• Muhuri chairman Khelef Khalifa on Tuesday told the Star no hadith or aya in the Quran specifically says women cannot be kadhis.
• The Kenya Muslim National Advisory Council has said having a female Chief Kadhi is unheard of and against Islamic teachings.
Image: BRIAN OTIENO
Muslim women in Kenya can be appointed as kadhis and can occupy even the Chief Kadhi position because no law, Islamic or secular, bars them, a human right body has said.
The Muslims for Human Rights has re-opened the debate on whether Kenyan Muslim women can occupy positions as kadhis and the Chief Kadhi, a matter that male Muslims in the country have vehemently opposed.
Muhuri chairman Khelef Khalifa on Tuesday told the Star no hadith or aya in the Quran specifically says women cannot be kadhis.
“They (those opposing) quote past Ulamaas but not the Quran,” said Khalifa on phone.
The Kenya Muslim National Advisory Council has said having a female Chief Kadhi is unheard of and against Islamic teachings.
“Amongst all the prophets of Allah, none was a woman; therefore, no woman can become Chief Kadhi,” said Kemnac chair Sheikh Juma Ngao.
However, Khalifa said other Islamic countries, whose constitution are based on sharia, like Pakistan, Sudan, Malaysia, Lebanon and Palestine, have women kadhis.
“In Malaysia, women kadhis deal with much bigger things than marriage, divorce and inheritance like it is in Kenya,” said Khalifa.
This means they have broader aspects of the sharia which they practise, he noted.
Inspired by the elevation of Martha Koome as Chief Justice and President of the Kenyan Supreme Court, a section of Muslim women are now pushing for female kadhis and a female Chief Kadhi.
Islamic law scholar Fatuma Juma said if women are not disqualified they will bring an enlightened perspective to women's issues.
Muslim scholar and Imam Mahmoud Ahmed Mau said the matter needs further consultations as scholars worldwide have not reached a consensus.
He admitted, however, that no law in Islam prevents a woman from becoming a kadhi.
His sentiments echo that of incumbent Chief Kadhi Ahmed Muhdhar, who said the Kenyan law does not bar any woman from becoming a Chief Kadhi.
On Tuesday, Khalifa said Egypt, a Muslim nation with the oldest Islamic university does not bar women from being kadhis.
“In fact, many people do not seek advice from the Chief Kadhi. They just do things their own way. Men do not go to the Chief Kadhi for a divorce, they just issue the talaka. It is women who have to go,” said Khalifa, adding that the matter is discriminatory.
He said the kadhi and Chief Kadhi are judicial issues.
“The only problem is the name,” said Khalifa.
He said statistically, many people do not agree with the rulings of the Chief Kadhi and end up appealing them at the normal Court of Appeal, a secular court.
“So what is the difference then?” posed Khalifa.
He said Kadhis Rule according to the sharia and anyone who has studied sharia, be it a man or a woman, can administer it.
Khalifa said denying women a chance to be kadhis because they were not there during the times of Prophet Mohammed is being narrow-minded.
He said it wrong to compare women during the times of Prophet Mohammed and women today.
“It is not written in the Quran that there should not be a woman kadhi,” said Khalifa.
Khalifa said women go through many challenges expressing themselves about their inner troubles to male kadhis, thus they end up not getting the justice they deserve.
“Women will feel more comfortable expressing some things in front of their fellow women so that they can get the necessary justice they deserve,” he noted.
He said many times men do not go to the kadhis for justice.
“They can issue a talaka (divorce) without going to the kadhi. A woman must go to the kadhi for the same,” Khalida said.
Edited by D Tarus