Al Azhar openly rejects El Sisi’s proposal for legislation to ban verbal divorce

Al Azhar (carefully) rejects El Sisi’s move to modernize divorce law. More significantly this morning: The Associated Press’s excellent Hamza Hendawi picked up Al Azhar’s “carefully-worded statement” that openly rejects President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s proposal that the House of Representatives take up legislation that would strip a man of the ‘right’ to verbally divorce his wife. Scholars say the practice has been uncontested since the seventh century and note that banning it will not help curb Egypt’s high divorce rates, as most cases are officiated and documented. El Sisi proposed the legislation during a televised address in January.