Adultery Laws: A License to Kill | Rabab Kamal

Rabab Kamal

It took Egypt by storm when MP Margret Azer announced her intentions of introducing a proposed bill that calls for gender equality regarding Adultery laws in September 2016. The Egyptian penal code is discriminatory against women convicted of Adultery, in favor of men convicted of the same act. Under Egyptian law, Adultery is considered a crime that requires a prison sentence

The announcement made by MP Azer, one of the 89 female legislators in the 569 member Parliament, provoked her fellow MP Elhamy Agina into making remarks that “Women are solely to be blamed for Adultery, and this simply justifies tougher penalties against women”.   Mr. Agina said that there is no reason for toughening Adultery penalties against men

 The remarks made by Mr. Agina are not far-fetched from some old interpretations of the Quran. One popular interpretation blaming Adultery mainly on women was made by Imam   Al-Qurtubi   (1214 – 1271 A.D). According to the Islamic Calendar, he was born in 611 A.H, Some 600 Years after the death of Prophet Muhammad

Al-Qurtubi was a classical Islamic Jurist, most famous for his Quranic Exegesis. Although Adultery is punishable by 100 lashes for both women and men in the Quran, Al – Qurtubi insisted that the word Adulteress is mentioned prior to the word Adulterer in the Quran because women bear greater responsibility for the act

This Explanation is widely popular nowadays and is adopted by a number of Muslim preachers. Therefore the comment made by MP Agina reiterating that women are basically to blame for Adultery is part of the dominant religious heritage

Mp Agina does not stand alone in making such peculiar remarks, his fellow MP and head of the Religious Affairs Committee in parliament Mr. Amr Hamroush also stated that gender equality regarding Adultery in the Egyptian penal code contradicts Sharia law. It is noteworthy that the Religious Affairs Committee is responsible for reviewing proposed bills, making sure that they are Sharia law friendly, before Mps convene to vote

Mr. Hamroush stated that toughening penalties against male Adulterers would encourage Adultery, he was unable to give a logical explanation for his vague theory

Adultery Penalties in the Egyptian Penal code are crammed with discriminatory articles against women, and they show clear and present bias towards men accused or convicted of Adultery. An Egyptian blockbuster movie titled “The Unjust law” released in 1985, addressed such a controversial issue particularly Article NO.273 of the Penal Code. The latter article stipulates that a husband who catches his wife red-handed committing Adultery and happens to kill her out of rage, will not stand trial as a killer , but rather his crime would be  considered  nothing more than a misdemeanor. A misdemeanor is punishable in Egypt by a fine or Imprisonment, where the maximum sentence is 3 years and the minimum sentence is 24 hours. Imagine that a husband, who murders his wife, could walk out as a free man after spending merely 24 hours in prison?! This legislation was justified on the basis of sympathizing with a husband whose integrity is deeply violated by his cheating wife. To make a long story short, Article 273 of the penal code gives a husband the right to avenge his honor. Since Honor killings are outlawed in the Egyptian penal code, the male legislators decided to beat around the bush and punish the husband who kills his wife to avenge his honor, with a light sentence. One must wonder, isn’t this simply a license to kill

On the other hand, a wife who catches her husband committing Adultery and kills him out of rage, stands trial as a murderer accused of a felony .The wife is then subjected to Article 234 of the Penal code, where she could get a Life- sentence or if she is luckier she could get a maximum security sentence of up to 15 years in prison

And here comes the Billion dollar question, how can we achieve gender equality in such a controversial case? Should we suggest that wives too can get a light short prison sentence if they murder their husbands caught in the act?! Should we suggest that a wife too could kill her husband and get away with merely a misdemeanor

Indeed this would be gender equality, but it also would be a kind of insane, irrational and illogical equality. The function of any Penal code in the world is to discourage crimes specifically Murder by making them punishable. The penal code should not encourage murder under any circumstances neither should it reward murder with a light sentence or  a fine. Gender equality in this case requires abolishing article 273 completely out of the penal code.

Article 273 is not the only sort of discrimination against wives regarding Adultery Laws. Article 274 of the same penal code stipulates that a wife convicted of Adultery is punished by a maximum 2- year prison sentence, while Article 277 stipulates that a husband convicted of Adultery is punished by a maximum 6 month prison sentence

More discrimination is obvious in the process of the conviction itself, a wife is convicted of Adultery  whether she cheated on her husband in or out of  their conjugal home ( Article 274) , while the husband is convicted of Adultery only if he cheats on his wife in their conjugal home ( Article 277), in so many words Adultery is not punishable for husbands if committed anywhere else outside their homes

There are other problematic issues that one must recognize, for instance, a husband is not accused of Adultery if he is caught cheating on  his wife with his other wives , because polygamy for men – derived from Sharia law – is legal in Egypt . This matter raises the inequality and discrimination against women as a whole in Sharia law itself

Mp Margret Azer who announced her intentions to call for equal Adultery punishments for both men and women should consider that conservatives and hardliners within parliament can call for drafting a law that punishes  Adulterers with 100 lashes ,  because Adultery is punishable equally by 100 lashes for both women and men in the Quran, hardliners can simply resort to  Egypt’s constitution which states  that Sharia law is the main source of legislation. Yet Flogging violates the United Nations’ Convention against Torture which Egypt ratified in 1986

It is noteworthy that some fundamentalists have been demanding that Adultery laws be applicable also to unmarried people

It seems to be that MS. Azer is putting herself between a rock and a hard place when appealing for gender equality in such a case. Yet her announcement hit the bull’s eye, for it started a problematic debate that was long forgotten

It seems to be that voices like that of Ms Azer are demanding equal Adultery punishments for both men and women , but why not consider that the best way to achieve gender equality is by completely abolishing Adultery punishments all together from the penal code.  Adultery is a matter of marital affairs and the Personal Statues law not the penal code

The situation is very similar in Lebanon, where its Penal code discriminates against wives convicted of Adultery in Articles 487, 488 and 489 . Therefore Lebanese MP Sami El Gamil presented a bill that abolishes Adultery punishments in March 2016

Such demands could be regarded as breaking social and religious taboos, but we must wonder why does the Media, the public opinion and legislators take interest in how married people deal with their genitalia  and insist it must be Punishable by a prison sentence

The Rhetoric question remains , Why is it that society would be enraged by calls to abolish Adultery from the penal code more than they would be enraged by the deteriorating  health care or educational systems  or even the lack of adequate sewage in some parts Egypt