Morning Star

"...spoiling family and social life"

That is what legislators were accused of doing by trying to make it easier for Muslim women in Egypt to initiate divorce. When a couple marries, the husband must give his wife a dowry of sorts, which she may use entirely for herself. Thus, if he subsequently divorces her (which is a simple thing to due under shari'a law) she will have a small financial cushion afterwards.

The law of khula had been introduced (based on a more moderate application of Islam) so that women also had the right to initiate divorce without losing that settlement, but the more traditional Muslims are now decrying the attempt, saying that khula contradicts shari'a. Furthermore, the Muslim Brotherhood's "Freedom and Justice Party" has announced its intention to make sure all "personal status" laws in the country conform to shari'a, which doesn't bode well for any women--Muslim or Christian. (Presently, Christians are subject to their own marriage laws.)

Divorce laws are a matter of justice, sadly, in an imperfect world, and essential to guaranteeing the integrity of both parties to a marriage. A return to shari'a--which allows marriage contracts to be made without the consent of the bride,  male-initiated no-fault divorce, polygamy, and the demeaning status of divorced women--does not bode well.

Analyzing the nature of marriage, both St. Augustine and St. Thomas always identify it with an "indivisible union of souls," a "union of hearts," with "consent." These elements are found in an exemplary manner in the marriage of Mary and Joseph. At the culmination of the history of salvation, when God reveals his love for humanity through the gift of the Word, it is precisely the marriage of Mary and Joseph that brings to realization in full "freedom" the "spousal gift of self" in receiving and expressing such a love (John Paul II, "Guardian of the Redeemer," 7).

If Islamic family and social life are built without any concern for the fundamental dignity of women as equal persons; and if marriage ignores this metaphysical backdrop which makes it an exclusive and freely chosen union, then let it be spoiled. Divorce is a tragedy, but the unjust contracts that preceded them are worse.

Islam and adultery (Egyptian law)

 

After watching, consider these points:

• while Islam claims that adultery must be proven by the "four witness" rule (which refers to this defining anecdote) I find it stunning that one man can be four witnesses alone simply by swearing the same thing four times -- surely rational people must take issue with such an interpretation (even of an already onerous law);
• there seems to be no real argument about murder as a reasonable response to adultery, whereas most of the world would consider it an over-reaction. His dispassionate explanation made one wonder if the anger of the husband was jealousy founded on betrayed love or a natural reaction to the sullying of his property, the property to which he had sole right of intimacy;
• his ludicrous explanation that notifications of subsequent marriages might get lost in the mail made a mockery of the law that husband's must notify their wives first; and notification is very different than attaining permission, which the Muslimas on the set seemed to think was proper before adding new wives to a "family."
• the parsing of killing "on the spot" and killing an hour later is still subject to the husband's interpretation, for the "other man" caught in the act certainly isn't going to stick around to give police a time-table;
• the fact that a legal system codifies such details betrays the fact that such incidents are widespread and subject to much discussion over the just response to adultery -- on the part of wives; furthermore, the fact that women have no such codes to protect them remind us that polygamy and male-initiated divorce make her ability to love and trust her husband extremely difficult, if not impossible.

As for the show, I find it interesting to see the various outfits on the women, who must have been chosen to represent different segments of the population. The premise must make for lively exchanges and great ratings, especially by inviting hard-line imams to propose such outlanding readings of their faith.