Egypt: an economic geography The people of Egypt · 23
in case of divorce were declared unconstitutional and repealed during the
1980s. Generally, all laws dating from pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial
times are being amended to accord with the shari’a, as it is interpreted by
the religious leaders. In the present climate one tends to forget that while
the Prophet himself allowed his own wives various freedoms, women today
are denied these on the pretext that they are against either ‘Islam’ or their
‘cultural identity’. So some Muslim feminists are demanding a new interpreta-
tion of the Quranic texts and a consideration of the role of women in early
Islamic times. In 2000, after years of heated controversy over social, religious
and legal aspects, the Egyptian Ministry of Justice issued a new Personal
Status Law called khul’ (Law No. 1 of 2000), which is based on a rarely used
Islamic practice. The law allows women to claim a divorce without justifying
their reasons before a court on condition that they renounce their rights to
all financial provision and that they also repay the dowry. The fact that the
law was applied only 1,300 times during its first nine months in force, out
of about 250,000 divorce suits annually, shows that it has to be considered in
context. It is by no means a step in the right direction since it is financially
discriminating for women. Only wealthy women can make use of it, and
they may not be the ones who tend to suffer most. The majority of Egyptian
women are not economically in a position to renounce their financial rights.