Forbidden Marriages (article 9 - 13)

The five articles in this chapter differ in content from Shari'a Moslem Law and in some respects contradicts it.

Article 9 forbids marriage to a woman already married or a woman during the period of waiting (idda) (7). Muslim law rules that such marriages are void, and by Ottoman Law such a marriage is not acceptable, but is valid (par.13.54)

Article 10 categorically forbids polygamy and adds that a man may not take two wives; if he does, however, the second marriage shall be void. This contradicts Moslem (and Ottoman) Law, which allows a Moslem to take four wives.

Article 11 rules that a man may not remarry his ex-wife, meaning that he may not cancel the divorce. This article contradicts Moslem Law, which permits a man to remarry his ex-wife after she has married another man; it also differs from Jewish Law, which permits remarriage as long as the divorced wife has not remarried in the meantime.

Article 12 forbids a man to marry four blood relations (Dhawat Al-Rahm Al-Muhrram). (8) These are: (1) mother and grandmother, (2) daughter and granddaughter, (3) sister, niece, and their children, (4) aunt on father's or mother's side. Article 12 differs from Jewish Law, which allows marriage to a niece and indeed looks upon this as a virtue.

Article 13 details the four categories of women related by marriage (mosaharah), to whom marriage is forbidden and invalid: (1) wives of sons or grandsons, (2) mothers or grandmothers of wives, (3) wives of father or grandfather, (4) daughters and granddaughters of wives.

Anderson, who raised two difficulties relating to this paragraph, could not understand why the Druze law ignores them. He points out that Druze Law does not recognize two facts of Moslem Shari'a: (a) that a man is forbidden to marry the daughter of a woman with whom he has contracted marriage (From this we can deduce that a Moslem may marry the daughter of a woman whom he has agreed to marry but has not yet signed the contract); (b) a female consanguineous relation (rida'a).(9)

In this writer's opinion, Druze Law ignores these two points because they do not exist in Druze Law. First, Druze Law does not distinguish between a marriage which has been contracted and one which has not; it holds that all marriages are binding. The law relating to a marriage agreement or contract which is entered into some time before the couple start living together as man and wife (Akd-Religious Ceremony) is the same as a contracted marriage. The Akd, which is a religious ceremony, takes place before the marriage (Ors), which is the official ceremony when the bride moves into the groom's house in order to begin married life together.

Intorduction Chapter 1 - Eligibility to Enter into Marriage (Articles 1 - 5) Chapter 2 - Forbidden Marriages (article 9 - 13) Chapter 3 - Arranging the Marriage (Articles 14 -19) Chapter 4 - Marriages Rules (Articles 20 -23) Chapter 5 - Dower ("Mahr") (Articles 24 - 27) Chapter 6 - Maintenance (Nafaqa) (Articles 28-36) Chapter 7 - Separation (Article 37-49) Chapter 8 - Waiting Period (Idda) (Articles 50-53) Chapter 9 - The custody of the children (Articles 54-66) Chapter 10 - Child allowance (Articles 67-74) Chapter 11- Payments by sons to parents and other relatives (Articles 75-80) Chapter 12 - Guardianship over minors (Articles 81-87) Chapter 13- Guardianship and wills (Article 88-98) Chapter 14- Responsibilities of the guardian [executor] (Articles 99-118) Chapter 15- Circumstances under with a Qadi may disqualify a person and appoint a guardian (Articles 119 -125) Chapter 16 - A Missing Person and his Trustee (article 126 -136) Chapter 17 - Paternity (nasab) (Articles 137-144) Chapter 18 - Wills and Inheritance (2) (Articles 145 -170) End Notes