Migrazioni e soggettività diasporica. Riflessioni a margine della mudawwanah marocchina

Islamic jurisprudence can guarantee respect for the religious tradition as well as the renewal of modern society in many ways. The Moroccan codification of 2004 (mudawwanah: literally “code”) can be considered a step toward the implementation of human rights within the civil code framework. Among the goals of the reform was the emancipation of Moroccan women by changing the norms regulating their matrimonial and family status. This paper highlights the connection between the meaning of the new legal provisions and their religious background through a brief comparison between the former and the latter text of the code. The aim is not to compare the regulations, but rather to focus on the transnational effects upon the legal subjectivity of Moroccans in the light of the process of migration and settlement in Europe. Some key points of the reform are briefly commented such as the right of women to freely contract their marriage, to negotiate their wedding contract without the mediation of male relatives, and subsequently, to resolve the marriage bond.