Women’s groups are justifiably worried about the domination of Islamic parties in Egypt and the move to rollback on the hard-won rights of women in that country. Now, according to the Daily Mail and various other news sites, legislators are pushing not only to lower the age for marriage for girls but to protect “farewell intercourse” where a husband can have sex with his dead wife up to six hours after she died. If true, both pedophilia and necrophilia would be divinely ordained, according to Islamic clerics in the country. It is not clear if this is a hoax with some people in Egypt reportedly denying the report while others continue to report the story. [Update: A new article is contesting the truth of the necrophilia part of the story]

One law would legalize the marriage of girls starting from the age of 14.

The concept of “farewell intercourse” is traced back in the stories to Moroccan cleric Zamzami Abdul Bari who spoke on the issue in May 2011. He insisted that an Islamic marriage remains valid even after death — though in what passes for feminism among radical clerics, he added that a wife could also have sex with a husband up to six hours after death.

Islamic legislators are also moving to rollback on various rights for women, including the right of women to secure a contested divorce.

The “farewell intercourse” proposal obviously will attract most of the attention this week. However, the real concern should focus on the attack on women’s rights. Women made great strides under the prior regime — offering Arab women an island of opportunity in the Middle East. As one of the largest nations in the region, Egypt has the potential of destroying basic rights of millions of women. The terrible irony of the “Arab Spring” is that Egypt (like other countries like Libya) has seen citizens immediately using their newfound rights to seek the denial of rights in others. The fate of millions of women are now in danger from falling to the imposition of harsh Sharia law and religious edicts.

Source: Daily Mail