Orfi facts - not scare tactics

Submitted by Isis (Australia), Jul 1, 2009 at 21:45

More on Orfi -The common law or traditional marriage (Orfi) consists of a simple contract drawn between the two partners and witnessed by two male witnesses. In Islamic law a woman is counted as only half a witness. This contract can be registered in the court (Sakha wi Nafas). This doesn't give any the contract any additional rights but simply means that the partners cannot deny having signed the contract.

As you are all aware, in the Orfi marriage the woman has nearly no rights. At least, since the most recent law in 2000, she can apply for divorce, but this is a lengthy procedure in court. The man can divorce easily by pronouncing the divorce in front of the wife and 2 witnesses. However, moves are afoot to have the Orfi law changed and to allow rights for women to retain some property obtained during the marriage.

The Orfi marriage is not recognised by other religious denominations and it is not recognised in other countries. The only marriage in Egypt recognised in other countries and by other churches is that which is performed at the Ministry of Justice in Cairo. This is a timely and costly process.

But, the 'Orfi' Marriage isn't a simple paper, it is a legally valid marriage in Egypt. This is often misunderstood as has been posted previously on this blog There have been noted cases of foreign women who were still married in their home countries and then concluded an 'Orfi' marriage in Egypt. Cases were filed against them and they have gone to prison for bigamy! Under Egyptian law a woman can only have one husband whilst a man can have up to four wives.

If you are presented with this paper by your man, I recommend that you sign the marriage contract in one single copy and keep it securely with you. When you travel or if your husband wants a copy, use a photocopy. If the relationship fails then the paper can be simply torn up.

The 'Orfi' marriage is a common law marriage. In Islam this kind of marriage is accepted and sufficient if it is publicly announced. I think this is the reason that this kind of marriage is still written in the law, despite all the problems it poses with misuse. If your new "husband" denies your request for wedding party and celebration then he is not taking the Orfi marriage seriously. It's a big red flag if he wants to keep the marriage a secret and in Egypt this means that your marriage won't be publicly recognised and therefore under Islam, not a true marriage.

This kind of marriage used to be concluded in out of the way rural villages that had no access to a mazoun (Imam). In recent times however, this kind of marriage has been misused giving it a very bad image. However, it can be a satisfying arrangement for some Egyptian/foreign couples. The phenomenon of misuse is only known in the tourist areas such as Sharm, Hurghada and Luxor.

In Egyptian society, the 'Orfi' marriage is mainly used by young people to circumvent the prohibition of pre-marital sex. A proper marriage is costly and time consuming, so they sign an 'Orfi' certificate with their sweethearts to satisfy the moral and religious (as well as legal) standards. But they normally keep this secret and a lot of problems arise from these marriages. The girl gets pregnant, the man leaves her without giving her a divorce (she will not be able to marry again) and he refuses to marry her properly later because she isn't a virgin anymore and so on.

All of these associated problems have made that the 'Orfi' marriage is considered a form of prostitution.

When foreigners are concerned (especially older foreign women) it has become a way for young Egyptian men to come to some money and a better standard of living and that is to marry a foreign woman in an Orfi marriage.

These are not "scare" tactics but actual facts for you all to consider.

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