Were Syria’s conservatives just testing the water?

Most Syrians may never know that a controversial draft law, dubbed by its opponents the “Taliban initiative”, was rejected last week by the country’s parliament. Nor may they believe the level of controversy it created during the one month period after it was leaked to activists and a circle of Syrian intellectuals.

Though the chance of the draft ever becoming law may have been slim, the discussion it created provided a revealing look at the dance between ultra-conservative Islamists and their nemeses in Syria, which include secularists, the renewal movement known as Tajdeed – Islamists who aim to renew Sharia by going back to the essence of Islam – and a long list of minority groups who feel their rights would be jeopardised by an Islamic state. Whether the ultra conservatives were just testing the waters or whether they believed that their efforts would succeed is difficult to determine. What is certain is that the contents of their draft law would have sent Syria back centuries in time, and would have probably shocked most Syrians, especially women and minorities, if only they had known about it.

The draft law managed to circumvent all the usual channels that the public relies upon to remain informed of the latest legislation proposed in the government. Draft laws usually show up in the local press, generating reaction from readers, but in this case the press was banned from covering it. The Syrian parliament also posts draft laws on a website so affected parties have a chance to comment, but again, not in this case.

The reasons behind these cloak and dagger tactics were unclear. If it hadn’t been for a leak in early June, not even the activists would have learnt of it.

Even more mysterious, the law was the product of a secret committee commissioned by the head of parliament, the Syrian prime minister Naji al Otri. The committee worked on the draft for two years, and until now the names of the committee members could only be guessed at, except for one man, Hassan Awad, a professor at the Sharia law school in Damascus who came forward on public radio. Mr Awad is now in Sudan doing research, and he did not respond to repeated queries asking him to comment.

The draft law would have required women to travel only if accompanied by a mahram, a close male relative. A loophole in the draft law would have allowed a Christian man to take on a second wife and Christians would have discovered their right to divorce, despite any objections from their own church. As Father Antone Musleh, a patriarch of the Orthodox Church, put it: “The draft law dares to infringe on marriage within Christianity, which to the Church is a sacrament. It’s a Divine hand that plays into the life of humans, and the Church is the first and last party responsible for interpreting this for its flock.”

The draft law provided that a girl as young as 13 could take her parents to court and make the judge pressure them to allow her to marry.

A complete stranger could sue the couple next door if he thought one of them had become an apostate, which is enough reason to annul their marriage before a Sharia court.

“This is the most dangerous part of the draft law, the introduction of apostasy legal code,” said Dr Mohammed Habash, a parliamentarian and Islamic scholar and one of the leading figures of the renewal movement in Syria.

Apostasy laws were used for decades during Islam’s beginnings, usually with the purpose of punishing men who defected from a Muslim army to join the enemy’s lines at a time of war. But used in the context of the draft law’s proposal, Dr Habash explained, apostasy laws “undermine the family, which is the essence of society’s fabric”.

This law, known also as hasba, was used infamously in Egypt in 2001 by Islamists who tried to annul the marriage of Nawal al Saadawi, a feminist author, after deeming her an apostate for her writings. An Egyptian emergency court overturned the verdict after an international outcry.

Perhaps most absurdly, the “Taliban initiative” would have technically prohibited the legal marriage of any apostate, even to another non-believer.

The Syrian foreign minister Walid al Muallem told me during an outing with his family: “The president has already said he will not sanction it. It’s already dead in the water.”

But in the meantime, in true Syrian form, there were conflicting statements from the people’s assembly, who said that the draft law was thrown out, and the parliament, which insisted it was “still under review”.

Opponents breathed a sigh of relief when one week later parliament issued a statement saying it “rejected the contents of the draft law”, sending it back to the Ministry of Justice “to take a fresh look at the issue”.

But at least one activist thinks this development is a small victory for real reform in Syria. He has already pledged to keep “a very close eye on extremist views, and to publish them for everyone to know”. He is also launching an aggressive campaign to push for progressive reforms, such as ensuring better rights for divorced women, allowing all mothers to pass on to their children Syrian citizenship and to better address domestic violence and child abuse.

“Starting today, we will knock on the doors of official and non-official organisations, political and religious, everyone, and hold them responsible for all the issues that affect women and children in Syria,” he said.

“No more usual excuses like ‘this is because of cultural norms and traditions or class warfare’. And no more procrastinations like ‘it is not the right time or we have other, more pressing issues’.”