El divorcio egipcio y la solución malaya

Joaquín Mª Aguirre (UCM)

Sigue sorprendiendo la forma egipcia de enfrentarse a los problemas, la constante intromisión de un estado poco eficaz en todo aquello en lo que no debería meterse. La solución egipcia es sencilla. Ayer hablábamos de poner un militar al frente del servicio que no funciona, en aquel caso el accidente de la estación Ramsés tras el accidente mortal. Pero el estado parte de un principio: ellos pueden resolver cualquier tipo de problema si se ponen en ello.

Y esta vez el problema es... ¡el divorcio! Sí, el estado egipcio ha decidido que las tasas de divorcio en Egipto son inadmisibles, unas de las más altas y el presidente ha ordenado que se ponga en marcha una solución que aleje los problemas del paraíso. El divorcio contradice la idea de felicidad general que debería rondar un país sin problemas.

Definir el divorcio como un problema tiene sus consecuencias. Los divorciados fallan. Si sus hombres y mujeres son los mejores, si el país es un paraíso envidiado por todos, si tienen los mejores dirigentes, si son religiosos por naturaleza..., ¿por qué se divorcia más del 65%, que es la tasa? ¿Por qué?

Pero eso no importa, no hay que encontrar un porqué sino una solución, aunque nadie explica cómo solucionar un problema sin definir. Es entonces cuando el estado dice aquí estoy yo.

Daily News Egypt nos da los detalles de la operación anti divorcio planeada por la Inteligencia del régimen para combatir esta plaga:

As Egypt is ranked among the countries with the highest rates of divorce, the Egyptian government has introduced a family protection initiative entitled ‘Mawadda’ in order to raise awareness on tolerance among partners, and how partners can prepare for the marriage life.

The initiative draws questions on the possibility of its success, especially as the rates of divorce are reaching unprecedented records. President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi have been long criticising the high rates of divorce in Egypt, and addressed the concerned entities to enact plans in order to counter this issue.

During the sixth round of the National Youth Conference, the president addressed the minister of social solidarity, Ghada Wali, to prepare a national project with the purpose of reducing the steady rise in divorce cases within the society.

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly reviewed a report prepared by Wali on the initiative which aims to reduce the high rates of divorce. The initiative is expected to start as a trial in the governorates of Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said until July, where the highest rates of divorce are recorded, according to the report.

The trial phase will determine the future of the initiative, highlighting its challenges and strengths and other points to be considered in any other upcoming phases. After the success of the initiative, it will expand to additional governorates across the nation by next October, the report further noted.

In press statements, Wali said that the new initiative contributes toward reducing the divorce rates through discussing topics related to choosing one’s own life partner, the spouses’ rights and duties, in addition to the different marital issues and how to deal with them especially economic pressures, family management, and women’s health.*

El estado ha decidido que se trata de un problema educativo, que lleva a la "intolerancia" entre los cónyuges y que la operación Mawadda lo va a solucionar. El presidente ha dado las órdenes pertinentes y lo que el presidente ordena... Así que la ministra Wali se puso manos a la obra tras recibir las instrucciones presidenciales.

Como en cualquier prueba científica, se comenzará primero probando en esas tres zonas —El Cairo, Alejandría y Port Said—, las más divorcistas, para ver si funciona y se convierten en zonas de amor, armonía y tolerancia. Llama la atención el lenguaje gestor con el que se pone en marcha la iniciativa, de una enorme modernidad y eficiencia. Solo con leer "its challenges and strengths and other points to be considered in any other upcoming phases" ya se nota el vigor de las medidas y hasta habrá divorciados que se reconcilien. Es tal la confianza que despierta, que nadie puede pensar que esto falle ("After the success of the initiative, it will expand to additional governorates across the nation by next October, the report further noted", nos dicen en el texto anterior). ¿Fallar? ¡Eso es para otros!

Aquí hemos tratado el problema del divorcio egipcio en múltiples ocasiones y son ya varias las campañas que se han puesto en marcha o, al menos, que se han anunciado. Cada vez que el presidente muestra preocupación por algo, se pone en marcha una iniciativa.

El plan de ataque está ya bien definido en sus acciones futuras:

[...] the initiative will support young people in entering the marital life, while equipping them with all the necessary expertise to form the family, and will also provide guidance in order to resolve any disputes, the minster noted. Wali added that it will also activate family dispute resolution bodies to reduce divorce cases, and will also review the legislation which supports the family entity and preserves the rights of both partners and children.

Noteworthy, Mawadda targets around 800,000 youth from the age of 18 to 35, who are university and higher institutes students. Conscripts of the ministries of defence and interior, and those who work in the public service can attend the initiative’s courses as well. The initiative targets married couples who have cases that are registered at the settlement disputes offices, affiliated to the ministry of justice.

The activities will also include reviewing all the legal legislation related to marriage with the participation of Al-Azhar, Dar Al-Ifta, and the ministry of justice, without violating Islamic law.

