‘They said that we’re not Muslim,’ said Malek Kadri, a young engineer living in Tunis.
She’s talking about the government’s proposition to allow women to receive equal inheritance under the law as men. According to Islamic Juriprudence, women should only be able to receive half the inheritance of their brothers.
In a speech on National Women’s Day, Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi directly challenged Islamic law and norms when he called to change inheritance laws so that women can inherit equally to men.
The move to give women equal rights to inherit as men has drawn criticism from neighboring Muslim countries who claimed that giving women the same right to inheritance as men, would be against Islam.
Tunisia has long been hailed as one of the more free and open minded societies in the Muslim world. I first travelled to Tunisia several years ago to learn more about the impact of the Arab Spring on women. I met with women in cafes, shops and universities and found many strong and wonderful women seeking degrees in engineering and medicine. [The Huffington Post UK] Read more
