Friday sermons label ''out of court marriages'' as unlawful

Today’s Friday prayer sermons have condemned illegal out of court marriages in the Maldives and labeled these activities as unlawful in both Islamic Shariah and law.

The issue has hit the spotlight after a 26-year-old man was attacked with a knife last week on a boat. The victim of the attack was a man with hardline radical ideologies and reportedly had a 13-year old child as a wife that he had “married” out of court. The incident which sparked outrage among the public led the authorities to begin an effort to investigate such cases occurring in the country.

The Friday prayer sermons today were focused on remembering the day the Maldives embraced Islam. The sermon called for lawful action to be taken against those involved in out of court marriages. Such people were designated as people with dangerous minds with ideologies such as excluding young girls from the right to education.

“When they say such things, they have to consult with female doctors when these girls get sick. If young girls are not educated, then where would we get skilled female teachers and doctors from?" the sermons today posed a powerful question.

Such out of court marriages result in the loss of countless rights to the children born from the marriage. There is no proof or evidence about the lineage of these children, read the sermons today before noting that marriages in Islamic Shariah are carried out as publicly as possible.