Tunisia: Clerics Oppose Equal Inheritance Rights

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi awaits for the arrival of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on February 13, 2015, at the Carthage Palace in Tunis. AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi awaits for the arrival of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on February 13, 2015, at the Carthage Palace in Tunis. AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID
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Tunisia: Clerics Oppose Equal Inheritance Rights

Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi awaits for the arrival of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on February 13, 2015, at the Carthage Palace in Tunis. AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID
Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi awaits for the arrival of EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on February 13, 2015, at the Carthage Palace in Tunis. AFP PHOTO / FETHI BELAID

Clerics in Tunisia on Thursday voiced opposition to President Beji Caid Essebsi's plan to introduce legislation granting equal inheritance rights to women, considering it contradictory to Islamic precepts.

Essebsi has announced the formation of a commission to examine "individual liberties" and "equality in all domains", including inheritance rights.

The secular leader also called for the government to scrap a 1973 circular that prevents Muslim women from marrying non-Muslims.

According to Agence France Presse, prayer leaders from across the North African state said in a statement issued jointly with experts in sharia Islamic law that the proposals amount to "a flagrant violation of the precepts" of Islam.

"Inheritance in Islam is clearly explained in the Koran... it can neither be modified nor interpreted," a former religious affairs minister, Noureddine Khadmi, told a news conference.

A former Tunisian mufti, Hamda Said, criticized what he termed proposals that would put an end to "a 1,400-year consensus".

"It's like saying God has been unjust with women, something that is completely false as there are many cases of women inheriting more than men," said Fatma Chakout, a female lecturer at the Islamic University of Ez-Zitouna.

Sheikh Abdullah el-Oussif, a doctor in Islamic sciences, said the president's proposals posed a "danger" because they risked dividing society in post-revolutionary Tunisia at a time when the country needed unity.



Starmer Says Recognizing Palestinian State Must Be Part of Wider Peace Plan, E3 Urges End to Gaza War

People wave a giant Palestinian flag during a demonstration to support the population of Gaza called by various Albanian social organizations at Skanderbeg square in Tirana, on July 23, 2025. (AFP)
People wave a giant Palestinian flag during a demonstration to support the population of Gaza called by various Albanian social organizations at Skanderbeg square in Tirana, on July 23, 2025. (AFP)
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Starmer Says Recognizing Palestinian State Must Be Part of Wider Peace Plan, E3 Urges End to Gaza War

People wave a giant Palestinian flag during a demonstration to support the population of Gaza called by various Albanian social organizations at Skanderbeg square in Tirana, on July 23, 2025. (AFP)
People wave a giant Palestinian flag during a demonstration to support the population of Gaza called by various Albanian social organizations at Skanderbeg square in Tirana, on July 23, 2025. (AFP)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that recognizing Palestinian statehood should be part of a wider plan for lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis,

After France said on Thursday it would recognize Palestine, Starmer said he was working with allies on the steps that were needed for peace in the conflict in Gaza.

"Recognition of a Palestinian state has to be one of those steps. I am unequivocal about that. But it must be part of a wider plan which ultimately results in a two-state solution and lasting security for Palestinians and Israelis," he said in a statement after speaking with the leaders of France and Germany.

The leaders of the so-called E3 group of France, Britain and Germany called on Friday for an end to the war in Gaza through an immediate ceasefire and said they were committed to supporting diplomatic efforts by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

"The humanitarian catastrophe that we are witnessing in Gaza must end now...We firmly oppose all efforts to impose Israeli sovereignty over the Occupied Palestinian Territories," the leaders of the three European countries said in a joint statement.