for Women, filed a proposal to amend court regulations that would allow one woman’s testimony to be equivalent to that of a man.
The proposal also seeks to equate the inheritance rights of non-Muslim women married to Muslims to those of Muslim wives.
Egyptian court regulations follow a sharia stipulation that two women’s testimony is equivalent to one man’s. It also does not give non-Muslim wives the same inheritance rights as their Muslim counterparts.
Mahmoud Amer, an MP affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, objected to Radwan’s suggestion on the grounds that “it contradicts the [teachings] of the Holy Quran . these are God’s orders which we must follow and cannot disagree with.
Amer said that the Quran explicitly states that two women’s testimony is equivalent to that of one man.
Radwan’s argument is based on the fact that women during the early ages of Islam were ignorant of society’s political and economic matters, while now the situation is different.
Regarding Radwan’s second request concerning the inheritance right of Muslim versus non-Muslim wives, Amer again cites the sharia, saying that, “The sharia has a clear stance on the issue of inheritance that is based on Quranic interpretation.
“If a wife was able to live her entire life with her husband for better or for worse why did she not abide by his religion as well? Amer asked, indicating that a wife who abides by her husband’s religion is a better wife than one who does not, which he believes, explains the distinction between their rights.
Amer also added that Radwan’s requests were merely “suggestions that did not go any further in the PA.
Gamal Eid, chairman of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (HRInfo), told Daily News Egypt that the PA should have immediately accepted Radwan’s suggestions.
“Unfortunately Muslim Brotherhood and National Democratic Party members only agree when it comes to cases that impede women’s rights . I wish they would disagree on cases that deal with women’s rights like they do on every other thing, that way we would have allies supporting women’s rights in the PA.
Eid called for changes in the PA that would lead to the support of women’s rights.
Radwan was unavailable for comment.
The controversy comes on the heels of a statement by Nihad Aboul Qumsan, chairman of the Egyptian Center for Women’s Rights (ECWR), lauding the Muslim Brotherhood’s efforts in promoting women’s rights in Egypt.
Aboul Qumsan said that the Muslim Brotherhood’s MPs played a very positive role when in cases involving the status of women and their rights.
