No profession forbidden to women by Islam

CAIRO, Aug 4, 1998: Amid growing public debate, a leading Egyptian cleric has ruled that there is nothing in Islam's holy book, the Quran, that bans women from becoming judges, reports AP.

However, Sheik Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi also cautioned women against rushing to join the ranks of the judiciary.

"The nature of the job does not suit that of a woman," said Tantawi. "There are certain jobs that make it necessary for men to carry them out."

Tantawi is head of Al-Azhar, the leading Sunni Muslim centre of religious thought.

His comments were published in all of today's Egyptian newspapers.

Tantawi's rulings carry substantial weight in the Muslim world, and his statement could lend legitimacy to campaigns by feminist activists to get women on the bench.

The newspaper quoted Tantawi as saying there was no profession forbidden to women by Islam and that there was no precise text in the Quran or in the teachings of Prophet Mohammed that banned women from becoming judges.

His statements follows months of debate in Egypt over one woman's 10-year battle to be accepted as a candidate for a judgeship.

Fatima Lashin, a 34-year-old lawyer who was turned down solely on grounds she is a woman, has taken her case to a succession of courts. This year the case was accepted by Egypt's highest court, but no date has been set for a decision.

The question of whether women should serve as judges has sparked a vociferous debate in newspapers, television and legal circles in recent months, with many scholars claiming that Islam bars women from the bench.

Many base their arguments on a Quranic tenet that holds that two women are equal to one man if they are called as witnesses in a court. They argue, therefore, that a woman cannot be a judge if she cannot be a sole witness.