Muslim rights groups welcome MMDA reforms; urge ministry to release the report

The Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum ( MWRAF) and the Muslim Personal Law Reform Action Group ( MPLRAG) have welcomed progressive decisions by the Cabinet of Ministers on substantive reform of the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA).

The organisations welcomed the news that the Advisory Committee on Muslim Law Reforms has submitted its report on reform of the MMDA to Justice Minister Ali Sabry.

“Transparency and a timeline of the reforms are currently of the utmost importance and urgently needed to protect against the reform process being hijacked and misdirected by detractors, which we note is already taking place,” the groups said in a joint statement.

They urged the Justice Ministry to release the report with reform recommendations without delay and give, particularly those most affected, confidence in the reforms to come.

They endorsed the decisions by Cabinet on key substantive issues relating to the MMDA: 1) raising the minimum age of marriage to 18 years without exceptions 2) requiring the consent and signature of the bride to formalise a marriage

3) allowing women Quazis and 4) abolishing polygamy.

“We also remind those reportedly opposing these Cabinet decisions, on the basis that they were not inclusively decided, that the stances on the minimum age of marriage, consent of brides and women as Quazis were also deliberated and agreed by a majority of Muslim parliamentarians in 2019,” the groups said.

“For more than six decades and under various governments, multiple committees have discussed these reforms at several meetings. There was never a ‘ consensus’; this fact has been used to derail reforms and deny justice for Muslim women and girls. Time and again, Muslim women, who have been most affected by discriminatory provisions under the MMDA, have been purpose fully excluded from the male- led conversations about MMDA reform. Groups, such as the All Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU), were never inclusive of Muslim women, nor have they centered the contemporary struggles of Muslim women and girls in their approach to MMDA reforms.”

However, the groups have expressed concern over the Cabinet decision to abolish the Quazi system without available information on what will replace it. They requested clarity from the Justice Ministry on how the MMDA will be administered.

The groups asserted that the current system in the district court has significant challenges relating to access and delays, and is not familyfriendly. Similar to the Quazi system, it also requires comprehensive reform.