Parentage in Egypt

Hussein Al Hussein who was once the head of Standford University Islamic Society
wrote that A persons name is important in Islam because many social rules like marriage,
inheritance, custody, provision and punishment are contingent upon blood relationship, in
discussing the matter pertaining to parentage. According to the Egyptian law which is closely
inclined with the traditions and practice of the Prophet, it is specified clearly that a childs
name in Egypt is not allowed to be changed in an attempt for that child to be part of another
family. Hence, it is an irrefutable as well as undeniable point that in adoption does not exist
in Egypt factually
Despite the fact that adoption is strictly prohibited in Egypt, it can be said that in
Islam it is permissible for its believers to actually take in and care for orphans as Islam
perceives such an act to be a generous action.This is in line with the hadith that was reported
by Al Bukhari whereby the Prophet mentioned that I and the guardian of an orphan will be
in Paradise like these two fingers and he joined his two fingers. Even though the Egyptian
law does not permit adoption to take place,there is a system that is practised in Egypt that is
called "Kafala".
The kafala system permits a Muslim couple in Egyptian to take in children who are
orphan to live with them and in any event a couple wishes to do so, they need to prove by
providing a medical certificate that shows that they are not able to have kids on their own.
Moreover, the child who is taken in will never be allowed or permitted to inherit the family
name as well as bequest.In comparison to Malaysia,the principle whereby the child is not
allowed to change his or her name is applied when a Muslim parent adopts a child which is
similar to the situation where a couple takes in a child as according to kafala system in
Egypt.
Besides that, this rule which prohibits and forbids adoption in Egypt is not only
applied for Muslims but it is also applicable to non-Muslims living in Egypt as well because a
legal mechanism which allows adoption in Egypt does not exist at all. Due to that, it is nearly
impossible for the Egypt citizens to have a lawful custody and guardianship of children who
are not born to their families. This is because of the existence of strong parameters of social
and spiritual believes that have been practised by the Egyptians for years which prohibits
adoption. If we were to compare with Malaysia, adoption is legal and permissible in Malaysia
and there are statutes which were enacted particularly to govern and administer matters
pertaining to adoption which are The Adoption Act 1952 as well as Registration of Adoptions
Act 1952.Apart from that, in Malaysia a Muslim child can only be adopted by Muslims.
The position of law whereby adoption is forbidden in Egypt can be evidently seen in
the recent prominent case pertaining to parentage that took place in Egypt this year whereby a
Christian couple who is from the United States of America was arrested and jailed in Egypt
for adopting a child.As it already is a fact that adoption is not permissible in Egypt, it can also
be deduced that adopting a child informally or through informal channels are considered to be
illegal and anyone who commits such act can be charged as according to the laws in Egypt.
Moreover, when a child in born in Egypt, the countrys law requires and necessitates
that the birth certificate of the particular child need to be kept and held by either the father of
the child or another paternal relative. Furthermore, the law in Egypt clearly stipulates and lay
down that when a child is born out of matrimony then there is no legal responsibility and
obligation for the father in any way towards the child. Due to this particular provision of the
law in Egypt, when a child is born as an outcome of illegitimate and unlawful relationship,
the consequences that need to be faced by the child if his or her father does not recognises the
child or legally register him or her is that he or she has to grow up without a name as well as
would be most likely be abandoned and out casted by the people and society.
In relation to that, it is very significant to note that there was a prominent case that
occurred in Egypt back in the year 2006 that has been remarkable whereby it grabbed
headlines not only in Egypt but in other countries as well. This case lay down mainly on
parentage issues in matters pertaining to illegitimate child. The main attention that was given
in relation to this case is whether or not the appellant who is named Hind al Hinnaway who
got pregnant and bear the child of Ahmed al-Fishawy outside wedlock would be able to name
her child after the fathers name.
This case surprised the Egyptian nation when Hind al Hinnaway won the case and
subsequently named the child after Ahmed al Fishawy who is the father as she argued that
both of them had went through a secret wedding ceremony in a Muslim arrangement which is
known as urfi.Urfi marriages in Egypt is a marriage which is not registered or non-
documented marriages and in recent years, family courts in Egypt have deliberated that urfi
marriages are a legal marriage in situations and circumstances where children are at stake.
Due to that,the court had decided that Fishawy is certainly lawfully responsible and has to
fulfil all the duties for their 20 month old daughter named Leena.Besides that, a call for legal
reform has been initiated in Egypt due to this case and this can be evidently seen when there
are a group of non-governmental organizations in Egypt who has start up initiatives by
lobbying and petitioning for the right of all children to obtain birth certificates regardless of
the existence of a recognized or acknowledged father.
In relation to that, many parties in Egypt have been coming up with many proposal in
an attempt to amend Child Law 12/ 1996 of Egypt and the proposal are actually part of an
initiative drawn up by the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM).One of
the main issues that have been addressed in the proposal is to amend article 20 whereby it
was strongly urged that an amendment is done to ensure as well as to permit a law whereby
illegitimate children are able have birth certificates issued in their mother's name. This is due
to the fact that there is a large number of cases concerning paternity that are currently being
heard in the courts in Egypt and it is said that it is around fourteen thousand pending cases
that are still waiting to be heard in the court.
According to Maged El-Sherbini who is an advocate in Egypt,out of the fourteen
thousand cases, the number of cases that involves children born out of wedlock are about five
thousand cases. Meanwhile, most of the other cases are on matters and issues pertaining to
children who are born as an outcome of urfi marriages in Egypt. Furthermore,Lamya Lotfet
who is a specialist in paternity law at the New Women Foundation who is a feminist based
organization in Cairo said that according to the recent statistics, there are approximately 2
million who are not registered in Egypt. This is due to the fact that the law in Egypt has been
in a way that when a child is born without the consent or the presences of the father, the child
would not be given or issues a birth certificate by the ministry of health.
Besides that in any event, the mother of the child makes an effort to undergo legal
process in order for the child to at least bear the last name of the maternal grandfather, the
mother has to undergo a lengthy process which can take up to six years.The consequences
that need to be faced by the child as a result of not having a birth certificate as the father were
not present or the child was born without his consent is that the child would not be able to
enrol into a school as well as the child would not be able to get a passport.
In relation to that, a professor of sociology at Ain Shams University named Samia El-
Saaty made a point that a significant transformation would result in helping to diminish the
social stigma which is faced by both mother and children if changes and amendments were
made to Article 20 and this would allow women in Egypt to be able to name their children
after them in order to ensure that the children are protected because the situation in Egypt is
in a way that when a child takes his or her mothers name,the child would be considered to be
a child without honor.This point is made clear by Nawal al Saadawi who is one of the most
prominent and reputable feminist in Egypt when she said that it would be a better step if there
is no difference made between the honor of naming a child according to his or her fathers
name or his or her mothers name.
In a nutshell, the concept of single mother or the idea of adoption legally does not
exist in Egypt when a detail study is done in Egypt but there have been call for legal reform
on this aspect of law in regards to parentage law. If this scenario were to be compared to
Malaysia, adoption is authorized legally and there a statutes enacted to govern it but when a
Muslim decides to adopt, the couple has to adopt a child who is a Muslim as well and not
from any other religion.



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