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In Senegal and Morocco, family law reform was aimed at reconciling the requirements of the Islamic religion with the acknowledgement of the principle of gender equality. The question of the status of women was the central issue of debates structured around the opposition between equality and complementarity, which in turn reflects the tension between the acknowledgement of individual rights and the desire to preserve the institution of the family, taken up as the symbol of national cultural and religious identity. The aim of this article is to examine how the issue of gender was integrated into the legal debates and how it influenced the laws that were adopted. Despite considerable reforms having been adopted, the concept of legal equality remains subject to the Islamic framework and does not necessarily integrate a critical reflection on gender relationships.