Document #1288972
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
Information on this specific subject is
currently unavailable to the DIRB; however, the following general
information may be useful.
According to an official of the Arab League
Information Centre in Ottawa, adultery is considered by Muslims in
Egypt to be a very serious charge. As a result, a charge must be
made and proven not just by the husband but by at least two
witnesses (9 Aug. 1993). The same source states that it is in
general difficult to prove adultery, and adultery-related divorces
are rare. The official would not speculate about the consequences
for a woman found guilty of adultery. First of all, such a charge
is difficult to prove, and second, Muslim divorces are not easily
obtained in Egypt.
Islam is the state religion in Egypt and
Islamic law is central to the personal status of Egyptians
(Country Reports 1992 1993, 990, 997). Egyptian law on
Muslim marriage is based on the Shari'ah and recognizes
marriage as a "highly religious sacred covenant" which is
fundamental to social organization (El Alami 1992, 11; Esposito
1982, 16). Under Islam, divorce is not viewed positively (Esposito
1982, 29).
According to the Shari'ah, the
primary duty of a spouse is to be faithful and chaste, so any
extra-marital relationship would constitute adultery and could lead
to divorce (Nasir 1990, 38). On the other hand, modern Egyptian
family law makes it easier for women to obtain divorce and to stop
"abuses that have crept into Muslim practice" (Esposito 1982, 53,
61-63). The areas most targeted by reforms were judicial divorce
for women and a limit to husbands' ability to repudiate wives
(Ibid.). However, the source does not mention what kind of
protection if any is given to adultery-related divorced women, nor
does it state the public perceptions of such women. Notwithstanding
the intentions of the 1979 reform amendments, penalties for
non-compliance are relatively light (Ibid., 62-63).
According to Modernizing Women: Gender
and Social Change in the Middle East, family honour in the
Middle East and North African countries is linked to the sexual
conduct of its female members (1993, 114). To understand the effect
of Islam on the personal status of women, one must recognize the
differences in socio-economic standing among Middle Eastern Muslim
women (Ibid., 115). The source identifies six kinds of women in the
region: the nomadic, traditional rural, changing rural, small town,
newly urbanized squatter, and urban middle class professionals and
housewives (Ibid.). Family form and composition varies across these
groups (Ibid.). Attitudes and practices are usually strongest in
the countryside, but elsewhere they are being undermined by
poverty, migration and the market economy (Ibid., 116).
The ultimate goal of the Egyptian feminist
movement, which is the oldest in the Arab world, is to improve the
lot of women (Shreir 1988, 79-81 ). However, because of its
raison d'être, the movement has had a history of
feeding Islamist conservative or fundamentalist reaction (Moghadam
1993, 158-159). The Islamists regard attempts to end the sexual
oppression of women in the Islamic state as taboo (Ibid.). Raising
this subject has always lead to "intense popular criticism" and it
appears that any increase in women's causes has also led to a rise
in conservative Islam (Ibid.).
Additional and/or corroborative information
on the requested subject could not be found among the sources
currently available to the DIRB in Ottawa.
Arab League Information Centre,
Ottawa. 9 August 1993. Telephone interview with official.
Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1992. 1993. U.S. Department of State. Washington:
U.S. Government Printing Office.
El Alami, Dawoud Sudqi. 1992. The
Marriage Contract in Islamic Law in the Shari'ah and Personal
Status Laws of Egypt and Morocco. London: Graham and
Trotman.
Esposito, John L. 1982. Women in
Muslim Family Law. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Moghadam, Valentine M. 1993.
Modernizing Women: Gender and Social Change in the Middle
East. Boulder, Co: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Nasir, Jamal J. 1990. The Status of
Women Under Islamic Law and Under Modern Islamic Legislation .
London: Graham and Trotman.
Women's Movements of the World: An
International Directory and Reference Guide. 1988. Edited by
Sally Shreir. London: Longman Group UK Ltd.
El Alami, Dawoud Sudqi. 1992. The
Marriage Contract in Islamic Law in the Shari'ah and Personal
Status Laws of Egypt and Morocco. London: Graham and
Trotman.
Esposito, John L. 1982. Women in
Muslim Family Law. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
Moghadam, Valentine M. 1993.
Modernizing Women: Gender and Social Change in the Middle
East. Boulder, Co: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Nasir, Jamal J. 1990. The Status of
Women Under Islamic Law and Under Modern Islamic Legislation.
London: Graham and Trotman.
Women's Movements of the World: An
International Directory and Reference Guide. 1988. Edited by
Sally Shreir. London: Longman Group UK Ltd.