Power, secularism and divorce : women’s rights in Egypt and Iran

This article explores how the secular nature of the Egyptian and Iranian states affected women’s divorce rights between 1920 and 1939. Contributing to existing literature by examining two states which have not been exclusively compared in this field, unique and important insights emerge regarding secularism, gender equality and family law through textual analysis of laws and memoirs. It demonstrates the impact of secular identities on divorce laws; secularism as a tool to challenge or seek power, and the significance of a state’s political environment. This article challenges assumptions that secularism had little impact on family law in the MENA region