In accordance with the relevant decision of His Majesty the King, Commander of the Faithful, to submit 17 questions for legal opinion, the opinion of the Supreme Council of Ulema was in conformity with the majority of these questions, while specifying the possible methods for the conformity of the others with Sharia rules and underlining that three questions relate to formal texts not subject to Ijtihad (in this case those relating to the use of genetic expertise to establish paternity, the abrogation of the Taâsib rule and inheritance between a Muslim and a non-Muslim), Toufiq stated during a presentation before His Majesty the King at a working session on Monday at the Royal Palace in Casablanca, devoted to the revision of the Family Code.
The Minister, in his capacity as a member of the Supreme Council of Ulema, added that the Council had endorsed the Body’s propositions concerning the possibility of concluding the marriage deed for Moroccan expatriates without the presence of two Muslim witnesses if proven impossible, the granting of legal guardianship of children to the mother responsible for custody, and regarding the wife’s work within the home as a contribution to the development of assets acquired during the matrimonial relationship.
These also include, he continued, the obligation of maintenance (Nafaqa) for the wife as soon as the marriage certificate is issued, the exclusion of the marital home from inheritance, the prioritization of both spouses’ debts resulting from the community of property over other debts by virtue of their association, and the maintenance of the divorced mother’s custody of her children, even in the event of remarriage.
Toufiq pointed out that the opinions expressed by the Ulema had been submitted to the High Appreciation of His Majesty the King, from the point of view of the Maslaha (Interest) as the higher purpose of religion, while emphasizing the foresight that distinguishes the Great Imamate and the Commander of the Faithful’s willingness to reconcile, within the framework of the reform process that the Sovereign is leading with wisdom and insight, between preserving religious and national constants and guaranteeing His faithful subjects greater dignity, loftiness and equity, taking into consideration the ongoing transformations of the Moroccan society.
The Minister expressed the pride of the Supreme Council of Ulema’s members after His Majesty the King had kindly asked the Council to give its opinion on certain Sharia propositions made by the body in charge of revising the Family Code, based on the Sovereign’s concern to involve the Ulema in decisions relating to the preservation of religious constants and the place of the Commandery of the Faithful.
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