A Revolution in Muslim Family Law? Egypt’s Pre- and Post-Revolutionary Period (2011-2013) Compared

Abstract

In the weeks following the Egyptian revolution of 2011, a group of divorced fathersrose to demand a “revolution in family law.” Portraying extant family law provisions assymbolic of the old regime and as deviating from the principles of shariʿa, their call was givenprominent media attention and, in the ensuing transitional period (2011 to 2013), women’srights and family law emerged as contentious areas in Egypt.By comparing public debates on family law reform in the decade preceding the 2011revolution to the two years following it, we argue that Egypt’s “revolution in family law”actually started a decade earlier, in 2000, when Egyptian women’s new right to divorceunilaterally rocked the country.1 This set in motion other legal reforms that challengedfundamental aspects of male authority in the family and slowly led to the emergence ofinnovative conceptions of motherhood and fatherhood.

Judicial Activism in the Context of the 2011 Egyptian Revolution: Emerging Conceptions of Femininity and Masculinity

“…The groups of divorced fathers argued that they were 'oppressed' and that the previously discussed legislative provisions were a Western invention introduced to the country by the wife of the ex-president, Suzanne Mubarak in contravention of Islamic shari'a, and would lead to the disintegration of the Egyptian family. The family laws, they concluded were 'Suzanne's laws' and in need of a 'revolution' in order to purge them from any remnants of the authoritarian regime (Sonneveld and Lindbekk 2015). I am also going to show that the 2011 revolution caused a rupture in the sense that while lawmaking during Mubarak's presidency was controlled by a tightly-knit circle this partly changed during the period in question when more groups were given a legislative voice.…”

“…While the groups of divorced fathers and judges such as 'Abdullah al-Baja sought to strengthen male authority in the family through reversal of the khul' law and lowering the age of custody to seven years for boys and nine years for girls in accordance with the Hanafi school, priority was given to changing the provisions regulating the age of visitation (see also Sonneveld and Lindbekk 2015). Significant for the purposes of this article, they strongly advocated the notion of hosting (istidafa).…”

“…18 Elsewhere Sonneveld and I have also argued that these demands should be seen in light of a painful renegotiation of gender dynamics where many men are unable to discharge their economic obligations as dictated by classic Islamic law and modern personal status codes (Sonneveld and Lindbekk 2015).…”

Inscribing Islamic Shari‘a in Egyptian Divorce Law

“…This was highly significant during the post-revolutionary period, which was characterised by contest over the scope and definition of Islamic shari'a. 95 Following Mubarak's ousting in 2011, personal status law emerged as an area of public contention. The provision of khul' was seen by some as symbolic of the old regime and its deviation from the principles of shariʿa.…”

From the Liberation of Women to the Liberation of Men? A Century of Family Law Reform in Egypt

“…They called these provisions 'Suzanne Mubarak laws' and asserted that a 'revolution' was needed to purge them as remnants of the previous authoritarian regime (Sonneveld and Lindbekk 2015;Sonneveld and Voorhoeve 2011). By connecting the family law provisions to the repression of the old regime, the divorced fathers' organisations found a forceful way of politicising the divorce laws and rescinding certain women's rights.…”