Resolution No.(96) by the Board of Iftaa`, Research and Islamic Studies: "Dissolution of a Christian Woman`s Marriage Contract with Christian Husband upon her Conversion to Islam"

Date: 18/12/1426 AH, corresponding to 18/1/2006 AD.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of The Worlds, and may His peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Mohammad and upon all his family and companions.

The Board reviewed the letter sent from the Chief Justice to His Eminence the Grand Mufti (17/8/2006) with which was enclosed the letter of the General Manager of Civil Status & Passports Department along with other documents originally addressed to the Chief Justice. The letter read as follows:

Mr. (S), a Moroccan man married to Mrs. (O) according to a Certificate of Sharia Court Marriage (8/8/2005) issued by the Sharia Court of Salt City, submitted a request to obtain a civil record and a family register, enclosing a parentage confirmation certificate (11/8/2005) for his children (Rami, Ramzi, Mohammad and Randa). It is worth pointing out that Rami was born on February the 2nd, 1988. It was made clear to the Board, based on records, that the wife (O), formerly Christian and  registered included in the civil record of her first husband, holds an Ecclesiastical Marriage Dissolution Certificate (10/12/1988).

Based on the above facts, it was made clear that the parentage confirmation certificate contradicts with the provisions of article (22) of the Civil Status Law (9/2001). This article states: "To the exclusion of articles (19), (20), and (21), the clerk is banned from mentioning the name of the father or mother or both, even if he was asked to do so in any of the following two situations:

One: They are within the prohibited degree of marriage

Two: The mother is married to another man for Rami was born during her being married to another man.

Answer:

It was made clear to the Board, based on Mrs. (O) certificate of conversion to Islam issued from the Sharia Court of Salt City (No. 53/93/7, 8/8/2005) in which she confirmed having embraced Islam for over twenty years, and since the majority of the Muslim scholars have agreed that separation is expedited between the non-Muslim spouses once the wife embraces Islam and the husband maintains his faith without the latter`s refusal to convert to Islam contrary to the Hanafie school of thought (Madhab). Accordingly, and opting for the view of the majority of the Muslim scholars, the marriage contract of Mrs. (O) with her former Christian husband (R) is considered dissolved upon her conversion to Islam twenty years ago. Since she visited the Iftaa` Dept. on November 16th, 2005 and submitted a petition in which she clarified that she had observed Iddah (Waiting period after death of husband or getting divorced) of her already dissolved marriage contract and wasn`t pregnant and her Iddah had ended before her second marriage to a Muslim husband and since both (S & O)mutually confirmed that their marriage contract was concluded on October 13th, 2005 with their mutual consent based on a Certificate of Sharia Court Marriage issued by the Sharia Court of Salt City (No. 67/8/65, 8/8/2005), the dissolution of her first marriage contract with her Christian husband on basis of the Ecclesiastical Marriage Dissolution Document issued by the Greek Orthodox First Instance Court (Amman, 10/12/1988) is pointless because that contract has already been dissolved. On this basis, Rami, born 21/2/1988, was the fruit of a valid marriage contract between Mrs. (O) and Mr. (S), and his father is Mr. (S) as confirmed by the Parentage confirmation certificate issued by the Sharia court of Salt city (No.144, 11/8/2005). And Allah Knows Best.

Iftaa` Board

Chairman of the Iftaa` Board, Chief Justice, Izzaldeen Al-Tamimi

Dr. AbdulMajeed Al-Salaheen

Dr. Abdulsalam Al-Abbadi

Dr. Ahmad Hilayel

Dr. Yousef Ghyzaan

Dr. Wasif Al-Bakhri

Dr. Abdukareem Al-Khasawneh

Sheikh Sae`id Hijjawi

Sheikh Nae`im Mujahid