Morocco Reform of the Moudawana (Family Code, 2004)
مدونة الأسرة
Summary
The most consequential family-law reform in Arab-state history at the time of its passage. Raised the legal marriage age to 18, required judicial approval for polygamous marriages and a wife's consent, granted women the right to initiate divorce, equalized custody rules, and removed the requirement of a male marital guardian for adult women. King Mohammed VI passed it over Islamist parliamentary opposition; the PJD voted against. It became a reference text for reformers across the region — and a recurring target for conservatives.
Impact
Shifted Moroccan family law toward gender symmetry within an Islamic framework. Subsequent reforms have been incremental — a 2024 amendment process is ongoing — but the 2004 reform set the legal ceiling other Arab states are still working toward.
Sources
https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/bills/ma-moudawana-2004 How to cite
This is a citation for the legislation itself — credited to Parliament of Morocco and dated to its 2004 introduction. Tayyar is the retrieval surface, not the author. A separate "Retrieved via" line records that you accessed it through this dataset.
In-text: (Parliament of Morocco, 2004) (Parliament of Morocco, 2004)
APA 7Institutional author
Parliament of Morocco. (2004). Reform of the Moudawana (Family Code, 2004) [Legislation]. https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/bills/ma-moudawana-2004. Retrieved June 21, 2026, from https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/bills/ma-moudawana-2004.
Chicago author-dateCommon in political-science journals
Parliament of Morocco. 2004. “Reform of the Moudawana (Family Code, 2004).” Legislation. https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/bills/ma-moudawana-2004. Accessed June 21, 2026.
BibTeXLaTeX / Zotero / reference managers
@misc{tayyar-bill-ma-moudawana-2004,
title = {{Reform of the Moudawana (Family Code, 2004)}},
author = {{Parliament of Morocco}},
year = {2004},
date = {2004-02-05},
type = {Legislation},
url = {https://tarekgara.com/tayyar/bills/ma-moudawana-2004},
urldate = {2026-06-21},
note = {Retrieved via Tayyar on June 21, 2026}
}