Swabra and Hassan have been long-time lovers and finally formalized their love at a big celebration in the mosque. To celebrate their one-year anniversary, they hosted their friends and family for lunch and to look at their wedding albums. Fatima, Hassan’s cousin while seeing the photos asked Swabra why there was no photo of the couple holding their marriage certificate. Swabra said they did not sign any certificate and that they were told if their guardians were present and agreed to the wedding, all was well. Fatima laughed and told Swabra that her marriage is fake. Swabra now wants to know if not having a certificate means their marriage is ‘fake’.
WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?
The law says that an Islamic marriage in Uganda is legal if it has the following things;
Both the man and woman are above 18 years of age
Both the man and woman have agreed to get married (we call this consent)
There is consent from the “wali” of woman’s guardian.
Payment of the bride gift- “mahr”
Once all these things are present, then there is a legal Islamic marriage. Once these are fulfilled, the law requires that the marriage be registered with the National body responsible for keeping official records of marriages, known as the Uganda Registration Services Bureau(URSB).
It is, therefore, a good practice to have a record that your marriage took place. This provides evidence of the marriage that the courts and institutions that need proof can refer to.
This means that Swabra and Hassan have a legal Islamic marriage, but they should go back to the mosque and ask for their documentation such as the certificate so that they can register their marriage.
Source: BarefootLaw
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