Tunisia revokes ban of marriage of women to non-Muslims

One month after Tunisian President, Beji Caid Essebsi’s call to change laws to ensure equal inheritance rights for women and their rights in marriage to non-Muslims, the government issued a memorandum noting non-compulsory indication of the religion of the husband in the marriage contract, contrary to the old decree which requires a foreign husband to spell out his religion or a non-Muslim to pronounce the Shahada in front of the Mufti in order to conclude the marriage to a Muslim woman. To this effect, the ministry of justice sent the memo endorsing the repeal of the 1973 Ordinance to all national courts, marriage offices and consulates, mentioning that said decree is in violation of the country’s Constitution and its international agreements. Similarly, the presidential spokeswoman, Saeeda Qarash, published on her Facebook page that all provisions related to banning of marriage to a non-Muslim have been abolished. “Congratulations to the women of Tunisia their free choice of spouses,” she wrote. Qarash, to recall, is a prominent leftist and feminist figure in the North African state. Some observers believe she was behind Essebsi’s announcement of changes and his seeking to win the support of women after the past elections proved their overwhelming backing for him. (Al Hayat, September 15, 2017)
 

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