Asma Lamrabet: The problem of inheritance is not religious

Moroccan researcher Asma Murabit spoke about the current controversy regarding the Family Code and the debate between those described as Islamists and modernists.

During a lesson she delivered during her inauguration as a resident member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco, entitled “The Family and the Crisis of Values: Between Universal Human Rights and Religious Reference,” Al-Murabit touched on a number of points that raise controversy during the discussion of amending the Family Code in Morocco, saying: “We must reread the paragraphs related to the symbolism of This legacy, according to its spirit, and its basic purposes, which is to demand justice.”

The Moroccan thinker added that “demanding this goal today does not mean compromising the sanctity of the Qur’an, but rather means moving in the advanced direction of the ethics of justice and fairness,” explaining that “the sacred texts provide us with amazing spaces for interpretation, and a great context for every era.” The basic ethics are always the same: justice and fairness, whatever the context.”

The resident member of the Academy of the Kingdom of Morocco considered that the problem of inheritance “is not related to a religious problem that cannot be overcome, but rather to an issue that remains closely linked to the economic power of men.”

Al-Murabit commented on the tension between conservatives and modernists over the Family Code, saying: “This recurring and eternal societal division between modernists and conservatives results from a social imagination rooted in mentalities that have for a very long time opposed universal human rights with twisted references.” She added: “However, Differences in any debate in a democratic society are simply natural and legitimate.”

The spokeswoman pointed out that what hinders the discussion “is the voluntary or involuntary ideological exploitation of religion,” adding that “Moroccan youth today are completely lost in all references, as they have lost direction, especially in the face of the complete silence of almost all of our official religious institutions, which unfortunately remain absent from the discussion.” Societal.”

She said, “The Qur’an, as a sacred text, has a coherent worldview and closely interconnected doctrinal, moral, and legal teachings, and we cannot separate its moral vision from its normative legal dimension as the prevailing reading does today.”

Al-Murabit pointed out that “although the term equality is not mentioned in the Qur’anic text, its spirit, translation, and philosophical meaning are present, and sometimes clearly, according to egalitarian conceptual categories that have been ignored or marginalized, willingly or unwillingly, by commentators.”

Among these concepts, Al-Murabit mentioned “equality in the creation of man, women and men, created from one soul,” then “equality as a criterion for evaluating men and women.” She said: “The text evaluates men and women first and foremost on their humanity. These evaluation criteria are On the basis of their good deeds: whoever does good deeds, whether male or female… Another basis for evaluation is moral integrity: The most honorable of you in the sight of God is the most pious of you.

She highlighted that equality in the Qur’an also appears in collective social and political representation, “as stated in this very beautiful verse that has also been marginalized: Believing men and women are guardians of one another.”

Al-Murabit also spoke about independence within the framework of marriage, highlighting that while “in jurisprudence, marriage is defined in terms such as pleasure, empowerment, obedience, and the authority of the husband. We find that the Qur’an describes marriage in different words: a strict covenant, conditional on moral principles: favor, consultation, mutual consent, benevolence, virtue, affection and mercy…”