Just Say No to Sharia Law

I always remember Iraqi women wearing ibaya in Najef and Kerbela, but everywhere else in Iraq it was always up to the woman, which is the way it should be.

 

Iraqis divided by constitution's treatment of women

Iraqi women in Baghdad line up to receive aid from the Iraqi Red Crescent Society. Head scarves are common; women have been killed for not observing strict Islamic dress codes.

Supporters say Article 41 will keep the state out of civil affairs. Critics say it will usher in Sharia.

By Tina Susman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 9, 2007

BAGHDAD -- It has been nearly 30 years since she got married, but Iraqi legislator Samira Musawi still bristles at what she considers the ultimate indignity: a law requiring witnesses to certify the rite.

She and her husband-to-be grabbed a couple of strangers, gave them each about $10 and were legally wed.

"I didn't even know these people; they could have been thugs," Musawi said of the men who validated the 1979 civil ceremony in a west Baghdad court.

That memory is one reason Musawi, who heads parliament's Women, Family and Childhood Committee, supports Article 41, a clause in Iraq's interim constitution that supporters say will prevent state meddling in civil affairs by allowing Iraqis to marry, divorce, decide inheritances and settle other personal issues according to their religious sect. For example, under Shiite law, no witnesses are required for a marriage, but Sunnis require two.

But a fight over the article's potential effect has presented a stumbling block to lawmakers trying to finalize a constitution by year's end.

Article 41 is just one line in the 16-page document, but to critics, it is the worst.

Opponents, including women's rights activists and legal scholars, say the one poorly worded sentence opens the door to rule by draconian interpretations of Islamic law that could sanction the stoning of adulterous women, allow underage girls to be forced into marriage and permit men to abandon their wives by declaring, "I divorce you," three times.

In the southern city of Basra, there are already signs of religious extremism being used to rein in women. Police say gangs enforcing their idea of Islamic law have killed 15 women in the last month. "There are gangs roaming through the streets . . . pursuing women and carrying out threats and killing because of what the women wear or because they are using makeup," the Basra police commander, Maj. Gen. Abdul Jaleel Khalaf, said this month.

Sometimes notes are left on the women's bodies saying they were killed for violating religious law or social traditions.

"This is a mockery for us, when you speak about freedom," said Hanaa Edwar, who heads the Iraqi Amal Assn., a human rights group opposing Article 41. "There will be no choices for women if a man makes a decision that he wants to live a certain way. Step by step, we will end up in a religious state."

The controversy highlights the broader debate here over how large a role religion should play in Iraqis' lives. It also underscores shortfalls of the original constitution, which was drafted in 2005 by newly elected Iraqi legislators facing a U.S.-imposed deadline. Redrafting the document is one of the benchmarks sought by the Bush administration to set the stage for an eventual U.S. troop withdrawal. But it has been delayed three times as lawmakers haggle over issues such as provincial powers, religious and cultural freedoms, and distribution of oil revenue.

There are only two women on the 25-member committee in charge of rewriting the constitution. They face formidable opposition from the Shiite Muslim lawmakers who dominate Iraq's parliament, including Humam Hamoodi, who heads the panel.

Hamoodi, whose robes and turban attest to religious devotion, scoffs at opposition to Article 41. "You're considering it a big deal!" he said, laughing. "This is a kind of liberty and freedom. This is the age of democracy."

Musawi agreed. A Shiite who wears a prim black tunic and a leopard-print head scarf, Musawi says she does not want non-Muslims to be governed by her beliefs. Article 41 ensures this cannot happen, she said.

But, she said, it also recognizes the reality in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq, where most lawmakers, including many of the 75 women in the 275-seat parliament, represent Shiite religious parties.

"If you ask me if I want a theocratic society, I will tell you no. But at the same time, I cannot ignore the fact that religion is part of our existence, and we have to accept that," Musawi said.
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