Woman registrar conducts first wedding in Egypt

Egypt’s first female marriage registrar has started work despite complaints by some conservative clerics that the move is against Islam.

During her first day on the job, Amal Suleiman Afifi married a couple in a mosque in the Delta town of Zaqaziq – some 45 miles north of Cairo.

The report says the couple moved their wedding ceremony, attended by hundreds of people, so they could be married by the 34-year-old Muslim woman.

Many conservative clerics believe Islamic law, or Sharia, prohibits a woman from becoming a registrar because it states the testimony of two women is equivalent to one man in court.

Therefore they believe a marriage contract signed by a woman would be illegal.