LONDON, Aug 9: A group of Muslim organisations in Britain have jointly launched a draft Muslim Marriage Contract which proposes to safeguard Muslim women in the UK from economic, social and sexual abuse through what they called misinterpretation of Shariah.

Dr Ghaysuddin Siddiqui of The Muslim Institute, Mufti Barkatullah of Islamic Shariah Council and Cassandra Balchin of Muslim Women’s Network explained the salient features of the proposed draft to a group of over hundred people, mostly young women in hijab, here on Friday evening.

Dr Siddiqui said most Muslim marriages in Britain are still being solemnised under what is believed by various Islamic schools of thought here to be Shariah and most often than not these marriages, he added, are not covered by the laws of England and Wales (Marriage Act of 1948) either deliberately or because of ignorance of the parties involved.

For a Muslim marriage to be valid under the laws of England and Wales, the marriage must be solemnised either at a mosque registered for the solemnisation of marriages or a civil wedding at a registry office must precede the nikah (Muslim marriage).

Dr Siddiqui said out of 10,000 mosques in the UK only 21 serve as official marriage registration offices as well.

The draft contract proposes to do away with the condition that the two witnesses should be male and of Islamic faith as according to Mufti Barkatullah, Islamic law emphasises only that witness should be sane, adult and reliable and makes no mention of gender or faith of the witnesses.

The draft contract also proposes to do away with the approval of the Wali (parents, guardian) as according to the Mufti, parental or guardian’s legal role finishes when children reach adulthood and thereafter their role is optional and complementary.

The draft contract recognises that if the divorce is initiated by husband, he has to pay the woman any Mahr that remains unpaid. If the divorce is initiated by the wife, and the husband is found to be at fault by the arbiters, she does not lose her Mahr. But if she cannot prove his fault, she has to return to her husband whatever Mahr amount she has already received. If the wife initiates the divorce without any grounds, this is called ‘khula’ and she must return whatever the husband has given her in consideration for the marriage. Talaq-e-tafwid is delegated right to divorce given by husband to his wife. If and when the wife exercises this delegated right she does not lose her Mahr amount. Any property the bride brings to the marriage through her own efforts or through inheritance remains the property of the bride.

Cassandra Balchin, who is married to a Pakistani and has lived in Pakistan for over 17 years and speaks fluent Punjabi and Urdu, said the proposed contract which also includes a draft “Certificate of Marriage” provides the parties entering into a Muslim marriage with written evidence of their marriage and of the terms and conditions agreed between the spouses.

She said in the absence of such evidence, parties to a Muslim marriage, and in particular women, have till now faced huge difficulties in securing the financial rights guaranteed to them under the Shariah upon divorce.