Mudawana

Following this initial change, increased activism resulted in the articulation of a Plan of Action for the Integration of Women in Development, which drew heavily from secular, rights-based frameworks.

In 2003, he announced his intention to replace the code entirely, citing his authority as both spiritual and political leader of the nation, and by January 2004, the Moroccan parliament had ratified the new version.

Malik ibn Anas, the founder of the Maliki school of Sunni Islam, wrote Al-Muwatta, which was an 8th-century collection of hadith, or sayings, of Muhammad, his family, and his companions.

Historically, the creation of the Mudawana in Moroccan law represented a major step in the political and legal unification of Morocco after it gained independence from the French.

Its first version was written in 1957-8 by a group of ten male religious scholars (Ulama) working under the auspices of the monarchy; its substance drew heavily on classical Maliki law.

[13] In addition, the Mudawana is the only section of Moroccan law that relies primarily on Islamic sources, rather than Spanish or French civil codes, which gave it a greater sense of immutability and contributed to the difficulty of reforming it later on.

[9] A state's family or personal status law has wide-ranging implications for citizens' daily lives, but many gender equality advocates point out its particular significance for women, as it governs the age at which they may be married, issues of divorce and child custody, and their right to work and travel outside the home.

[15] In 1969, King Hassan II created the Union Nationale des Femmes Marocaines (UNFM), an organization with the stated goal of improving the social and economic status of women in Morocco.

[6] In the 1980s, a financial crisis led King Hassan II to implement a program of structural adjustment that included some social reforms, leading to increased activity among political and civil society organizations.

[8] Some have argued that the king's support was motivated as much by international pressures and his desire to join the European Union as domestic economic and political problems.

[11] Eventually, public debates and discussions led to a broad rewriting of the Mudawana in 2003–4, which many attribute to the increase in activity and organization within Moroccan civil society in the 1990s as well as a changing international environment surrounding women's rights and gender equality.

[9] In response, King Hassan II created a commission (which he chaired) composed of 21 religious scholars – only one of them female – and a representative of the Royal Court for the purpose of reforming the Mudawana according to the Islamic tradition of ijtihad.

[9] This commission resulted in a number of changes, implemented in 1993, which instituted provisions that (among other things) required a bride's verbal consent to marriage, eliminated a father's right to force his daughter to marry, and mandated the obtainment of a judge's permission in cases of polygamy and a husband's repudiation of his wife.

Considering the religious origin of the laws, the fact that they had been amended at all was a significant step in demonstrating that they were subject to the process of ijtihad and not completely unchangeable.

[17][18] Arising from this context, the PAIWD did not explicitly reference Islamic values, and was more closely related to a "development discourse" that formed a crucial element of Mohammad VI's national agenda.

[6] The PAIWD's main areas of focus were education, reproductive health, the involvement of women in development, and empowerment through legal reforms and a strengthening of political power.

Different sources cite varying accounts as to how many people attended each rally, with estimates ranging from 60,000 to over 1 million at each - with each side claiming it had more attendees present.

[18] These figures, and the differences between the two rallies, illustrate a polarization that exists in Moroccan society through today, and the divisions and controversy associated with it, along with the rise of Islamic movements in Morocco, ultimately prevented the PAIWD's implementation.

On October 10, 2003, the king presented Parliament with a plan to replace the old Mudawana entirely, on the commission's recommendation, describing the new law code as "modern" and intended to "free women from the injustices they endure, in addition [to] protecting children’s rights and safeguarding men’s dignity.

[20] After the reforms were announced, the United States government, the World Bank, and Human Rights Watch all released statements of support for the new laws.

[9] Likewise, the European Union considered Morocco to be the "most advanced country on the southern shore of the Mediterranean" in terms of rule of law and democratization.

[22] Most men who oppose the reforms believe the law negatively impacts them, gives greater weight to their spouses' demands, and view it as contrary to their religious beliefs.

[2] Furthermore, many women's groups and feminist activists in Morocco hold the view that religion must be incorporated into any reformist framework for it to be acceptable to the Moroccan population, and as such, the reforms represent a progressive step without alienating the majority of the society.

Critics consequently point out that the Mudawana represents an improvement in women's status but still falls short of establishing their full equal standing with men in either the family or the social sphere.

[6] Other problems with the judicial system include a lack of training among the judiciary and provisions of the law that allow individual judges to consult principles of Shari'a in situations that are not covered by the Mudawana.

[6] Despite educational campaigns undertaken by various governmental and non-governmental actors (often supported by donor nations such as EU member states), levels of awareness about the reforms remain low, especially in many rural areas, where misinformation about the details of the changes has often filled the knowledge gap.

Her bravery, in taking the risk of reputational damage, was the subject of a documentary on Moroccan TV and she was recognised internationally for her stand on women's rights in 2024.