WUNRN
The United
Arab Emirates (UAE) - A Middle
Eastern federation
of seven states situated in the southeast of the Arabian
Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian
Gulf, bordering Oman
and Saudi
Arabia. The seven states, termed emirates, are Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras
al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm
al-Quwain. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Arab_Emirates
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Conservative United Arab Emirates Gets
Its First Female Marriage Official
Agence France-Presse - 14 November, 2008
A Muslim woman on Thursday became the first ever female allowed to conduct
marriages in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates and throughout the conservative
Gulf, the official WAM news agency reported.
It said Fatima Saeed Obeid al-Awani, 33, a married mother of two boys, was
named to the post in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi by the justice ministry.
Awani's appointment as "maazoun" -- a job traditionally held by men
-- is aimed at "bolstering the role of women in society... in line with
Emirati laws and without violating sharia" Muslim law, the agency said.
Awani holds a degree in theology from the faculty of law of the University of
the Emirates.
She now becomes the first woman to be allowed to write up marriage contracts
throughout the conservative Gulf, but she is not the first woman
"maazoun" in an Arab state -- Egypt has already broken ground in that
area.
In March Abu Dhabi got its first woman judge and in February the number of
women in the cabinet was doubled to four. Last year Abu Dhabi got its first
female Emirati taxi driver.
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