A Syrian-born man who divorced his wife in a Sharia court has been told by Europe’s top court that the divorce is not legally valid in Germany, where the former couple now live.<\/p>\n
The European Court of Justice said EU countries need not legally recognise divorces not granted by a state court.<\/p>\n
Some Muslims believe men can end their marriage instantly by saying “talaq” (divorce) three times.<\/p>\n
This is the ECJ’s first ever ruling on the subject.<\/p>\n
The couple married in 1999 in the Syrian city of Homs before eventually moving to Germany. They hold both Syrian and German nationality.<\/p>\n
In 2013, the husband ended the marriage in a Sharia court in the Syrian city of Latakia by having a representative repeating “talaq”. The ECJ calls the measure “private divorce”, as a state authority is not involved.<\/p>\n
The wife acknowledged the divorce in writing, but contested it after the former husband applied for its recognition in a court in the German city of Munich.<\/p>\n
The court then referred the case to the ECJ, asking for clarifications over the interpretation of the EU divorce law pact, known as the Rome III Regulation.<\/p>\n
The ECJ said the regulation<\/a>\u00a0“does not apply, by itself, to the recognition of a divorce decision delivered in a third country”.<\/p>\n It added that a unilateral declaration of divorce before a religious court does not fall under the scope of the regulation, and said the case must be resolved under German law.<\/p>\n The ECJ does not decide the dispute itself, and the court in Munich will take a final decision on the issue.<\/p>\n Triple talaq divorce has no mention in Sharia Islamic law or the Koran, even though the practice has existed for decades.<\/p>\n Islamic scholars say the Koran clearly spells out how to issue a divorce – it has to be spread over three months, allowing a couple time for reflection and reconciliation.<\/p>\n Why must “talaq” be said three times? Under some interpretations of Islamic law, a man can divorce his wife and get back together with her – but only twice. After the third divorce, the marriage is completely over and cannot be started again without an intervening marriage to someone else.<\/p>\n Most Islamic countries have now banned triple talaq.<\/p>\n Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"