The Muslim Institute, Britain’s foremost Muslim think-tank, launched a new standard marriage contract (nikah) for British Muslims wishing to marry under Muslim law. The launch will took place on 8 August 2008.

The new standard contract reflects a consensus effort to protect the rights of both parties to a Muslim nikah (non-registry marriage) and that are guaranteed under the Shari‘ah. The contract has been drafted after lengthy consultations with religious leaders, community organisations and women’s groups across the country, and comes with guidelines to facilitate its use.

In particular, the new contract provides women entering a Muslim marriage with written proof of their marriage and of the terms and conditions agreed between the spouses. In the absence of such proof, women have faced particular difficulties in securing the financial rights guaranteed to them under the Shari‘a upon divorce.

However, Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, Director of the Muslim Institute, said the new contract is less about divorce than designed to guarantee greater harmony within Muslim marriages in Britain. It lays out the rights and responsibilities of the husband and wife in Islamic marriage, and emphasises the Qur’anic vision of marriage as a relationship of mutual love, mercy and kindness (mawaddah, rahmah, sukun).

Dr Siddiqui stated that these matters can have a lifelong effect upon the spouses and any children of the union; and by allowing an intending couple to agree upon many important matters related to their future lives together, the new contract can contribute to a harmonious family.

The contract’s emphasis on mutual consultation, the financial independence of the husband and wife but their shared obligation to support the family, and the husband waiving his right to polygamy brings Muslim marriages in Britain into line with positive developments in Muslim family law across the Muslim world.

The contract does not require a ‘marriage guardian’ (wali) for the bride, and also makes delegation of the right of divorce to the wife (talaq-i-tafweeed) automatic. This right does not affect the husband’s right of talaq but enables the wife to initiate divorce and retain all her financial rights agreed in the marriage contract. These provisions reflect a recognition of changes in the Muslim world, including women’s greater public rôles, educational achievements and financial autonomy. In classical Muslim fiqh (jurisprudence) the scholars could not agree whether a wali were indispensable: hence the absence of the requirement in Muslim family law in countries following Hanafi precedent such as Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Today, for example, the requirement for a wali has been removed in Morocco’s new Muslim family law and is optional in the Algerian Family Code. Many reformed codes, like Bangladesh and Pakistan’s standard marriage contracts, also recognise the wife’s right of talaq-i-tafweed.

The contract also requires “two adult witnesses of good character”. In today’s multi-cultural Britain women and non-Muslims must be recognised as just as capable of providing a reputable guarantee that the marriage took place and of the terms and conditions the couple agreed upon.

Side by side with efforts to popularise the new contract within the Muslim community the Muslim Institute is also pursuing a campaign to encourage more mosques to become places registered for the solemnisation of marriage under the 1948 Marriage Act. This is to ensure more mosques are able to conduct marriages recognised under English or Scottish law. This will enable more Muslims married in Britain to access British courts regarding marital issues.

The project to develop a model Muslim marriage contract was initiated by the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain in February, 2004, and was subsequently taken up by the Muslim Institute.

Leading community organisations, politicians, family lawyers, academics, and clerics have welcomed the document.