January 28, 2007	Sunday	Muharram 08, 1428

CAIRO, Jan 27: Islam bars women from becoming head of state, Egypt’s top Muslim mufti, Sheikh Ali Gomaa, ruled in an official fatwa or religious edict published on Saturday.

“Under Islamic Shariat (religious law), a woman cannot be head of state because it is one of the duties of the position to lead Muslims in prayer and that role can only be carried out by men,” said the fatwa carried by leading state daily Al-Ahram.

“If by political rights, we mean the right to vote, stand as candidate or assume public office, then the Shariat has no objection to women enjoying them, but a she cannot serve as head of state.

“Women can stand as candidates for parliament or the consultative council, in so far as they can reconcile their duties with the rights that their husbands and children have over them.” But the mufti said women’s conduct of their political rights must not infringe “the ethical laws of Islam” and that they should not therefore “take off the headscarf, deck themselves in fine clothes or be alone with men who are not their husbands or close relatives.”—AFP