The holy month of Ramadan, the fasting season for Muslims, is one of the 30 most sacred and spiritual days of the year, especially during Arab world. But, and this is little known in the West, it is also a time when entertainment series and shows abound in the homes of the faithful, as if they were a kind of celebration, a party, since most families after iftar (dinner consumed by Muslims who break their fast ) gather around the TV to treat themselves to a long day together. One of the most successful shows of this year is called Fatin Amal Harbi, and this is clearly a kind of Egyptian soap opera for more traditional and conservative Muslims. The drama is essentially about a mother on the run from an abusive and abusive ex-husband. In short, the story revolves around divorce tempestuous, but above all wanted and mined by a woman historically submissive to a man, especially in a country like Egypt, where young women were arrested just two years ago for posting “obscene videos” on TikTok (but without bail and 2 years in prison and a fine in the amount of 300,000 Egyptian pounds).

The soap, which will easily pass in the afternoon of any Italian channel dedicated to the genre in question, therefore speaks of Amal, who works as a real estate agent, is married, has two children and lives with her mother-in-law. with whom she often quarrels and discusses very sharp arguments for such a patriarchal society. Well, the arguments between them will affect the already strained relationship with her husband, making coexistence between them almost impossible, so much so that the brave Amal decides to get together and cut the rope.

That’s if I stopped in the story of the plot Fatin Amal Harbi this is because it reflects a growing trend in the Middle East, namely divorce. As well as it is striking that this is happening contrary to the trend, for example, in Europe. No.Over the past ten years, the divorce rate in Europe has declined from 1.9 divorces per 1,000 people in 2010 to 1.6 per 1,000 people. According to the most recent data available for all EU member states, there were about 1.4 million marriages and about 0.7 million divorces in the EU in 2020, compared to 1.9 million marriages and about 0.8 million divorces in 2019 year. doubled substantially, from 0.8 per 1,000 people in 1964 to 1.6 in 2020. However, part of this increase may be due to the fact that in a number of EU Member States divorce was legalized during this period (for example, in Italy , Spain, Ireland and and Malta). Italy is at the very bottom in terms of the number of divorces: in our country, there are actually fewer divorces than in the rest of Europe. Backwards, they continue to grow in the Middle East. For Egyptians, they have more than doubled since the divorce process was made easier for women in 2000. In Jordan, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, more than a third of marriages end in divorce. Nearly half do so in Kuwait, a rate higher than in the US..

“Some days, up to 16 divorce cases are heard in this court alone,” Sheikh Wassim Yousef al-Falah, a Sharia judge at the Beirut Religious Court, told Arab News. “The increase in divorce rates,” he says from his deliberately unfavorable point of view, “is a phenomenon that we have never seen before, and I would like to repeat that many of us judges are not in favor, and, indeed, we are at all possible attempts at reconciliation. A recent study by the Egyptian Cabinet Information and Decision Support Center found that Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar are the Arab countries with the highest divorce rates. In Kuwait, as already mentioned, 48% of all marriages end in divorce, 40% in Egypt, 37.2% in Jordan, 37% in Qatar, and 34% in the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon. Experts believe this trend has been driven by a combination of economic pressures, evolving social norms, legal reforms, and most importantly, the ever-changing role of women in these societies. “Women no longer feel they need men”Al-Falah said. “Many wives have come to me in court rejecting any agreements with their men because they feel they can be independent and don’t want men to control their lives.”

For most of its history, especially among the more conservative cultures of the Arab world (such asSaudi Arabia, absolute monarchy, but above all an Islamic country that applies Sharia law in the strictest way), a woman’s place has long been considered a home and only that. The woman had to take care of the needs of the family while the boys studied and went to work. Now that Arab countries are increasingly modernizing their economies and reforming their legal systems, women are becoming more independent, pursuing higher education, advancing their careers and choosing to marry and have children later. As a result, Arab women have become more aware of their civil rights, personal ambitions and self-respect.. They increasingly refuse to put up with domestic violence and are able to support themselves financially.

“In the past, women hesitated before deciding to divorce, as this is not feasible, for example, in all Lebanese Islamic religious groups” (getting a divorce in a Sunni religious court is considered easier than in a Shiite religious court), Manal Nahas, a researcher whose the thesis is devoted to the issue of divorce in Lebanon, Arab News explained. However, current statistics collected by the religious courts, which deal with the personal status of Lebanese citizens and foreigners living in Lebanon, reflect an increase in divorce applications, especially those of women. The increase is seen as a by-product of broader changes in social attitudes: “This generation of women sees divorce differently,” Nahas said. “Women are no longer forced to endure abuse, as their mothers and grandmothers did, and to hold high positions in their fields of expertise.There is now more equality between men and women.The average age of marriage in the post-war decades was 24 years old, and today it has risen to 32 years old thanks to social progress, economic conditions and the participation of women in the labor market.” Nahas added:In addition, divorce is no longer considered a stigma in Lebanese society.”.