Dar El Fatwa Does Not Speak for Me

Oussama Hayek on Dar El Fatwa’s press release condemning the domestic violence law:

Arguing that a law to protect women is an infringement of the autonomy of your community is simply not acceptable, unless you believe that your autonomy is more important than they morality that you preach. In this case, why not follow the example of Hassan Nasrallah and start building a state within a state?

Great argument. It is important to realize that this is not about a particular law proposal. This is about religious authorities defending their territory. Namely, their monopoly over all aspects of personal status laws and the relevance and power this bestows on them.

Religious patriarchs see any law that could overstep their prerogatives as the beginning of a slippery slope towards impotence. This explains the zeal with which Dar el Fatwa and other religious bodies are fighting this seemingly minor proposed law.