The opening session of the international seminar held in Tunisia along the 10th and 11th of November 2012 under the title « Women in Islamic Sharia Law » saw attendance from Dr. Siham Badi, Tunisian Minister for Women Affairs and Family, and Dr. Nour Al-Din Al-Khadimi, Minister of Religious Affairs. The sessions covered several lectures on topics related to women in the Islamic law system like inheritance, guardianship and equality with men in legislative law in light of the recently drafted Tunisian constitution and international agreements.
The lectures were given by a select of scholars and intellects from Tunisia and other countries coming from different backgrounds and specializations. Among the speakers was Dr. Salah Al-Din Sultan, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs in Egypt, and member of the IUMS board of trustees. Dr. Salah discussed different sides related to inheritance and clarified many parts that were vague in people’s minds over women rights in inheritance. Dr. Jamila El-Mossalli, Moroccan member of parliament, tackled international agreements and their relation to setting women’s rights in the new constitution. She went through the details of the Sedao treaty as an example of the effect for women and family while other speakers covered other important and sensitive issues extensively. Among the attendees were some members of the constituent assembly, on top of them Al-Habib Khedr, General Commissioner for the constitution and Farida Labidi who both gave two brief contributions on women and their rights in the new Tunisian constitution.
The seminars witnessed an overall positive response from the attendees as questions were posed and the answers provided. A discussion was held following each lecture where huge numbers among the attendance participated.
Three workshops were held at the conclusion of the seminar that discussed equality, inheritance, guardianship, women in office, local legislation and international agreements.
A concluding statement was declared at the end of the seminar proposing a number of recommendations that were presented to the National Constituent Assembly through its Deputy Speaker Mehrezia Labidi who gave the honor of attending the concluding session of the seminar.
The seminar notably received wide media coverage through audio, visual and print media in Tunisia and abroad. The morning schedule of the second day was also broadcasted live on Aljazeera Mubasher satellite channel.