Free Republic

CAIRO, 9 March 2005 — A recent fatwa (edict) by former mufti of Egypt, Nasr Farid Wasel, stating that women cannot run for presidential elections has prompted angry responses from human rights activists and public figures in the country. “It is not allowed in Islam that a woman can become a president of a state,” said Farid Wasel. “All the great Islamic scholars had agreed on that ...women are not fit for this tough, magnificent task.” Ali Gomaa, mufti of Egypt and head of Dar Al-Iftaa — the body responsible for overseeing interpretations and fatwas at Al Azhar — said...