Feminist wins right to stay married
An Egyptian court has dismissed an attempt to force a prominent feminist writer and her husband to divorce.
The court today ruled that there were no grounds for interference by the lawyer who brought the case because he objects to what she has said about Islam.
Lawyer Nabih el-Wahsh accused Nawal el-Saadawi of apostasy - renunciation of Islam.
He cited her comments about Islam in an interview with an Egyptian newspaper.
Under Islamic law, an apostate cannot be married to a Muslim. El-Saadawi and her husband of 37 years are both Muslim.
In his ruling, the judge said the court found that el-Wahsh has no legal status to file the case and that the country’s prosecutor general is the sole authority to pursue such cases.
Earlier this year, the prosecutor rejected a request by el-Wahsh to charge el-Saadawi with insulting Islam. The prosecutor said her opinions did not constitute a crime.
El-Saadawi the court’s ruling ‘‘ is a victory for free thought and expression.’’
‘‘I and my husband feel that we have survived this ordeal through our resistance, firmness and refusal to yield to the mentality of the dark ages,’’ she said.
El-Saadawi, 70, is known for her outspokenness and for challenging Arab society to rethink attitudes about women, religion and class.
Among her works translated into English is Woman at Point Zero, which relates the brutal past of a woman awaiting execution for murder.
In her God Dies by the Nile, a wealthy man who preys sexually on naive peasant women is protected by his village’s Muslim preacher.
