Egyptian MP Wants to Further Restrict Women's Right to Khul' Divorce

In Islamic law, women don't have the right to end their marriage unless they willingly free their husbands of any financial claims and renounce entitlement to their matrimonial homes , which has come to be known as Khul' law. It was adopted in Egypt in the year 2000, giving Egyptian women, for the very first time, a tool of last resort to use against abusive and negligent husbands.

Egyptian MP, namely Soliman El-Emeiry, now wants to partially rollback the law and place further restrictions on khul' cases. According to El Mal News, El-Emeiry argued that the khul' law has become a "weapon some wives use to divorce themselves, making divorce rates in Egypt skyrocket."

The MP has requested the government draft a bill to put such proposed restrictions in place, while also stressing that he's not out to take khul' rights away from women, but to "preserve the values of the Egyptian family." El-Emeiry suggested consulting Al-Azhar to reach a balanced divorce law that maintains basic rights for all parties involved.

"Sometimes, Khul' is necessary for wives to escape matrimonial hell," said El-Emeiry to Al Mal News, further clarifying that, despite this, there need to be further restrictions to maintain stability and unity of Egyptian homes.

It is to be noted that El-Emeiry made no mention of men's legal right to divorce their wives without any restrictions, which is how most divorces in Egypt happen.