CAIRO — Egypt’s Dar Al Iftaa will now provide coaching programs for individuals who are about to get married. The trouble, in cooperation with the Ministry of Social Solidarity and Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, is designed to fight the rise in divorce in Egypt.
Egyt’s Grand Mufti Shawki Allam stated throughout a symposium on the function of youth in nation-building at Suez Canal College on Nov. 2, “Dar al-Iftaa, conscious of the hazard of early divorce, is implementing a lot of initiatives to sort out this phenomenon, together with programs for {couples} wishing to get married. Such programs don’t cowl the authorized side alone but in addition sort out psychological and social facets. We additionally cooperate with the related ministries such because the Ministry of Solidarity.”
Allam added, “We opened the Marriage Counseling Middle to sort out issues going through married {couples} and there’s a joint committee of psychiatry specializing in Sharia.”
On Oct. 25 the Egyptian Ministry of Awqaf launched its Sakan wa Mawadda (Housing and Affection) initiative to coach younger engaged and married {couples} on “household jurisprudence and the rights of spouses” in addition to
Magdy Ashour, adviser to Allam, defined in televised statements Oct. 28, “Dar Al-Iftaa hears about 5,000 divorce petitions a month, however solely about 5 truly materialize because the Household Steering Committee in Dar Al-Iftaa manages to resolve issues between spouses following session with a sheikh and a professor of psychiatry and reproductive well being.”
Ashour stated, “There are a number of causes that lead {couples} to file for divorce. Chief amongst these are social networking websites, which create estrangement and alienation between {couples}, who as an alternative of speaking with one another, discover themselves hooked on their telephones.”
He went on, “Different causes which can be resulting in divorce in Egypt embrace financial points, inequality between spouses and family’ interference in married life.”
The Egyptian official talked about that Malaysia issues marriage permits however defined, “Marriage permits in Egypt wouldn’t be inside the jurisdiction of Dar Al-Iftaa, as it’s as much as the parliament and the federal government to resolve on such issues.”
In 1992, former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad established facilities to arrange {couples} headed for marriage and marriage permits for individuals who cross particular programs. This system reportedly contributed to a lower within the divorce price to eight% in 2000, in comparison with 32% throughout the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties.
Amna Nasir, a professor of Islamic philosophy at Cairo’s Al-Azhar College, praised the initiative to Al-Monitor, saying, “Such a step will deal with loads of the issues going through {couples} and resulting in the disintegration of households.”
Nasir blamed “preoccupation with social networking websites” for the excessive divorce charges, as dad and mom who are sometimes “too busy to show youngsters methods to protect and keep marital life.”
Samia Khodr, a professor of sociology at Ain Shams College, additionally expressed assist for such initiatives, telling Al-Monitor that the household is the muse of society. Khodr referred to as on the Egyptian authorities to give attention to human relations as a lot as financial and monetary concerns.
She stated, “These programs will considerably contribute to the decline in divorce charges in Egypt,” however harassed the necessity for the programs to constant and tutorial in addition to religiously centered, bringing collectively “students and professors of psychology and sociology to participate in such coaching programs alongside the clergy.”