The trainers will include 700 universities and academies, and 500 trainers from the recruitment camps of the armed forces and the interior ministry, in addition to 5,000 maazouns (marriage officiant).

Mawadda will work as an obligatory training programme for couples who are to be married, requiring them to complete an average of 30 hours of attendance, with a final exam.

The activities will also include reviewing all the legal legislation related to marriage with the participation of Al-Azhar, Dar Al-Ifta, and the ministry of justice, without violating Islamic law.

Through the initiative, the state will be able to prepare a database of beneficiaries for this project linked through the number of national identities in order to determine the number of marriages and divorces, measure the rates annually, count the number of family cases disputes, and measure the interaction with the initiative itself.

The initiative will also work on social platforms through having accounts on YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook, in addition to airing a radio programme dubbed ‘We will complete our lives’, which will be broadcasted on all local radio stations, as well as prepare short awareness brochures, in addition to telecasting a programme every week starting from October on Al-Nas channel.*

Lo de los entrenadores militares para evitar los divorcios es ya la solución definitiva. Después de que el Ejército se haga también cargo de parte del problema de los divorcios, se espera que todo funcione.

El bombardeo mediático, con canales de TV, emisoras de radio, canales abiertos de YouTube, etc. será el refuerzo necesario para que los egipcios dejen de pensar en divorciarse. ¿Quién pensará en divorciarse en este canto envolvente de la persistencia matrimonial?

La combinación de Ejército, Universidad de Al-Azhar, el organismo encargado de la emisión de fatwas (Dar Al-Ifta), Ministerios, Universidades, medios, redes sociales... es irresistible.

En Egypt Today, en noviembre del año pasado, ya se nos daban algunas pistas sobre la eficacia del programa y sus modelos a cargo de la ministra Wali:

CAIRO – 28 November 2018: “Mawada program seeks to teach young people in universities and youth centers how to protect their families from divorce and dissociation,” Minister of Social Solidarity Ghada Waly said.

During her speech in Social Solidarity Council's meeting, Waly referred that the rate of divorce has hugely increased and has become a threat; thus, Mawada program aims to imitate the experiences of other countries like Malaysia where the percentage of divorce has been reduced from 35 percent to only 7 percent.**

Cuando tratamos de investigar cuál es el milagro malayo que ha hecho reducir las cifras de divorcios en el país nos encontramos con algunas pistas. El método malayo no es precisamente educativo, sino aumentar el número de trabas a la concesión del divorcio, que se convierte en un eterno camino lleno de obstáculos. No solo no trae el maro, sino que hace perder la paciencia. Pero es fácilmente aplicable por cualquiera. Egipto, por otro lado, tiene una administración maestra en la dilación, que no se caracteriza precisamente por la prontitud administrativa.

Esto se refiere al divorcio civil. Para los musulmanes, las reglas son otras. Existen, nos dicen en la página correspondiente de asesoría legal —AskLegal— cinco tipos de divorcios islámicos:

1. Talaq

The most common method of divorce. There are certain procedures to be followed under Section 47 of the IFLA, but basically, the husband says “talaq” to his wife, which roughly translates to “I divorce you”.

2. Khul’

Also known as cerai tebus talaq, this basically involves the wife offering payment to the husband to pronounce talaq and release her from marriage. It’s covered under Section 49 of the IFLA and the payment can be as low as RM1, but the Syariah Court can decide on the amount based on the parties’ means under Section 49(3). This divorce is considered permanent and ruju’ cannot be used to get back together.

3. Ta’liq

This kind of divorce is usually used when the husband is not being a good partner to his wife, in essence, when he breaks the promise.

4. Fasakh

this ground for divorce is usually requested by women due to the incapability or disability of their husband. The list of reasons a woman can file for fasakh is very long, but in summary it covers the following situations:

The husband went missing

The husband neglects or fails to provide for his wife

The husband was impotent, insane, or has leprosy (a very rare disease these days)

The husband abuses her

The husband refused to consummate their marriage

The wife has to obtain proof of one or more reasons provided in the law, and then get an order to dissolve the marriage from the Syariah Court.

5. Li’an

This type of divorce involves the husband accusing his wife of adultery or denies that the child his wife is pregnant with is his. This is governed under Section 50A and the exact procedure differs by state.

Usually this method of divorce will be used if the husband accuses his wife of adultery but cannot produce 4 credible witnesses. Again, the exact procedure differs from state to state (here is Kelantan’s), but generally this is what happens.

First, the husband has to swear 4 times on the Almighty’s name that his wife has committed adultery, and then swears one more time that if he is lying, he will receive the Almighty’s wrath (laknat).

Then the wife also swears 4 times in return on Almighty’s name that she did not commit adultery. And she’ll swear that she will receive Almighty’s wrath if her husband’s accusation is true.

This type of divorce is also one of the permanent ones (like after the 3rd talaq), but the husband and wife can never re-marry each other ever again.***

Se puede entender el consejo final, búsquese un buen abogado. Como se ha observado, la facilidad del primer método en el que el marido simplemente dice "talaq" era ya una cuestión debatida en Egipto (también la tratamos aquí en varias ocasiones), es un divorcio exprés y unilateral, con la circunstancia de que el marido puede volver hasta dos veces; la tercera es definitiva, sin marcha atrás.

