Brian Otieno
A section of Muslims has opposed the Marriage Bill that seeks to abolish dowry payment and allow a man to marry more than four wives. The Islamic party of Hizb ut-Tahrir East Africa yesterday criticised the Bill introduced by the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution saying it demeans women.
The party said marriage between men and women is a divine ruling that honours the status of a woman, adding that those against payment of dowry are promoting oppression of women. "Allah understands our needs far better than we do. He has allowed polygamy and obliged men to pay dowry. These are definite Islamic rulings which cannot be debated," said Shabani Mwalimu, the media representative of the party.
The CIPK organising secretary Sheikh Mohamed Khalifa said the Bill of Rights provides that marriage issues between Muslim couples will have to be restricted to the Islamic sharia. "That is not an important issue to us because when it comes to marriage, we have Islamic guidelines that the new constitution allows us to follow," Sheikh Khalifa said.
The Marriage Bill does not specify the number of women a man in a polygamous family can have. Hizb ut-Tahrir East Africa said if the Bill became law, many Islamic men may be tempted to be promiscuous. Mwalimu said the restriction to a monogamous family set up for those who had not declared that their family would be polygamous in the first marriage is oppressive. "Our faith allows us to have up a maximum of four wives. So what happens if I want to add a second, third and fourth wife today?" posed Mwalimu.
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