Syariah Court struggles to keep up with divorce rate of one every 15mins

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Dr Mashitah Ibrahim yesterday commented on statistics by the Malaysian Department of Islamic Development (Jakim), showing that the divorce rate among married Muslim couples was one every 15 minutes in 2009,

This seemingly alarming figure is not necessarily bad, said Mashitah, “but rather could be seen as a positive development since Muslim couples are more aware of their rights and that divorce (is sanctioned by) Islam to solve problematic marriages,” she is reported by Bernama to have said, after attending a Halal Carnival organised by Jakim here.

However, Mashitah said Jakim provides counselling services to estranged couples in a bid to reduce the rapid disintegration of marriages among Malaysian Muslims today.

The statistics remain to be analysed in order to gauge trends and attitudes towards marriage in contemporary Malaysian society.

She added that Syariah Court proceedings will soon take place through the evenings and on public holidays so the backlog of cases can be cleared.

The number of Syariah Court judges is sufficient, she clarified, but their case load grows by… the 15 minutes.