Grand Mufti advisory allows online marriage

CAIRO - 13 August 2021: An advisory to the Grand Mufti allowed virtual wedding ceremonies and signing marriage contracts using video conference technology in Egypt.

 

“Men and women can make their marriage contract via using video conference technology,” said Magdy Ashour, the advisory to the Grand Mufti Shawqi Allam, in “Public Opinion” talk show on TEN T.V. on Thursday.

 

He added that it should be with certain controls, the most prominent of which is that the groom, bride, and witnesses shall be present online, and the Ma'zun (an officiant who is tasked to carry out the marriage contract) shall check the couple’s IDs.

 

He also added that conducting online marriage contracts shall be used in quite limited cases.

 

Egypt records a case of divorce every two minutes and two marriages per minute, said Major General Khairat Barakat, head of the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) on Tuesday evening.

 

He added that the number of marriage contracts in 2020 reached 876,000, while divorce cases of the same year reached 213,000.

 

In February 2021, amendments were made to Egypt’s Personal Status draft law imposing punishment on husbands who hide their marriage/s and do not inform his current/future wife about them.

 

According to the amendments, the husband should mention his marital status in the marriage certificate. If he is married, he must indicate that declaration in the certificate, writing the name of his wife/wives and her/their place of residence. He must also inform his wife/wives with the new marriage via a registered letter.