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UK: Muslim Institute Launches Model
Muslim Marriage Contract
11/08/2008: The Muslim Institute,
Britain’s foremost Muslim think-tank, is to launch a new standard marriage
contract (nikah) for British Muslims wishing to marry under Muslim law. (The
Muslim Institute)
The launch took place on 8 August 2008, at 6.45pm at the City Circle, Abrar
House, 45 Crawford Place, London W1H 4LP.
The new standard contract reflects a consensus effort to protect the rights of
both parties to a Muslim nikah (non-registry marriage) and that are guaranteed
under the Shari‘ah. The contract has been drafted after lengthy consultations
with religious leaders, community organisations and women’s groups across the
country, and comes with guidelines to facilitate its use.
In
particular, the new contract provides women entering a Muslim marriage with
written proof of their marriage and of the terms and conditions agreed between
the spouses. In the absence of such proof, women have faced particular
difficulties in securing the financial rights guaranteed to them under the
Shari‘a upon divorce.
However, Dr
Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, Director of the Muslim Institute, said the new contract
is less about divorce than designed to guarantee greater harmony within Muslim
marriages in Britain. It lays out the rights and responsibilities of the
husband and wife in Islamic marriage, and emphasises the Qur’anic vision of
marriage as a relationship of mutual love, mercy and kindness (mawaddah,
rahmah, sukun).
Dr Siddiqui
stated that these matters can have a lifelong effect upon the spouses and any
children of the union; and by allowing an intending couple to agree upon many
important matters related to their future lives together, the new contract can
contribute to a harmonious family.
The
contract’s emphasis on mutual consultation, the financial independence of the
husband and wife but their shared obligation to support the family, and the
husband waiving his right to polygamy brings Muslim marriages in Britain into
line with positive developments in Muslim family law across the Muslim world.
The contract
does not require a ‘marriage guardian’ (wali) for the bride, and also makes
delegation of the right of divorce to the wife (talaq-i-tafweeed) automatic.
This right does not affect the husband’s right of talaq but enables the wife to
initiate divorce and retain all her financial rights agreed in the marriage
contract. These provisions reflect a recognition of changes in the Muslim
world, including women’s greater public rôles, educational achievements and
financial autonomy. In classical Muslim fiqh (jurisprudence) the scholars could
not agree whether a wali were indispensable: hence the absence of the
requirement in Muslim family law in countries following Hanafi precedent such
as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Today, for example, the requirement for a
wali has been removed in Morocco’s new Muslim family law and is optional in the
Algerian Family Code. Many reformed codes, like Bangladesh and Pakistan’s
standard marriage contracts, also recognise the wife’s right of
talaq-i-tafweed.
The contract
also requires “two adult witnesses of good character”. In today’s
multi-cultural Britain women and non-Muslims must be recognised as just as
capable of providing a reputable guarantee that the marriage took place and of
the terms and conditions the couple agreed upon.
Side by side
with efforts to popularise the new contract within the Muslim community the
Muslim Institute is also pursuing a campaign to encourage more mosques to
become places registered for the solemnisation of marriage under the 1948
Marriage Act. This is to ensure more mosques are able to conduct marriages
recognised under English or Scottish law. This will enable more Muslims married
in Britain to access British courts regarding marital issues.
The project
to develop a model Muslim marriage contract was initiated by the Muslim
Parliament of Great Britain in February, 2004, and was subsequently taken up by
the Muslim Institute.
Leading
community organisations, politicians, family lawyers, academics, and clerics
have welcomed the document:
· Dr Reefat
Drabu, the Chair of the MCB Social and Family Affairs Committee:
“The
Muslim Council of Britain (the MCB) is pleased to have collaborated with the
Muslim Institute in this important initiative. It meets a pressing need of our
communities by explaining in clear and simple language the importance of
marriage, the process leading to its solemnisation and the rights and
responsibilities flowing from it for the parties. I congratulate and commend
Mufti Barkatullah and the Muslim Institute for making the template for the
Certificate of Marriage. It is very well constructed and the explanatory notes
reflect the consensus of opinion amongst leading Islamic scholars on the rights
and responsibilities of parties to a marriage under the Shari‘ah. The MCB calls
upon all the Imams/Qadis involved in performing nikah to use the documentation,
as its correct use will facilitate the success of marriage and will lead to
harmonious and healthy family life”
· Ann Cryer,
MP:
“This
document has been carefully researched over a 4-year period and I feel
confident in recommending its findings to women (and men) of the Muslim Faith
contemplating Marriage. The advice contained will, I am sure, help thousands of
young people and I congratulate the Muslim Institute for having the foresight
to prepare, publish and launch this excellent piece of work.”
· Dr Ziba
Mir-Hoseini, Centre of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law, SOAS, University of
London
"The
idea of marriage as a contract is one of those powerful concepts in Islamic
legal tradition that allows two individuals to regulate their most intimate
relationship not only within the bounds of the Shari‘a but also in accordance
with the demands of time and place. The launch of the new standard marriage
contract is a welcome initiative, a right step in the right direction, that
provides the Muslims in UK with a model for a harmonious and egalitarian
marriage."
· Anne-Marie
Hutchinson OBE, Leading family lawyer
"I
am delighted to support this very important and inclusive initiative. The
Muslim Marriage Contract will provide certainty in marital obligations. Most
importantly it will provide civil law protection to many women and children
through the obligation on the parties to enter into a binding civil marriage.
All too often spouses have found themselves marginalised and cut off from the
legal and financial protection afforded by the Matrimonial Causes Act,
1973."
· Dr Usama
Hasan, Director, The City Circle
"This
new Muslim marriage contract is an excellent development, since it draws on
those traditional Islamic legal opinions that are more in keeping with the
spirit of gender equality. Too many fathers have abused their right of wilayah
(guardianship) over their daughters and too many husbands have abused their
right of initiating divorce for us to continue with law rooted in patriarchal
societies. It is high time that Muslim women enjoy the same rights and freedoms
under Islamic law as they do under present legal systems in the UK."
· Shaykh
Haytham Tamim, Director of Utrujj Foundation
"We
welcome the initiative. It meets the aspirations of our young people."
· Shahid
Raza, OBE, Secretary, Imams and Mosques Council (UK)
"It
is a commendable initiative and likely to enhance the family life of Muslims in
Britain."
For
further information, please contact:
Dr
Ghaysuddin Siddiqui, The Muslim Institute, 07860 259 289/ 020 8563 1995
Mufti
Barkatullah, Islamic Shari‘ah Council, 07939 554 079
Cassandra
Balchin, Muslim Women’s Network-UK, 07747 706 331
To download the marriage contract
please click here: http://wluml.org/english/news/muslim-marriage-contract-uk-080808.doc
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