Munaeem's Blog

  When most of the world views divorce as a failure, Mauritania stands apart. Here, divorce can mean rebirth. Women do not simply walk away from broken marriages. They step into a cultural space known as the “Divorced Women’s Market,” where freedom is not whispered in shame but celebrated aloud. A Market of Possibility, Not Stigma The phrase “Divorced Women’s Market” is not a bazaar of goods. It is a metaphor for gatherings where divorced women come together to mark the end of one chapter and the start of another. Families host parties with music, dancing, and feasting. Women exchange household goods, stories, and support. They also make clear to their communities—and to potential suitors—that they are ready for a new beginning. Unlike in many societies, Mauritanian culture does not view divorce as a scar. A woman with marriage experience is often seen as more desirable, carrying maturity, confidence, and resilience into her next partnership. Legal and Cultural Foundations ...

  When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, they promised a softer rule. Four years later, their actions show something else. Women in Afghanistan are banned from secondary schools and universities. They cannot work in most jobs. Aid agencies are told not to employ them. These are the harshest restrictions on women anywhere in the Muslim world. Is This Sharia or a Misuse of It? The Taliban claim these rules come from sharia . But Muslim scholars across the world disagree. Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, a leading jurist from Mauritania, has said: “There is no basis in Islam to deny women education. Knowledge is an obligation, not a privilege.” The Egyptian scholar Sheikh Muhammad al-Ghazali once wrote: “When you educate a man, you educate one person. When you educate a woman, you educate a generation.” The Qur’an itself commands: “Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” (39:9). This verse is not limited to men. History supports this view. The Prophe...

  Step into a polished Victorian drawing room. The curtains are drawn, the wood smells faintly of beeswax. It looks safe. It feels proper. Yet behind this calm, the woman of the house has already been erased by law. Centuries before, in Norman courts, a legal idea began to grow. They called it coverture . It sounded like shelter. In truth, it smothered. The law decided that husband and wife were one person. That person was the husband. Sir William Blackstone wrote that a wife’s legal existence was “suspended” during marriage, or at least absorbed into her husband’s. This was not an image. It was how the law worked. From the moment she married, a woman could not own property, sign a contract, or control her own body. A Woman Erased at the Altar Before marriage, a woman could hold property, make a will, sue or be sued. After marriage, all this vanished. Caroline Norton was nineteen when she married George Norton in 1827. She lost the right to her money, her children, and her fr...