Press Release
The Islamic Marriage Is Under Fire Once Again
(Translated)

Jeroen van Vaenkhardn, from the “Party for Freedom” (right-wing party), sorry... from the “People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy”, has declared his desire to punish severely the imams who conduct marriages for Muslims (according to Shariah) before the civil marriage contract is conducted according to Dutch law, by paying a fine of 20,500 Euros, or put them in prison for 7 months if they repeat this work again. According to Jeroen, "This procedure is not anti-Islam, but such action is in favor of women in general and Muslim women in particular; marriage contracts which are held by the imams are a violation of the freedoms that we have fought for in the past, so we will not accept this”.

The narrative of it being anti-Islam, of course, is false; a peek into the declared positions (of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy) will confirm to us that there is a fierce hostile campaign against everything that has to do with Islam, and certainly it is not in the interests of the Muslim community at all. This party has expressed more than once its desire to refuse issuing visas for imams from outside the Netherlands, let’s not forget the announcement made by the Health Minister Edith Schippersr and Secretary of defense Jeanine Hennis, that the Islamic values are inferior to the values of the capitalist secular ideology, we should remember their tireless attempts to ban Islamic parties. And the statements of Halbe Zijlstra head of the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy in parliament calling for the expulsion of refugees who do not believe in the Dutch values and carry Islamic sentiments, or the words of Prime Minister Mark Rutte addressing the Turkish demonstrators in a rude manner: "Go back to Turkey”.

In this context, the application of the severe punishment against the imams who perform an Islamic marriage contracts under the pretext of "protecting Muslim women" can also be added to the long list of attacks on Islam and Muslims in this country.

The Dutch law allows its subjects, male and female, to establish relationships with more than one person, without any binding contract, and it is known that in such relationships the rights, duties, and responsibilities are violated, how many young women have been exploited by a human monster and fell pregnant and gave birth to his child and then he abandons her and the child, those men who satisfy their instinct, leaving behind women and children suffering severe hardship, these women do not enjoy what married women enjoy of child custody, inheritance and rights, for example, in divorce and others.
If Jeroen van Vaenkhardn is really interested in Muslim women's rights, what prevents him from talking also about what is experienced by Western women as a result of the oppression of Western societies?

We cannot deny that there are many problems among the Muslim community with regards to marriage and divorce, but these problems are due the nature of human life, and the Muslims are no exception, but the only difference is that the Muslim community are looking for solutions to these problems in the Islamic Shariah and are trying to practice its laws as much as possible.

Islam requires that there should be a legitimate relationship between men and women, which is only possible through a legal (Shariah) marriage contract, which stipulates rights and duties, such as the right of women, for example, to end the marital relationship through a Shariah court, or the right to inheritance after the death of a spouse, or the right of women to child custody in the event of divorce.

Therefore, the daily suffering experienced by some Muslim women (and some Muslim men also) is not due to Shariah marriage contracts, and not due taking solutions from the Islamic law, as promoted by some, but rather because of the Dutch government's inability to properly deal with the Muslim community.

It is noteworthy that Islam gives non-Muslims citizens in the Khilafah "Caliphate" state the right to perform contracts of marriage and divorce according to their religions, and Islam take into account these contracts and the subsequent rights and duties; this is Islam that capitalism must learn many lessons from.

Okay Pala
Media Representative of Hizb ut Tahrir in the Netherlands