Showing posts with label UAE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UAE. Show all posts

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Abu Dhabi Adopts Civil Personal Status Law For Non-Muslims

WAM News Agency reported this week that the President of the United Arab Emirates has issued a new law which will govern personal status matters for non-Muslims in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. According to the report:

The new law applies civil principles in the regulation of family matters, explained [the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department] Under-Secretary, who also announced the establishment by the Judicial Department of the first court dedicated to non-Muslim family matters.

All the procedures of the new court will be bilingual in Arabic and English to facilitate the understanding of judicial procedures by foreigners and to improve judicial transparency.

In detail, the law consists of 20 articles divided into several chapters covering civil marriage, divorce, joint custody of children and inheritance.

Indian Express has more details on the new law's provisions. [Thanks to Scott Mange for the lead.]

Saturday, November 07, 2020

UAE Liberalizes Personal Status and Penal Laws

The United Arab Emirates today announced liberalizing changes in its Sharia-based personal laws. The Hill, The National, and Emirates News Agency all report on the changes made by Presidential Decree to the Personal Status, Civil Transactions, Penal Code and Criminal Procedural laws.  The changes, many involving protections for foreigners living in the UAE, take effect immediately. They include:

  • Repeal of the provisions allowing more lenient sentences for so-called "honor crimes".
  • Divorces of foreigners who were married abroad will be governed by the laws of their home country instead of Sharia law.
  • The law of a person's home country, rather than Sharia law, will govern division of assets on death where no will is left.
  • Attempted suicide is decriminalized.
  • "Good Samaritans" who intervene to help another person will not be held accountable for the person's injury or death.
  • More severe punishments are set for harassment of women.
  • Death penalty is prescribed for rape of a minor or of someone of limited mental capacity.
  • Alcohol consumption in authorized areas by adults who do not have a license to consume liquor is decriminalized. Typically Muslims have been denied a license.
  • Cohabitation by unmarried couples is decriminalized.
  • Translators will be provided in courts for defendants and witnesses, and evidence involving indecent acts will not be made public.

Monday, September 14, 2020

Report Contends UAE-Bahrain-Israel Deal Could Change Status Quo On Temple Mount

Relying on a Report from the NGO Terrestrial Jerusalem, Al Jazeeera says that a clause in the UAE-Bahrain normalization agreements with Israel could lead to a change in status of the Temple Mount/ Al-Aqsa compound. Under the current status quo arrangements, only Muslims can pray on the Temple Mount/ Al-Aqsa compound.  President Trump's Middle East Peace Plan called for the Temple Mount to be open to worshipers of all faiths. However a later clarification by U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman  said: "The status quo, in the manner that it is observed today, will continue absent an agreement to the contrary." Recent statements by the UAE and Bahrain are now being seen as signaling a breach of the status quo arrangement.

Donald Trump's Peace Plan carefully referred to the Temple Mount as "Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif."  The August 13 Joint Statement by the UAE, Israel and the United States as well as the September 11 Joint Statement by Bahrain, Israel and the U.S. include the following statement which refers only to Al Aqsa Mosque:

As set forth in the Vision for Peace, all Muslims who come in peace may visit and pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque, and Jerusalem’s other holy sites should remain open for peaceful worshippers of all faiths.

According to the Terrestrial Jerusalem Report:

Israel defines Al Aqsa as the structure of the mosque, as does the wording of the Statement, whereas Muslims define Al Aqsa as the entire esplanade of Haram al Sharif/the Temple Mount. Consequently, according to Israel (and apparently to the United States), anything on the Mount that is not the structure of the mosque is defined as "one of Jerusalem's other holy sites", and open to prayer by all – including Jews. Accordingly, Jews may now be permitted to pray on the Temple Mount, just not in the mosque....

Both the Israeli Prime Minister and the US negotiating team fully understand the significance of every word and every nuance relating to Jerusalem in general, and to the Temple Mount/Haram Al Sharif in particular. Consequently, this choice of terminology is neither random nor a misstep, and cannot seen as anything but an intentional, albeit surreptitious attempt to leave the door wide open to Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount, thereby radically changing the status quo.

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

UAE Company Stops Payments, Saying Its Own Islamic Bonds Are No Longer Shariah-Compliant

According to a report yesterday in Bonds & Notes, an Abu Dhabi based company, Dana Gas, announced last month that it is ceasing payments on its 4-year sukuk that are to mature in October.  The company says it is taking this action because the bonds are no longer Shariah-compliant. Investors say that the payment stoppage on the $700 million (US) issue was really a way to avoid default, and they believe courts will not uphold the company's action.  Apparently there are no centralized Shariah boards to approve Islamic finance deal structures in Arab countries, leaving open the possibility of issuers making their own rulings as here.

Thursday, July 23, 2015

UAE's New Law Bars Discrimination, Hate Speech and Insulting of Religion

The National reports that on Monday the United Arab Emirates adopted the Anti-Discriminatory Law which prohibits discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, creed, doctrine, race, color or ethnic origin. The new law also bans actions that promote religious hatred or insult God, his prophets or apostles or holy books or houses of worship or graveyards. It prohibits hate speech or the promotion of discrimination or violence against others using any form of media.

Tuesday, April 08, 2014

UAE Appeals Court Says Murder Conviction To Be Decided By Sharia Procedure

The National reported yesterday that in the United Arab Emirates the appeals court has held that a trial court murder conviction of two cousins who allegedly shot an Omani while on a desert hunting trip was supported by strong suspicion but not by a confession or by witnesses to the crime. So the court held that guilt or innocence should be determined by the Sharia procedure of Qasama. According to the report:
During Qasama, the victim’s heirs are asked to swear a religious oath a total of 50 times that they believe the defendant killed the victim. They also have the choice of reverting the Qasama back to the defendant and making them take the oath 50 times that they did not commit it. If they decline from either option then the case is dropped.

Friday, March 14, 2014

New High-Budget Noah Movie Banned By Islamic Censors In 3 Countries

WebProNews reports today that censors in Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates have banned the showing in their countries of the new Paramount Pictures high-budget movie "Noah." Also Egypt's Al-Azhar has issued a fatwa against the film.  A spokesman from the UAE’s National Media Center says that the film portrays holy figures in art in contravention of Muslim religious beliefs. Censors also say that the film may offend viewers because some of scenes contradict Islamic teachings.

Friday, February 21, 2014

UAE Fatwa Committee Says Mars Settlement Proposal Violates Islamic Law

Last year, a Dutch company, Mars One, announced plans to establish a permanent human colony on Mars.  Plans are for the first volunteers to fly there in 2023, with others following every two years.  No technology currently exists to bring the colonizers back to earth.  This week the Khaleej Times reports that a fatwa committee under the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowment in the United Arab Emirates has ruled that promoting or participating in the one-way trips violates Islamic law:
 “Such a one-way journey poses a real risk to life, and that can never be justified in Islam,” the committee said.  “There is a possibility that an individual who travels to planet Mars may not be able to remain alive there, and is more vulnerable to death.”
Whoever opts for this “hazardous trip”, the committee said, is likely to perish for no “righteous reason”, and thus will be liable to a “punishment similar to that of suicide in the Hereafter”.
Some 500 Saudis and other Arabs are among those who have already applied to take part in the mission.