Press Release
Implement the "Document to Renounce Violence against Women" Far Away from Us, For Islam Warranted Muslim Women Their Rights!

Ambassador Mervat Tallawi, President of the National Council of Egyptian Women, mentioned in a press conference held on the 21st of March that the document signed by Egypt renouncing the violence against women is a moral obligation that should be used as a guide by other countries while implementing their legislations. The Ambassador reiterated her support to a variety of issues adopted by the UN under the umbrella of Human Rights and the right of enjoying all civil liberties, assuring that these issues do not conflict with Islam, the religion that honored women and granted them their rights before any other religion. The Ambassador also responded to those who attacked the agreement by denouncing the use of religion and trying to turn Egypt to Tora Bora, isolating it from the rest of the world.

In the same context, Al-Ahram newspaper reported in its edition issued on 11 March, that Dr. Bakinam Sharqawi Vice President of the Egyptian Republic said, "full coordination had occurred before traveling between the presidency and the National Council for Women, on the distribution of tasks assigned to members of the official delegation." Tallawi also affirmed that Egypt played a vital and leading role in bringing the views closer during the conference period; she also spoke about Egypt's role in the success of the International Conference on Population and Development held in Egypt, and establishing the Beijing platform for action. In addition to the above, the UN website published in the English-language the text of the paper delivered by Ambassador Tallawi, head of the Egyptian official delegation on March 5, 2013, entitled "Renounce violence against women during the phase of  building the constitution and the state", which mentioned on the third page under the title of "Egyptian Case": groups built on the basis of religion encourage violence against women by calling for: women wearing the hijab (face-veil), early marriage, justification of female genital mutilation, the abolition of divorce laws (compensation divorce law), change the age of detaining children from 15 years to 7 years. La Hawla Wala Quwata Illa Billah!

In New York, the head of the Egyptian delegation had described the Muslims appliance of the Islamic Legislative rulings as a form of violence against women, while she repeats the phrase that Islam honoured women locally! So if this is her personal conviction, then is it not a priority to fully and completely implement the Shariah laws instead of calling the Muslim women to implement the UN conventions that clearly contradict Islam, culture and the taste of Muslims?! And if Islam is the only religion that conserved the rights of women, then what is the need for other laws that are alien to Islam?! Or are they phrases used only as a way of marketing inconsequential merchandise!  The laws that need frequent review are failed and inadequate laws, as for the adhesive Shariah, it comes from The Well-Acquainted and The All-Gracious. Islam's stance on this Westernizing agreement is clear, this agreement exploits with its attractive name the poor situation of women and what they suffer of the different forms of injustice and oppression under the hegemony of man-made laws that imposed the law of the jungle, while neither safeguarding the honours nor protecting the sanctities. This council does not represent the Egyptian Muslim woman nor does it reflect the hopes and aspirations of women who stood against the tyrant and stayed at the protesting domains until the revolution image in Egypt had become associated with images of millions of veiled women that topped the front pages of world media. The commitment of Egyptian women to wear the Islamic dress led some feminist writers to change their position regarding the veil to become an expression of a clear identity and a strong will, rather than as an expression of weakness and force.

The Muslim women chose the current system out of their love for Islam and their confidence that this regime will implement the laws of Allah (swt) by which the pains of the past will be erased and the glory of the Muslims will return, protecting the Muslim society from destruction; however, what we see is only a change of face of the Mubarak regime itself, nothing else has changed, the conspiracies against Islam and Muslim women have remained, happening in front of the eyes of the current regime and with their consent, while the people missed the stability which they called for due to the contradiction in their positions and the absence of the correct vision for this change. Indeed, this stability will not return except with an ideological and radical change for the regime and its roots, and implementing a system that agrees with the doctrine of the people, that will aid them with obeying their Lord, and pave for them ways for righteousness and integrity.

(وَأَوْفُوا بِعَهْدِ اللَّـهِ إِذَا عَاهَدتُّمْ وَلَا تَنقُضُوا الْأَيْمَانَ بَعْدَ تَوْكِيدِهَا وَقَدْ جَعَلْتُمُ اللَّـهَ عَلَيْكُمْ كَفِيلًا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ)

"And be true to your bond with Allah whenever you bind yourselves by a pledge, and do not break [your] oaths after having [freely] confirmed them and having called upon Allah to be witness to your good faith: behold, Allah knows all that you do." [an-Nahl: 91]

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz

Member of the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir