Reports | 25 05 2020
Tamam is a Druze and his wife Layal is Christian. In order to register their marriage in the official Syrian records, he must firstly convert to Islam.
Tamam says "our marriage is not officially recognized in Syria. In order to have it officially registered it in the records, I will have to convert to Islam. I really fail to understand why I should convert to Islam, if both my wife and I are non-Muslims; noting, however, that the Druze sect is a Muslim sect."
The Perspective of the Clergy
Syria is characterized by its great diversity of religions and sects living in the country. There are 5 officially-recognized Islamic sects in Syria; around 11 Christian denominations; and more than 7 courts with the authority to adjudicate marriage and divorce issues, and whose provisions and laws vary in accordance to each respective religious doctrine.
“The Church’s opinion vis-à-vis civil marriage is well known,” says Father Hanna, a Christian cleric. "Civil marriage is detrimental for the family, as well as to the persons entering into it, too, and the Church does not approve of this type of marriage, even if it acknowledges its existence. The Church’s disapproval of civil marriage stems from several points; a person entering a civil marriage will, for example, lose the Church’s blessing, and when man loses the Lord’s blessing he will be working on his own and, therefore, bear the consequences. There are Church laws concerning Christian marriage, and they must be respected and followed."
On the other hand, Sheikh Abdul Hadi, a Muslim cleric says: "A non-Muslim man may not marry a Muslim woman according to the precepts of religious law. The reason being that a many non-Muslims do not believe in our Prophet (Muhammad, peace be upon him) as a prophet. Such marriage, wherein the head of the family disapproves of his wife’s faith and its precepts will, therefore, not produce a happy and stable family."
Rejection and Acceptance
In Syrian society, everyone has their own opinion about the idea and the concept of civil marriage. Salma, a college student, for instance, strongly rejects the idea of civil marriage: "To me, the idea of building a future with someone from a different religion is unacceptable. This is not out of religious fanaticism, as much as it is due to social customs and traditions. There most certainly will be many problems that will face such a couple in the future, and which they will not be able to agree on how to resolve, as each party will display intransigence and side with one's own religious faith and community."
Basil, on the other hand, has a different opinion: "Ours is a society with a deep knowledge chasm between the various religions and sects of one another. Inter-faith marriage is, therefore, important as it helps develop a sense of belonging to the nation as well as a sense of citizenship. It will contribute to eradicating and defusing sectarianism; and we all are well aware to what extent sectarianism has negatively impacted the situation in the country, especially during the ongoing events raging in Syria. One other very important aspect is that inter-denominational and inter-faith marriage, will help bridge the knowledge gap and end the state of ignorance of the other. Almost none of us in Syria knows anything about the other faiths or denominations."
The main problem of civil marriage lies in the inability of those wishing to enter into it, to do so in the absence of a law allowing such. Personal status law in Syria is derived from Sharia legislation, leaving other non-Muslim communities to promulgate their own respective legislation.