• Why Jihad Watch?
  • About Robert Spencer and Staff Writers
  • FAQ
  • Books
  • Muhammad
  • Islam 101
  • Privacy

Jihad Watch

Exposing the role that Islamic jihad theology and ideology play in the modern global conflicts

Tunisia: “Controversial” film tackles issue of equal inheritance for daughters and sons

Oct 8, 2008 12:09 am By Marisol Seibold

“The fact that the issue is not debatable from a religious point should not forbid us from discussing it from a humane and social perspective … Should intellect be shackled if fundamentalists were enraged?”

How that question is answered in Europe, the U.S., Tunisia, and anywhere bad dhimmis dare to criticize sharia law will have far-reaching consequences for the future. Sharia Alert. “New Tunisian film calls attention to inheritance law,” by Jamel Arfaoui for Maghrebia, October 8:

A new movie from Tunisian filmmaker Kalthoum Bornaz is stirring debate for raising the controversial issue of inheritance law and how it may highlight inequality between men and women.

The director has been accused of differing with sharia. Bornaz countered that she did not create Shtar Mahaba (half the love) to create sedition or cast doubts on the Qur’anic verse that explains inheritance and its distribution among male and female heirs.

“I am not into politics or Islamic jurisprudence,” said Bornaz. “I am a filmmaker and an artist. I only want to discuss the issue of inheritance from a humane and social perspective.”

Before she started filming, Bornaz said, she talked to several attorneys and Muslim scholars, even those who are known for extremism.

“The issue is controversial in Tunisia and no one dared to discuss it in cinema,” she told Magharebia. “I am aware there is an official bill that urges to enforce equality between genders in inheritance.”

The movie depicts Selim and Selima, twins whose mother died during childbirth. While growing up, Selima learns that under the law, a girl’s share of an inheritance is only half that of her brother.

Selima, confused by this law, asks her father whether the reason for such a disparity is that parents love their daughters half as much as they love the sons. The father–French educated and influenced by Marxism–tells her that the issue is clearly decided in the Qur’an and the law. When the father dies, the brother distributes the inheritance according to sharia. Selima’s fate is left unknown in the movie.

“It is against wisdom, sharia and humanism to deprive a girl of the legacy she is entitled to just because she is a woman,” actress Sihem Mseddek, who played a role in the film, told Magharebia. She added that she knew many men who agreed on distributing their inheritance evenly with their sisters.

Note to Mseddek: The whole problem is that sharia does dictate unequal inheritance. That’s what the movie was about.

According to scriptwriter Mohamed Raja Farhat, women in Islamic societies are still at the forefront of social, economic, development and intellectual tragedies. The movie just calls attention to an existing issue.

“What wrong have we done for bravely introducing women’s issues and unravelling their hidden problems?” asked Farhat.

“The fact that the issue is not debatable from a religious point should not forbid us from discussing it from a humane and social perspective,” he added. “Should intellect be shackled if fundamentalists were enraged?”

The movie is listed on the Carthage Film Festival’s official list to be screened soon. People involved in the industry predict harsh criticism by fundamentalist currents.

Khadija Sherif, head of the Tunisian Association for Democratic Women (TADW), said that two years ago the association managed to collect thousands of signatures on a petition calling for gender parity regarding inheritances. The Association is still pursuing the cause.

Although the association got support for the cause from leftist parties, it faced strong opposition from conservative religious groups. Detractors called inheritance equality “a violation of the Qur’anic verse and the Sharia laws”.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Follow me on Facebook

Filed Under: Uncategorized


Learn more about RevenueStripe...

FacebookYoutubeTwitterLog in

Subscribe to the Jihad Watch Daily Digest

You will receive a daily mailing containing links to the stories posted at Jihad Watch in the last 24 hours.
Enter your email address to subscribe.

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!
If you are forwarding to a friend, please remove the unsubscribe buttons first, as they my accidentally click it.

Subscribe to all Jihad Watch posts

You will receive immediate notification.
Enter your email address to subscribe.
Note: This may be up to 15 emails a day.

Donate to JihadWatch
FrontPage Mag

Search Site

Translate

The Team

Robert Spencer in FrontPageMag
Robert Spencer in PJ Media

Articles at Jihad Watch by
Robert Spencer
Hugh Fitzgerald
Christine Douglass-Williams
Andrew Harrod
Jamie Glazov
Daniel Greenfield

Contact Us

Terror Attacks Since 9/11

Archives

  • 2020
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2019
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2018
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2017
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2016
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2015
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2014
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2013
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2012
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2011
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2010
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2009
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2006
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2005
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2004
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2003
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • March

All Categories

You Might Like

Learn more about RevenueStripe...

Recent Comments

  • Mojdeh on Chief Rabbi of UK Says It’s ‘Alarming’ That 44% of Muslims Are Anti-Semitic
  • Michael Copeland on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Michael Copeland on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • Westman on New study reveals that Muslim religiosity strongly linked to hatred towards the West
  • gravenimage on Erdogan: ‘Turks must defend the rights of Jerusalem, even with their lives’ for ‘the honor of the Islamic nation’

Popular Categories

dhimmitude Sharia Jihad in the U.S ISIS / Islamic State / ISIL Iran Free Speech

Robert Spencer FaceBook Page

Robert Spencer Twitter

Robert Spencer twitter

Robert Spencer YouTube Channel

Books by Robert Spencer

Jihad Watch® is a registered trademark of Robert Spencer in the United States and/or other countries - Site Developed and Managed by Free Speech Defense

Content copyright Jihad Watch, Jihad Watch claims no credit for any images posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to their respective owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and you do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.

Our mailing address is: David Horowitz Freedom Center, P.O. Box 55089, Sherman Oaks, CA 91499-1964

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.