Egyptian Women and Family

24 women roles covers many aspects. They are in the aspect of family, education, media, work, politic, law and health Guenena and Wassef 31.

2.3.4.1.1 Egyptian Women and Family

Family is a place in which women are put under men. Patriarchy society means the society which is ruled by the male. Hence in a patriarchal society a father is the most important figure who takes control of everything in a family. Father always dominates the family Kelly 59. Womens role in a family is to serve her husband well including by doing the domestic work. According to Haj-Yahia, the house keeping is the most important job to do for most wives in a patriarchal society 4. In Egyptian society, there are four things which symbolize the fathers superiority in the family. They are polygamy, divorce, bayt al-taah house of obedience, and the minimum marriage age Guenena and Wassef 20. Many wealthy Muslims in Egypt marry more than one wife. As in the Koranic passage which mentions that men are allowed to marry four wives but they have to be fair to each wife they have An-Nisa 4: 3. The law of allowing polygamy for Egyptian male was made in 1927. The legal and Islam allowance for Egyptian men to practice polygamy is in contradictory to the Egyptian National Charter which was made in 1962. The National Charter claims that family as the smallest part of a society is the most important part of a society. People are raised and learned through their family. Due to the importance of a family, therefore the government should protect the unity of family. As the practices of polygamy often destruct the unity of a family, hence the right of polygamy for Egyptian men should be abolished Guenena and Wassef 21. Divorce is the break of the marriage contract. The Egyptian law 24 of 1920 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 25 claims that women are allowed to divorce their husband if he is unable to support the wife or if he suffers from a harmful illness. Though women have a right to divorce their husband, the differentiation of the process of the divorcing among men and women exists. Guenena and Wassef state that while men are allowed to divorce his wife without any witness or proof, women must have at least two witnesses and be able to prove the reason of their divorce 102. Azizah Y. Al-Hibri in her book Introductions to Muslim Womens Rights declares that for being a witness for a woman to divorce her husband is something which is very shameful to do for most Egyptian. Therefore, not every woman can successfully negotiate in the process of her divorce 70. Bayt al-taah house of obedience is not derived from or related to the Quran or Sunna, yet it is a law. In Egypt, it is a mans right to demand the obedience of his wife. The origin of bayt al-taah is the belief that a wife must stay at home and obey her husband as the exchange for the husbands financial support. Whatever a husband says is a command for a wife. If a wife refuses to obey a command of her husband, the husband may take her to the court. If the case is proved, the wife will get a certificate declaring that she is a nashizeh or rebelling against her husband. By becoming a nashizeh, a woman is not only divorced by her husband but also can not marry another man as long as her husband is still alive Guenena and Wassef 103. Many Egyptian females marry at the early age. Lane states that most of Egyptian girls marry at the age of twelve or thirteen years and some even marry at the age of ten years. In Egypt, a thirteen years old or even younger girl may be a mother and it is common 161. The law to regulate Egyptian minimum marriage PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 26 age had set. Guenena and Wassef mention that in the 1920s the government set a minimum marriage age which are sixteen years old for girls and eighteen years old for boys 23. Meanwhile, many Egyptian parents ask their daughters to marry on early age. Marriage at a young age may bring a bad impact on the girls especially when they give birth on their early ages. It may be very harmful for their reproduction system and cause death to them as well 23.

2.3.4.1.2 Egyptian Women and Education