Wednesday September 14, 2005
Financial security for wives
BY MAZWIN NIK ANIS
SEPANG: Muslim wives can get part of the wealth amassed during their marriage if their husband marries again under the soon-to-be standardised Islamic Family Law.
Essentially, the new law serves to give a sense of security to the woman in the event her husband wastefully spends his wealth on his new wife.
Muslim women could then go to any syariah court to help them get their share of the assets, said Syariah Judiciary Department director-general Datuk Sheikh Ghazali Abdul Rahman.
“We will ensure that the syariah court speeds up any application for distribution of the assets,” he told reporters at the Syariah Judiciary and Legal Convention here yesterday.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Dr Abdullah Md Zin opened the convention at the KLIA Pan Pacific Hotel.
Sheikh Ghazali said several states – Johor, Sabah and Perak being among them – had already accepted the standardised law.
He said the common Islamic Family Law allows the wife to seek the Syariah Court’s help to get her husband to surrender her share of assets amassed during their marriage before he could solemnise his next marriage.
Sheikh Ghazali said women who take husbands who already have wives, as well as their wali (authorised guardian), would be called by the syariah court to explain their decision.
The court would also explain the consequences of being “the other wife” or the “third or fourth wife” as well as inform them of their rights in the marriage.
The regulation is among others that had been drawn up to protect the interest and welfare of women and their children should their husband die or stray.
Dr Abdullah said all states were required to have the standardised laws enacted by the end of the year.
He added that except for Kedah, which has not made any attempt yet to gazette it, most states had enacted the law at various stages.
He said the Government decided on the standardisation not only to have uniform regulations but also to help Muslims deal better with the syariah courts and religious departments.
The move was also to speed up the execution of syariah court orders, such as summonses and warrants of arrests, which are sometimes hampered because of different laws practised by different states.
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