• Download the Sri Lanka section of Home Truths: A Global Report on Equality in the Muslim Family in English or Arabic.

• View the report submitted to Musawah by Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum.

Many areas of Muslim family law in Sri Lanka are governed by the Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act No. 13 of 1951 (the Act). Personal law reforms committees were appointed in 1986 and 1990 to consider reforms to the whole gamut of personal laws. The 1986 Committee was dissolved after opposition from Muslim communities over discussions of minimum age of marriage; the recommendations of the 1990 Committee are yet to be acted upon. More recent attempts by Muslim women to reform these laws so as to give justice and equality to women have met with little success. In the face of identity-based politics and the fragile balance of power in Parliament, women in the minority Muslim community have been unable to rely on the state to reform the Muslim Personal Law in Sri Lanka.

The current Muslim Personal Law has several discriminatory provisions which need to be reformed if women are to enjoy full equality as guaranteed by the Constitution of Sri Lanka:

• Age of Marriage: There is no minimum age of marriage for Muslim girls. A wali who wishes to give his daughter under the age of 12 in marriage must get the prior permission of the quazi. While child marriage is rare, isolated cases exist. There is evidence that child marriage is being revived within displaced Muslim communities in the North Western Province.
   
• Consent of the Bride: While the Act recognises that consent of both parties is essential for a valid marriage, there is no space in the marriage register for the signature of the bride.
   
• Polygamy: In the Act, there is no obligation on the Quazi to find out whether the husband is able to treat all his wives equally and justly or even obtain the wife’s (wives’) permission. The husband is only required to give notice of his intention to marry a subsequent wife.
   
• Prenuptial Contracts: The possibility of a woman entering into stipulations or conditions to the Muslim marriage contract that will protect her independence and autonomy is not specifically recognised in the Act.
   
• Kaikuli: Kaikuli, or money and gifts given by the parents of the bride to the bridegroom to be kept in trust for the bride, has been statutorily recognised and is widely practised but is completely un-Islamic. Kaikuli has reduced Muslim marriage to a transaction between buyer and seller and places a heavy financial burden on the bride’s family, who have been known to go into lifelong debt to find kaikuli for their daughters. Most men are unaware of the fact that gifts given as kaikuli are to be kept in trust by the bridegroom for the bride, and it is often extremely difficult to retrieve the property on divorce or separation. Furthermore, Quazi courts have no jurisdiction in respect of property that has been given to the bridegroom; such property must be recovered from the District Courts.
   
• Divorce by the husband: Under the present provisions of the Act, a husband who wishes to divorce his wife need not give any reasons for doing so.
   
• Maintenance for divorced women: A Muslim woman is only entitled to maintenance for the period of iddah. The Qur’anic verses on maintenance, however, make it clear that a Muslim woman on divorce is entitled to that which is equitable or responsible.
   
• Women Quazis and Women Registrars: Only male Muslims can hold the office of quazi and marriage registrar.

• A personal law reforms committee appointed in 1990 to examine the Muslim Personal Law made a number of recommendations that promote equality and justice in the family, though these recommendations have not yet been implemented.
   
• There have been some positive developments at the level of implementation in the Quazi Court System as a result of engagement by the Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum (MWRAF) with Quazi judges. The Board of Quazis now recognises the concept of matah and Quazi judges have been granting matah to women.
   
• In January 2006, MWRAF initiated an Independent Committee for Muslim Personal Law Reforms, comprised of quazi judges, a representative from the Judicial Service Commission, and NGO representatives, to suggest reforms to the present Act. This committee has had several consultative sessions with members of the Muslim community. The suggestions and recommendations generated through these consultations have been included in a new Draft Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act. Further consultations based on this new draft will take place in the coming months.

• Publications from Muslim Women’s Research and Action Forum.
   
• Chulani Kodikara, ‘Engaging with Muslim personal law in Sri Lanka: The Experience of MWRAF’, Lines, August 2003.