En cuanto a los matrimonios civiles, los que no van por la vía islámica, en AskLegal, nos advierten:

There are 3 requirements that must be fulfilled before a divorce can be filed:

1.     Section 53(1) of the LRMD states that the only acceptable reason for divorce is when a marriage has “irretrievably broken down”.

2.     Section 50 further states that divorce cannot be requested within 2 years of marriage (though if there is exceptional hardship, the court might allow it).

3.     Section 55 provides that a couple must have counselling and assistance to reconcile their marriage, before a divorce proceeding can be considered by the court.

From that, you can probably get the idea that the law doesn’t make it that easy to get a divorce. Assuming a divorce proceeding has met these requirements, the court will hear the facts that led to the breakdown of marriage, and consider if it is reasonable to make a decree of divorce (as required by Section 53(2) of the LRMD).****

Como se comprenderá fácilmente, un juzgado puede decidir que el matrimonio no está "razonablemente" roto y negarse a tramitarlo. ¿Cómo se decide esto? ¡Vaya usted a saber! Lo interesante es la diferencia entre decir "talaq" en el matrimonio musulmán y que decida un juez si te puedes divorciar o no. Como país mayoritariamente musulmán, Malasia tiene la facilidad para unas cosas y los problemas para otro.

Recuerdo una intervención en una mesa redonda de una señorita cantando la modernidad islámica porque el divorcio era sencillo. El problema de la sencillez es la cantidad, pero esto no es la causa, sino el efecto.

En estos días han levantado revuelo en Egipto las declaraciones sobre la poligamia del gran imán de Al-Azhar, al-Tayeb. La BBC las titulaba "Egypt al-Azhar imam warns against polygamy an 'injustice' for women" y explicaba:

The grand imam of Egypt's top Islamic institution, al-Azhar, has said polygamy can be an "injustice for women and children".

Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb, Sunni Islam's highest authority, said the way it is often practised comes from "a lack of understanding of the Koran".

He made the comment on his weekly television programme and on Twitter.

After sparking debate, al-Azhar clarified that the cleric was not calling for a ban on polygamy.

He reiterated that monogamy was the rule and polygamy the exception.

"Those who say that marriage must be polygamous are all wrong," he said. The Koran, he added, states that for a Muslim man to have multiple wives, he "must obey conditions of fairness - and if there is not fairness it is forbidden to have multiple wives".*****

Es evidente que hay una serie de problemas difíciles de conciliar con una vida satisfactoria. Los cinco divorcios musulmanes no son de ahora, pero son los que se usan por la tradición. Hoy muchas mujeres no están dispuestas a aguantar ciertos tipos de prácticas propias de una situación plenamente patriarcal sin rechistar. Eso hace que se produzcan conflictos frecuentes. 

A eso se le suma la obsesión tradicionalista de la baja edad del matrimonio o de nuevo por la poligamia, de ahí la controversia por las palabras del Gran Imán. Esto ha sucedido con la obligatoriedad de avisar a la esposa que el marido se casa con otra, un problema más. La ola tradicionalista egipcia está fomentando este "revival" patriarcal. 

El problema del divorcio en Egipto (o en cualquier sitio) no se arregla con cursillos de 30 horas impartidos por clérigos, militares y profesores universitarios. La solución malaya pasa por los obstáculos, pero eso es en los matrimonios civiles y no en los islámicos, cuyas fórmulas nadie se atreverá a tocar.

Hay muchas cosas que inciden en los divorcios. Echarle la culpa a la televisión y a los medios, que llenan la cabeza de pájaros a la gente, que quiere ser feliz e independiente, es absurdo. No son "modernidades", sino "necesidades". Es una vez más la línea de echar la culpa a todos menos a las circunstancias que se han ido creando.

El divorcio no es una panacea, pero una vida matrimonial infeliz tampoco. Que esto se solucione con cursillos, está por ver.

* "Egypt introduces ‘Mawadda’ initiative to fight high divorce rates" Daily News Egypt 20/02/2019 https://eklutdvotyzsri.dailynewssegypt.com/2019/02/20/egypt-introduces-mawadda-initiative-to-fight-high-divorce-rates/

** "Mawada program seeks to limit divorce rates: solidarity minister" Egypt Today 28/11/2018 http://www.egypttoday.com/Article/1/61133/Mawada-program-seeks-to-limit-divorce-rates-solidarity-minister

*** "To get a divorce in Malaysia, you need to prove at least 1 of 4 things…" AskLegal https://asklegal.my/p/divorce-malaysia-civil-marriage-prove-4-grounds

**** "5 ways Muslims can get divorced in Malaysia" AskLegal  https://asklegal.my/p/malaysia-muslim-divorce-5-ways/

***** "Egypt al-Azhar imam warns against polygamy an 'injustice' for women" BBC 3/03/2019 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47432243