Cleric addresses women's inheritance rights

A former radical preacher is the unlikely instigator of a debate on a topic long seen as off-limits in Morocco: women's inheritance rights. The country's Islamic family laws allocate female heirs half the amount men receive on the death of a relative. However, a report on the News24 site notes that Abdelwahab Rafiki, a former hard-line cleric who served time in jail following jihadist bombings in Casablanca, says he is challenging the status quo. ‘I invite... religious scholars, sociologists and human rights actors to open a dialogue, primarily in order to uphold justice,’ he said. Moroccan magazine TelQuel said he had begun ‘dismantling one by one the dogmas of radical Islam’. The report notes that Islamic scholars argue that the Koran allocates women half the inheritance given to male heirs because men are responsible for protecting women and providing for them.