Egypt’s presidency clashes with religious institutions over verbal divorce
Calls for new legislation in Egypt to annul verbal divorce, namely by President Abel Fattah al-Sisi, raise the ire of Al-Azhar and other religious institutions already at odds with the president.
CAIRO — The Administrative Court of the Egyptian State Council ruled Sept. 1 that it does not have jurisdiction to look into the case demanding the minister of justice to amend the personal status law in such a way to annul verbal divorce and have it authenticated officially by virtue of written documents.
The legal case, filed by lawyer Haitham Saad, was also directed against the Grand Imam of al-Azhar, Ahmed el-Tayeb, to renounce verbal divorce, as many Egyptians, under daily pressure and stress, express orally their intention of divorce without any real will to do so.
The calls to annul verbal divorce have raised the ire of religious institutions in Egypt.
Back in 2017, during a Jan. 24 ceremony marking National Police Day, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi had called for new legislation to annul verbal divorce. The ceremony was attended by Tayeb and several clerics and statesmen.
