This article analyses the most recent family reforms in Egypt (2000-2008) and Morocco (2004). Generally viewed as the most progressive shari‘a-based reforms in the Muslim world in the new millennium, in this article I will demonstrate that women’s expanded divorce rights as well as extended maternal custody and guardianship arrangements have reinforced gendered notions of husbands being financial providers and wives caregivers. This article not only asks whether the reforms have “liberated” women, but also analyses the implications of the legal changes on the position of men inside the family. While there is ample scholarship in the context of contemporary divorce parenthood, which studies the position of divorced fathers in the West, such scholarship is almost absent with regard to the Muslim world. A century of Muslim family law reform notwithstanding, most studies still deal with the “is it good or bad for women” question. The perspective of Muslim men is still lacking. I argue that studies on Muslim family law have much to gain from incorporating a more inclusive perspective, which investigates both men and women’s lived experiences with the law as well as the extent to which family law reform changes the interaction between them. This will make it possible to detect whether official constructions of fatherhood and motherhood, as enshrined in law, are in line with how different groups in contemporary Egyptian society wish to give meaning to the practice of parenting, both in the intact and the dissolved family. In order to reinforce my argument, I will pay attention to the way judges deal with the family law reforms. In contrast to Middle Eastern scholarship on law and gender, judges employ a more holistic approach. In line with the spirit of the legislator, which clearly presents the law as being one for the entire family (fathers, mothers, children) they engage in critical dialogue with both the law and the men and women who present their claims in front of them. In the process, so I argue, they try to find solutions which eliminate injustice against women, protect the rights of children, and preserve the dignity of men.