When Huda Nasrallah's father died in December 2018, it was before the court that this Egyptian claimed a share of inheritance equal to that of her two brothers. Twice she was rejected. The judges based their decision on Sharia law, the Islamic law, which stipulates that women are entitled to only half of what the man inherits. To date, she is awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court.
To defend her cause, the human rights lawyer plays the religious card: she is Coptic, and, as such, claims not to be subject to Islamic law. Especially since the Christian doctrine defends the equality man / woman against the inheritance. But in Egypt, it is sharia law that governs personal status law. In other words, family law, especially marriage and inheritance.
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It's less for the money that Huda Nasrallah is fighting for than the principle. "I do not fight for inheritance, my father has not left us millions," she tells AP, "but I have the right to be treated equally with my brothers." When his father dies, he leaves behind a four-storey building in a modest Cairo neighborhood and a little money in a bank account. A heritage that his brothers are ready to share equitably with her. Yet even their support will do nothing. Egyptian justice refuses to be an exception.
The risk of a precedent
The issue of inheritance represents a heated debate in the Muslim world. Former Tunisian President - late Beiji Caid Essebsi - proposed in 2018 a measure to allow gender equality in the legacy. But the proposal provoked an outcry in Egypt. The institution Al-Azhar, considered the highest authority of Sunni thought, had spoken out against the Tunisian reform. The question remains unclear to this day.
"The subject goes far beyond the religious rules, it concerns the very nature of Egyptian society where the judicial system remains misogynist," said Hind Ahmed Zaki, a professor of political science at the University of Connecticut. is that if equality is given to the Christians, it will not be long before the Muslim women claim the same thing. "
In fact, in Egypt, women often have difficulty getting even the small portion of their inheritance, especially when it comes to land or cash. "Too often, men do everything they can to deprive women of their heritage," says Rafic Khouri, co-author of the UN report on women and the land in the Arab world (2017).
Economic Marginalization of Women
This discrimination only worsens the marginalization of women in Egyptian economic life, and more widely in the Arab world, according to Rafic Khouri. An OECD report (2017) points to the striking gap between women's high level of education and their low participation in economic life in the MENA region (Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Jordan).
"The percentage of women in the labor force [...] of the six countries examined is one of the lowest in the world at 17.9% compared to 47.1% for the world average," reads the report. Without access to land, no fair entitlement to inheritance, no independent income, women remain at the mercy of their spouse. And all the more vulnerable.
Solidarity with their sister, the Nasrallah brothers could simply share their inheritance with Huda, amicably. But Huda is fighting for a cause that exceeds it. It wants to create jurisprudence and allow all Egyptian women to enjoy the same right. "If I do not go to court, who will?"
This article was adapted from the English by Sarah Leduc. To read the original, click here.