Female Marriage-Maker Raises Gender Issues in Egypt

CAIRO, Egypt (WOMENSENEWS)--Amal Soliman did not realize how large a controversy would erupt here when she sought to become Egypt's first female "maazun," or Islamic public notary who performs wedding ceremonies and authorizes marriage and divorce certificates.

"I knew it was going to be a little bit in the press, but I didn't really think it would be such a big deal," Soliman says about her February selection by local government officials. "It is what it is and I don't want to have politics as a part of the discussion of me being a maazun because I am a simple housewife who wants to work close to home and raise my kids."

Religious leaders have both condemned and endorsed her selection. Her status was significant enough to require the government to approve it. But she's not brandishing it in a quest for equal rights and recoils from having her appointment politicized.

"I don't want people, especially the West, to take me as a victory for women in Egypt and the Middle East," she says. "I am Egyptian and a Muslim so what I am doing is for here and not for the West."

Already, people know about the "female maazun" in her town of Qaniyat, an hour east of Cairo. "They point you in the direction of 'Madame Soliman's house' if you ask," she says.

People knock on her door every day to be married, even though she still waits for official permission to work from the national justice ministry. She has heard about others, though, who will stay away.

"Some people have said that I am not appropriate to be a maazun because I am a woman," she says, "but I am confident this will fade with time."

Sought Employment, Not Controversy

Soliman, a 32-year-old mother of three, applied for the position when it became vacant after her father-in-law passed away. The job is not inherited, and there are hundreds of maazuns in Egypt, one for each local district.

"I didn't really think about the gender issue when I applied for the job," she says. "It was close to my house and I needed something so close by so I could still be at home for my kids."

Ten others, all men, applied to fill the vacancy. Soliman had a master's degree in law from Zagazig University as well as law and criminal justice diplomas and had the highest qualifications.

Justice Minister Mamdouh Marei has sought to relieve tensions among Egypt's powerful Islamic scholars, saying that Soliman's nomination was based "on her abilities rather than on her gender." A year ago, 30 women were appointed as judges in response to activists' complaints that Egypt lagged in female participation in the judiciary.

"Everyone is beginning to recognize women's rights and women's potential," Hanan Abdel-Aziz, one of the appointed judges, told the state press at the time.

Egypt has stood out among Arab nations in women's participation in many aspects of life and politics. Suffrage was granted in 1956, ahead of most others in the region. Women are about 30 percent of the private professional and technical work force, but few are high officials in the government.

Detecting Forced Marriages

One of Soliman's responsibilities will be to ensure there is no coercion behind a wedding, particularly when younger brides are involved. As many as one in three weddings are forced upon the woman, who is often under 18, according to the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights in Cairo.

"As a woman I will be better able to find out if the girl wants to get married and if she is being forced into the agreement by an outside party," Soliman says. "I wanted to take this position because it gives women and girls who are getting married a real opportunity to take action."

Ibrahim Abdel Salam, 26, an employee at a Cairo cafe, nonetheless objects. "It is wrong to have a woman in this position. My sheikh tells me that if we are to get married that we must avoid her because she can't do the job."