[UPDATE: Some commentators have expressed skepticism about whether such a proposal actually exists, and argue that the original Al Ahram and Al Arabiya reports on this may be incorrect; I have more on that in this post.]
Al Arabiya reports:
Egypt’s National Council for Women (NCW) has appealed to the Islamist-dominated parliament not to approve two controversial laws on [legalizing the marriage of girls starting from the age of 14] and allowing a husband to have sex with his dead wife within six hours of her death according to a report in an Egyptian newspaper….
The controversy about a husband having sex with his dead wife came about after a Moroccan cleric spoke about the issue in May 2011.
Zamzami Abdul Bari said that marriage remains valid even after death adding that a woman also too had the same right to engage in sex with her dead husband….
I should say that the lowering of the age of marriage to 14, and the apparent proposal to limit women’s rights to get a divorce (“Many members of the newly-elected, and majority Islamist parliament … wish to cancel … [the Khula] law that allows a wife to obtain a divorce without obstructions from her partner”; “Prior to the implementation of the Khula over a decade ago, it could take 10 to 15 years for a woman to be granted a divorce by the courts”) are much more likely than the “Farewell Intercourse” law to be actually harmful to women. Thanks to Dan Gifford for the pointer.