By Yunus Musa
A group of concerned Tunisian women have used social media sites to call for a massive protest in front of the Parliament demanding polygamy.
According to an international study and report, Tunisia is ranked fourth in the Arab world and first in north Africa in the percentage of single women, and that Tunisia is one of the countries with the highest rate of reluctance to get married, with 60% much higher than the ratio of other Arab countries, with the number of single women increased to over 2.25 million out of a total of 4.9 million women in the country, most of whom are between the ages 25 - 34.
There is no sign of these figures reducing because polygamy is concerned a taboo and a crime punishable by law, under Article 18 of the Personal Status Code.
However, a group of women have taken to social media to call for a protest that might be a step for the country to abolish or change this Ungodly law.
The news was announced by President of the Forum of Freedom and Citizenship, Fathi Al-Zghal, who confirmed that “the demonstration is spontaneous and comes within the framework of advocacy to solve the problem of spinsterhood in the country”.
Al-Zghal said in a statement to Al-Khaleej Online that he did not call for the demonstration himself, but supports the idea because he believes there is a need to find a solution to the dilemma of spinsterhood.
He added that he is also calling for a review of all articles of the Personal Status Code.
Al-Zghal has stressed in previous press statements that the women will participate in the demonstration to express their anger at the failure of Tunisia to allow polygamy.
He added that “the protest is not linked to any political entity and is not led by any associations”.
The calls for a demonstration have sparked an unnecessary debate in a Muslim country where following the Islāmic Sharī'a should not be an issue or open for debate.
A very sizable population of the country calls for the implementation of the Sharī'a law, though their voices are unheeded because the western puppet leaders have subjugated and stampeded their calls and gave voice to the modern day think- tank called researchers, activists.
In the context of this debate, researcher of Islamic civilization, Sami Braham, wrote that: “Unmarried women who missed a wedding opportunity believe that opening the door to polygamy will enable them to get married.” He added however that “in my estimation, and according to my knowledge of the male gender to which I belong to, the opposite will happen because the crisis will be exacerbated by men looking for younger women, unless they accept marriage as an act of charity and kindness”.
A number of lefty-activists believe the call was motivated by political parties in order to target the Islamic Ennahda movement and distort its image before the upcoming elections. Activist Mohammed Nur Musa described the demonstration as a “Satanic idea”, Raouf Al-Guizani, described it as “electoral begging”
In her own view, Radhia Djerbi the Head of the National Union of Tunisian Women saw no any tangible result coming forth from the protest because she said 'the Personal Status Code were approved by the Tunisian Constitution and cannot be amended through protest.'
Djerbi considered calls for protests demanding polygamy to be “a form of madness, a pathological phenomenon. She claimed that it also “indicates a lack of awareness of those who demand it,” adding that “this will not affect the lifestyle of Tunisian society or the achievements of Tunisian women”.
No society built upon abolishing of the core Islāmic fundamentals will survive the test of time because the resultant social decay, vices, immoralities, crimes are her repercussional crippling forces.
Only the divine Sharī'a legislation is known to have stand the trials of ages, civilizations, races and culture in a way that societies under it develop and flourish in all aspects and throughout it adherence