Women in Egyptian judiciary between support and rejection

Despite the many achievements of Egyptian women, others in the modern era still believe that
women do not have the right to hold political positions or work in the Egyptian judiciary.
Islam honored women and equalized between men and women. Some attribute his refusal to
women work in the judiciary to the prohibition of Sharia. Hence the need for the people to
support the importance of the role of women in society and support political and social
institutions in these issues. Although the role of women in Islamic society has been a positive
and effective role throughout the centuries in which Islam ruled, the jurists have permitted
women to participate in all social aspects except for the judiciary.
In the Islamic system, women occupy the same position as men in human value and status, as
evidenced by the verses of the Qur’an and hadiths. Among what is mentioned in the Qur’an in
this regard is the saying of God: “So their Lord answered them, I will not waste the work of a
worker among you, whether male or female, some of you than others.”
As for what some say about women being so emotional that they affect their objectivity and
impartiality while ruling cases, this statement is just statements sent that have not been
matched by evidence of reality. Emotions are not exclusive to women. Otherwise, men were
just molds without feelings. Moreover, seriousness and strictness are not the preserve of men.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, there is no creature with passion or feelings that are thinner
than him and he has sent as a mercy to the worlds.
For the judges, they judge according to what they have of papers, documents and statements,
and they do not judge by what they feel or what they perceive. The absence of Egyptian women
from the judiciary platform until today is considered an unjustified gap between the principles
of equality and equal opportunities stipulated in the constitution.
And here comes the question: is the exclusion of women from judicial positions defined under
the customs and traditions of society, or is a legal rule stipulated by Sharia?
The issue was first raised in 1951 when Dr. Aisha Rateb, former Minister of Social Affairs and
professor of public international law at Cairo University Law School and former Ambassador of
Egypt, applied for an appointment to the Council of State. But the administration rejected her
request, so she applied to the Administrative Court of Justice to challenge this refusal. At the
session of the Administrative Court on February 2, 1952, presided over by Chancellor Abdul
Razeq Al-Sanhouri, the court ruled that the appellant was not entitled, citing the fact that the
administration took into account considerations of "the conditions of employment, its
circumstances, the conditions of the environment, the conditions of custom and traditions."
Accordingly, the court has relied on the provisions of custom and tradition to refuse women to
take up judicial positions, and these provisions are subject to change with the development of
time.
In interview with Dr. Elham shahin Professor of Faith and Philosophy at the Faculty of Islamic
Studies at Al-Azhar University, she said “women have been able, through the years of their
struggle, to obtain many of their rights.”
Dr. Elham shahin added “women worked as an ambassador, minister and university professor,
and there are no fields of work that women have not touched, including the field of the
judiciary, where women have worked in the judiciary in many Arab and Islamic societies”
In spite of that, some still believe that the judiciary platform was found for men only. Although
there is no provision for this in religion or Sharia, and all that some people rely on are nothing
but arguments and beliefs for wrong habits established by society.