Cleric tells Syrian men to take a second wife

Maarawi says ruling is a realistic approach to deal with the shortage of men in the country due to war

The First Sharia Judge of Damascus is a religious authority who presides over the six Islamic courts at the Palace of Justice — a post that rarely gets exposure in the media.

However, last week he became the talk of the town overnight when he ruled that Syrian men should take a second wife in order to help unmarried women make ends meet in times of war.

“A second marriage is one of the ways to deal with spinsterhood [or unusah in Arabic; a term used in reference to an unmarried woman past the usual age for marriage]” said Judge Mahmoud Maarawi.

A six-year civil war has seen hundreds of thousands of men die, thousands languishing in jail and millions flee the country in order to secure jobs abroad or avoid the military draft.

Population

Syria’s population is now estimated at around 18 million, down from its pre-war population of 24 million — although no official figures have been released. Women now make up approximately 65 per cent of the population and millions of women are finding it increasingly difficult to find a husband. Despite a slew of abusive attacks directed at him on social media, Maarawi defended his ruling as “a realistic approach” while admitting that it is a solution “women will not like”.

According to Akram Al Kash, dean of the Higher Institute for Population Studies, “Before the crisis, there was a steady rise in the marriage age of both sexes.

Women would be married, on average, by the age of 25 while men would be married by 30. Due to the war, the average ahs risen to 35 for women and 37 for men.

Economic hardships

Abu Al Huda Al Khatib, a Damascus-based cleric, added: “We support Maarawi. He said nothing that contradicts the laws of Sharia. This is a major problem that we are facing and we need to deal with, seriously and boldly. We have women who are drifting into traditionally male dominated professions, like cab drivers and labourers. They need to get married and are finding a hard time doing so because of economic hardships and the shortage of men in society.”

As a result of the war, many women are delayed in getting married because men can no longer afford it, fleeing the country or fighting. Conversely, many families unable to provide for their daughters have been forced to marry them off while they are still underage.

The situation in rebel-held areas is particularly dire due to the higher number of male deaths, disappearances and arrests.