Over the past few years, MPLRAG has been heavily involved in the debates and conversations about reform of the Sri Lankan Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act (MMDA). Our energy and attention has been focused on amending the discriminatory provisions of the Act and advocating for fairness and justice for those most affected by our Quazi court systems. But we were also pausing to think about and imagine what kind of marriages we consider as just and fair.
What would it be like if Muslim couples took the beautiful guidance of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and incorporated it into their own marriages? What if couples and their families made sure that the marriage started off with an Islamic marriage contract that weaved Qur’anic values of love and compassion (mawaddah wa rahmah), serenity (sakinah), kindness (ihsan), human dignity (karamah), consultation and mutual consent (tashawur wa taradi), that which is commonly known to be right (ma‘ruf), and justice, fairness, and equity (‘adl, qist, insaf)? How would this ensure a stronger and more loving partnership? How would such partnerships then benefit our communities?
This marriage contract is a working draft of such an imagining. It holds in it in some of our hopes and wishes for what Sri Lankan Muslim marriages could be. We were inspired by marriage contract models used by other Muslim communities, as well as the work of Musawah, and hope that it inspires Muslim couples to consider such values in their own marriages now and in the future.
