Charbel Signs First Ever Civil Marriage Conducted in Lebanon

إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية W460

Caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel signed the civil marriage certificate of Kholoud Succariyeh and Nidal Darwish, the state-run National News Agency reported on Thursday.

"By this, Succariyeh and Darwish's union becomes the first civil marriage registered in the records of the Directorate General for Personal Affairs in Lebanon,” the NNA noted.

Charbel, however, pointed out: “Their religions must not be changed and the couple's marriage would follow the laws of personal affairs that their sects stipulate, awaiting issuing a code that governs optional civil marriage in the country.”

He explained that this is because there are no texts concerning divorce, inheritance and kids for “people with no religious affiliation.”

Following the spread of the news, President Michel Suleiman congratulated the couple via Twitter over the official registration of their civil marriage.

Speaking to LBCI television, Darwish described the registration as "the first victory for the civil state in Lebanon, the state we all dream of".

He echoed calls for a state for all its citizens in Lebanon, rather than a nation fractured along sectarian lines.

"I am very happy today, and I never had any fear that my marriage to Nidal would not be legal," Succariyeh told LBCI.

"This is Lebanon's first historic step" towards institutionalizing civil marriage, she added.

The Lebanese Supreme Council in the Ministry of Justice took an unanimous decision in February to consider legal all civil marriages conducted in Lebanon by people that do not have any religious affiliation.

Kholoud Succariyeh and Nidal Darwish announced in January they had wed as a secular couple by having their religious sects legally struck from their family registers under an article dating from the 1936 French mandate.

Suleiman has since lobbied for a civil marriage law as a "very important step in eradicating sectarianism and solidifying national unity."

Meanwhile, caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati and Grand Mufti Sheikh Mohammed Rashid Qabbani rejected it.

Qabbani issued a fatwa against moves to legalize civil marriages inside the country, where couples of different faiths have to travel abroad to tie the knot.

SourceNaharnet
Comments 22
Default-user-icon Marriage pour tous ! (Guest) 25 April 2013, 20:01

Mabrouk ! Now Charbel can legalize Aoun and Nassrallah's civil marriage also !

Thumb geha 25 April 2013, 20:25

mabrouk to all Lebanese :)
there is no need from now on for this debate: it is now legal to have a civil marriage.

Thumb lebnanfirst 25 April 2013, 20:41

Indeed congratulations for Khouloud and Nidal and hopefully this will be the first nail in the coffin of sectarianism and religious figures' control of our destiny.

Default-user-icon boulder (Guest) 26 April 2013, 00:08

What a beautiful and inspiring couple, Meat alf mabrouk.

Thumb benzona 26 April 2013, 01:21

What's going to happen to the great mufti? To Rahi? To Sanioura or Aoun or Jumblatt? They all rely on the hostages (na7na) for their payrolls.

Missing allouchi 26 April 2013, 02:32

Alf Mabrouk Lebanon...to all our scts..Love Rules :)

Default-user-icon Second_Look (Guest) 26 April 2013, 03:47

I have lived in a liberal part of the U.S. for many years. Those of you who are lauding this step don't fully understand its implications and are unable to separate religion from religious figures. You believe that if religion is removed from the equation, human goodness will dictate. This is a slippery slope; close behind is gay marriage and the elimination of marriage as a prerequisite familial institution.

This “marriage” is held together by a flimsy human commitment. History has shown that this is grossly insufficient. Once God is removed, humanity suffers. Any suffering in sectarian societies has been due to the defiling of God’s image.

For all of you who are currently in favor of civil marriage, take a long hard look and realize the difficult challenges that your children will deal with as a direct result. Lebanese have existed for thousands of years due in no small part to their strong religious and familial institutions. Once this goes, everything else will follow.

Default-user-icon JJ (Guest) 26 April 2013, 09:50

Shut up!

Missing themadman 26 April 2013, 12:28

la religion représentée par le clergé et l'église a toujours entravée l'avancée de l'humanité chez le chrétiens, de même pour les musulmans.
LE message de Dieu (s'il y en a un) est en fait une dénonciation de la confusion entre les champs du religieux et du politique, inconciliable selon lui ( plus exactement selon Jésus).
La séparation des pouvoirs spirituels et temporels a clairement été affirmé par Dieu.
Poser des obstacles à l'amour entre les gens indépendamment de leur croyance est anti-religieux, et contraire au message de Dieu!

avec grand respect de ton point de vue.

