Family Code: Morocco bars road for individual, extremist interpretations

In submitting some provisions of the new family code to be examined by the Higher Ulema Council, a constitutional body representing Moroccan Muslim scholars, King Mohammed VI bars the road to any individual interpretation or extremist exploitation of a law that should evolve in line with social developments.

The Council shall issue a Fatwa, religious interpretation, on some issues contained in the new code, which has been submitted to the King by a committee in charge of the code revision, following a series of consultation with Moroccan civil society stakeholders, political parties, and religious scholars.

The Monarch, in his quality as Commander of the Faithful, had urged a new code that is in line with the precepts of Islam and its lofty values of moderation, openness and Ijtihad, or issuing ruling about current issues in compatibility with Islamic principles.

“The issuance of this fatwa will at the same time cut short individual interpretations, which do not take into account the social reality and the evolution of society, and do not take into consideration the purposes of the religion (Maqasid) as they evolve over time,” wrote le360 news outlet, citing an informed source.

Hence the referral to the higher Ulema council as a constitutional body entitled to issue fatwas on the compatibility of decisions on current issues with Islamic values.

“The Council had been entrusted with similar missions in the past. This was the case for the fatwa on the temporary closure of mosques due to the covid-19 pandemic, the fatwa on women’s access to the profession of Adoul, and the fatwa on the use of cannabis for medical, therapeutic and industrial purposes,” le360 recalled.