WUNRN
Arwa Al-Husseini - January 18, 2013
"We
state of our own accord and without any coercion, as equals in and before the
law according to the preamble of the constitution and its commitment to the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, especially Article 16 of said
declaration, that the man among us has taken the woman as his wife, and that
the woman has taken the man as her husband …”
This
is but one expression in the marriage contract signed by Kholoud Succariyeh and
Nidal Darwish, who were married in
“I
was attending a lecture about the art of photography, and while waiting for
Nidal, I noticed this poster saying: Let us get to know civil marriage and
secularism before they take us to sectarianism,” Kholoud told NOW. “A woman
came to me and said, ‘Secularism is not against religion,’ and I answered, ‘I
know. Just because I am veiled this doesn’t mean I’m against secularism.’ And
in order to prove my point, I told her that [Nidal and] I were getting ready to
go to
“It
was then that she told me about the attempt to celebrate the first civil
marriage in
Preparations
for the marriage began after Kholoud and her parents reached an agreement on
“being spoken for” as per formal religious rules, without registering the
marriage at a Muslim religious tribunal.
The
first step was to strike out the mention of both Kholoud’s and Nidal’s sects
from their respective IDs to prove before the law that they are not affiliated
with a sect that forces them to marry before a religious court. They thus
acquired the right to hold a civil marriage as per Article 60 L.R.
Then
they had to obtain a form signed by the mayor proving that there are no
objections to their marriage and put the marriage announcement up on a
billboard 15 days before the wedding date to make sure that there were no
objections to it. The announcement was supposed to be published in the Official
Gazette or at least two newspapers, but in order to prevent any hindrances,
Kholoud and Nidal just posted the announcement on the doors of their parents’
houses and on the door of their own house. They also had to obtain a legal
document signed by a notary public after both parties chose the articles
included in the marriage contract as well as a financial disclosure that
guarantees the rights of each party to the marriage.
After
a few snags in obtaining the necessary paperwork, Kholoud and Nidal signed
their civil marriage contract on November 10, 2012, thus making them the first
Lebanese couple to be wedded by civil marriage in
On
the legal level, Husseini, who authored the draft, explained that “The marriage
was held based on Decree No. 60 L.R. – a numeration of decrees adopted by the
High Commissioner [during the French Mandate in Lebanon] – of 1936, which
organizes and recognizes sects and grants them rights. The same decree also
recognizes individuals, and we used this same law to strike out the reference
to sect [on one’s ID].”
Applying
Decree No. 60 L.R. for people who are not officially affiliated to any sect
provides a solution for civil marriage, he added. “Not being affiliated to a
sect does not mean not being a believer; it is merely not making an
administrative disclosure of one’s sect and subjecting [instead] to civil
courts.”
Lebanese
law imposes constraints on enjoying the right to marriage, Husseini argues.
“Let us suppose that a person wants to marry and there’s no law. This means
there are no constraints to enjoying the right to marriage unless the marriage
one is about to enter into contravenes the constitution, genera order or good
ethics. Civil marriage is the only [form] that fits the constitution, which
includes provisions about freedom and equality; it is the constitution, rather
than religious marriage, that provides freedom and equality,” Husseini said.
Good-natured
attempts to ensure the right to civil marriage in
“The
law allows the two people who wish to marry the right to choose the provisions
that suit them in the contract. In contrast, religious marriage – or some forms
of it – is subjected to the Ottoman family law with regard to certain
provisions. When we say that Decree No. 60 L.R. is a reference to French civil
marriage, this makes it part of the Lebanese law. Furthermore, the French law
does not contravene the constitution or sectarian bylaws or public order, and
is applicable in courts located in France, Turkey, Cyprus or Switzerland
between Lebanese [couples] or [a couple formed by] a Lebanese person and a
non-Lebanese person. In other words, it is applicable in Lebanese civil courts
and this does not cause any problems.”
Kholoud
and Nidal chose civil marriage because they believe it is the best expression
of a relationship built on true partnership, equality and rejection of
dependency. Will the Lebanese state adopt civil marriage as a gateway to break
sectarian constraints and build a civil state?