War and Marriage
Kathrin's case is one of many in Syria, where a nearly seven-year-old war took a toll on the social fabric and saw an increase in marriage without parental consent. With the practically impossible marriages between Syria's multiple Muslim sects, youngsters sometimes flee to tie the knot. They opt for an unofficial marriage contract known as urfi, which is signed without the presence of the bride's father -- a compulsory measure in official marriages. According to a local source, courts have recently received numerous requests submitted by girls to legitimize unofficial marriages. However, the source said that many such legal requests are turned down because investigations would prove there was no reason for the bride's fathers not to attend the marriage procedures. Judge Mahmoud Al-Maarawi, who heads a religious court that oversees personal status issues for Syrian Muslims, said that 37,000 unofficial marriages were upheld last year in Damascus. To ensure that they will not get married behind their backs, families have increasingly put their daughters' names on the "marriage ban list".What Is the Marriage Ban List?
Samir, a man in his 40s who lives north of Damascus countryside, said he has added his 16-year-old daughter's name to the court-supervised marriage ban list, a measure that makes the girl unable to legitimize an urfi contract. Speaking to Raseef22, Samir said the younger generation is characterized with impulsiveness, with many youngsters dealing with marriage as though it is a game. He put his daughter's name on the marriage ban list as a precaution, he said, stressing that he trusts she would never flee to get married. If the father was not around, a grandfather or an uncle would be entitled to take such a legal action, which was barely known before it grew popular over the past few months. Indeed, Salma, a widow and a mother of a 17-year-old girl, asked her father-in-law to add her daughter's name to the list in order to protect the family's reputation. However, lawyer Mounir Mahmoud told Raseef22 the marriage ban list only applies on minors; it would take reported teenagers only a few years to ratify marriages without their families' approval.Raseef22 is a not for profit entity. Our focus is on quality journalism. Every contribution to the NasRaseef membership goes directly towards journalism production. We stand independent, not accepting corporate sponsorships, sponsored content or political funding.
Support our mission to keep Raseef22 available to all readers by clicking here!
Interested in writing with us? Check our pitch process here!
Join the Conversation
HA NA -
2 days agoمع الأسف
Mohammed Liswi -
1 week agoأبدعت بكل المقال والخاتمة أكثر من رائعة.
Eslam Abuelgasim (اسلام ابوالقاسم) -
1 week agoحمدالله على السلامة يا أستاذة
سلامة قلبك ❤️ و سلامة معدتك
و سلامك الداخلي ??
Anonymous user -
1 week agoمتى سوف تحصل النساء في إيران على حقوقهم ؟!
Anonymous user -
1 week agoفاشيه دينيه التقدم عندهم هو التمسك بالتخلف
Anonymous user -
1 week agoعظيم