“More than 30 per cent of Emirati marriages in Dubai this year were to foreigners” – according to Dubai Statistics Centre
The Grand Mufti ( an Islamic scholar who has the authority to issue legal opinions known as fatawa about fine points of Islamic law. The role of muftis in modern society varies, with Muslim governments typically having an officially appointed mufti who assists the government, while in other areas muftis are far less powerful, although they are still an extremely important community resource for Muslims.) Dr Ahmed al Haddad of Dubai has called for restrictions on Emiratis marrying outside their nationality and described it as a “negative trend”. It’s negative because as he says mixed marriages are more likely to end in divorce and their children are more likely to commit crimes. Ok, I agree that the number of divorce is increasing especially amongst mixed marriages but we still can’t generalize. There are alot of phenomenons and alot of different situations.
For Emirati women it is already not allowed to marry foreign men, nor are they able to give Emirati citizenship to their children if the father is a foreigner. Emirati men on the other hand can marry foreign women and they can give citizenship both to their wives and children. Maybe its time to demand stricter rules on men marrying foreign women, and highlight the phenomenon and shed light on its negative aspects on both the Emirati and the foreign wife.
“In Islam, choosing your life partner is a personal freedom”
I agree to the points raised by Dr. AlHadad but restrictions is unnecessary. Our religion didn’t restrict that, why would we? It is against the basic teachings of Islam and modern science. What we need is awareness.
“There are many mixed marriages that are successful and have played a positive role in our society.” – Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim, the chief of Dubai Police
And that is true, we can’t generalize and force. No one knows what happens inside every house but as we highlighted earlier there are different phenomenons and instead of forcing and restricting we should teach and aware our youth. In addition, as we have been hearing always now the social experts have attributed the escalating trend to the large dowries demanded by Emirati women – as much as Dh800,000 – and to high wedding ceremony expenses that have reached Dh1 million. Hmmm is there no other thing to blame this on? Remember the articles and discussions earlier which were discussed few months ago “Emirati men shun women who study abroad” Here is another phenomenon which requires awareness too. Maybe if some of the “open-minds” which are used when marrying a non Emirati woman can be used with Emirati women too, instead of creating a rara avis situation!
Reports that Emirati women, who now tend to be better educated than their male peers, are also looking abroad for husbands, officials say the trend is leading to a rise in the number of spinsters.
The large dowries and wedding ceremonies in five-star hotels is not a priority to many Emirati women these days. (Wait Wait hold your horses, I said some not all some ..) So this excuse to me is an over used old one, find a better one people!!
Wrapping it all, alot of phenomenons, alot of pointing fingers, alot of assumptions and generalizing. Restricting and forcing is not a way to handle or solve this “negative trend” as described. Teach, aware, and highlight this is the best solution. While am at it I want to thank The Judicial Department of Abu Dhbai for its awareness ADs during Ramadan. We need more of it.
What is your say?