Missing themadman 26 April 2013, 14:18

JE m'adressais la parole à Second_Look. Je ne cherche pas la polémique, je cherche juste un échange d'idée. Je te réponds Monsieur:
Si tu es pour le mariage civile tant mieux, nous sommes d'accord.
" c'est le commencement de notre avancee vers une société plus liberale, donc moins attachees à ses valeurs" le "Donc" est complètement faux!
"si on parvient à rester attachés à nos valeurs tout en permettant le mariage civil, ce serait ideal, mais voyant les societés occidentales, impossible à realiser." impossible à réaliser -> encore Faux! tu devrais donc être contre le mariage civile selon ta logique.
Si tu dénonces l'individualisme notamment dans la société occidentale, nous sommes encore une fois d'accord.
les sociétés occidentales, plus exactement Européenne, aussi mauvaises soient elles, restent malheureusement largement plus avancées, plus ouvertes d'esprits, moins racistes, moins confessionnelles, plus justes ,plus libres, plus égales, que la notre.

Avec respect

Thumb benzona 26 April 2013, 14:55

Oula FT! The madman t'a cassé.

Rien à redire.

Bon, j'arrête sinon on va encore dire que ma sœur a raison de l'appeler FM (non pas fréquence modulée mais fouteur de mer....) hehe

Salutations à tous.

Thumb benzona 26 April 2013, 23:18

Je ne le connais ni d'Eve ni d'Adam, mais ne sommes nous pas tous amis ici sur naharnet? Certes en désaccord sur de nombreux points mais amis quand même, non?

Les,européens sont super racistes, je le vois tous les jours.... Et si le vieil adage l'habit de ne fait pas le moine est souvent employé, il est à mille lieux de la réalité du terrain. L'habit fit bel et bien le moine!

Missing peace 26 April 2013, 15:02

"Lebanese have existed for thousands of years due in no small part to their strong religious and familial institutions. Once this goes, everything else will follow."

religion is destroying lebanon.... every leader believes he is the voice of his religion! lol
all the religious people in lebanon are maintaining people under their influence to hold on to their powers and privileges...

so NO, civil marriage will not destroy a society already destroyed and living in the middle ages thanks to the different religions... on the contrary it will be the first step towards a more advanced society!

Thumb LEBhasNOhope 26 April 2013, 17:51

Peace- don’t waste your time arguing with them. These are the same people that are trying to convince us that by limiting who I am allowed to vote for they are protecting my right. I don't think they can ever understand that you have every right to disagree with people but you don't have a right to impose your will on people

Thumb phoenician 26 April 2013, 03:59

How could a mufti reject and issue a so called fatwa to civil marriage when they have such blasphemy as 3erfa marriage and apparently it has been okayed by God, twat. Partition please

Missing beiruti99 27 April 2013, 11:48

Phoenician, you keep bringing up 3erfa, do you know what 3erfa marriage is? It is NOT met3a which does not exist in islam. In islam, the man has full responsibility for paying for everything the household needs, including his wifes food, clothes, doctor bills etc. 3erfa marriage means that a man and a woman can agree to be married with the wife abstaining from this right until the husband can afford to support her financally. In other words, its a real marriage but made adaptable in special cases only. This sort of marriage is only as a last resort for a man who fears he will fall in to temptation yet can not afford to get married (such as an 18-year old student to give you an example).

Default-user-icon 7aram ya Lebnan (Guest) 26 April 2013, 04:27

Go to Makkah ya mufti. If you want to live in stone age?..let Lebanon be free of all religions.

Default-user-icon dd (Guest) 26 April 2013, 09:44

P.A.R.T.I.T.I.O.N
and I dont say it to insult anybody, this is the solution for our LEB. problem. Let the religious be religious and the monk be a monk and most importantly let the others live in peace!!
All Saints on the ground dont want partition coz they know deep inside that a religious state is not viable after year 2000... ull have the specimen of New York living side to side to kaboul under the same sky, so religeous men of all confessions dont want this coz they talk about GOD and they are all struggling for a bigger piece of cake like any other non-believers.. Open your eyes people! They want to keep control over the society .. as simple as that!

Default-user-icon + oua nabka + (Guest) 26 April 2013, 09:58

alf mabrouk to secular Lebanon
this is the first nail in the coffin of ta2ifieh and the first blow in the face of the ta2ifiinne and fanatic religious mules
god bless secular Lebanon

Default-user-icon hishamaldaroub (Guest) 26 April 2013, 11:08

1000 mabrouk :)

Missing nicehead 26 April 2013, 18:06

In the last 15 years I noticed Lebanese becoming more fanatical in their support of their sects. I see my family that was raised secular (Christian) becoming religious zealots. My Sunni friends that used to enjoy an alcoholic drink and a little za3raneh let their beards grow and are now praying 5 times a day. The world is moving forward and we are going back to the middle ages.

This step is great and should be applauded.

Default-user-icon rita merhy (Guest) 17 June 2013, 05:09

i need to ask now is that possible for anyone now to get married in lebanon again like this