In a significant development, Council of Islamic Ideology has ruled that granting a first wife the right to dissolve her marriage if her husband remarries without her permission is against Islamic principles.
The decision came after a meeting took place on Wednesday in which the council has rejected the legal provision that allows a woman to dissolve her marriage over husband’s remarriage.
According to the religious experts, Islam does not have anu injunction that allows the first wife to annul her marriage for these reasons.
There were multiple points of issues that the CII had to contend over. Another issue was about including a legal provision in the marriage contract about compulsion of thalassemia test.
Earlier this month, Federal Health Minister Mustafa Kamal proposed backing law which requires pre-marital blood screening to prevent thalassemia.
Under this legislation, grooms would be required to undergo blood tests, and if they test positive, their brides would also be tested to find out the risk of passing the disease to their children.
“If we approve this law, we can save countless children from being born with this devastating disease,” Kamal stated
The CII ruled that such medical tests cannot be made a religious requirement in the marriage contract; however, it said that people can include this as optional requirement in the contract.
Moreover, the body also decided that Islamic terms such as Salah (prayer), Ayah (verse), and Masjid (mosque) should not be translated into English.
According to CII, preserving the original Arabic words maintains their religious significance and prevents any misinterpretation of their meanings.
Another significant issue was the development of human milk banks as the body asked the experts 33 detailed questions and received replies. The body stated that it would announce its ruling in the next meeting after having more in-depth discussions.
