Morocco’s Interfaith Marriage Ban Sparks Controversy and Challenges for Couples

In an interview with the MAP, the president of the Local Council of Ulema of the prefecture of Skhirat-Témara, Lahcen Ben Brahim Sguenfle, indicated that the marriage of a Muslim woman with a non-Muslim and the marriage of a Muslim man with a non-Muslim woman are prohibited, unless he or she belongs to the People of the Book. According to sociologist Ali Chaâbani, the difference between cultural and religious practices means that this type of marriage becomes conflictual. And "the children are the first victims."

The provisions of Article 39 are in blatant contradiction with the principles of human rights in the sense that they restrict the will and free choice of people in matters of consensual relationships; as well as their choices in life, notes lawyer Mustapha Naoui. According to his explanations, the fact is that the legislator of the Code is keen to establish the marital relationship on a religious background, without taking into account the social changes and the profound changes in values as well as the openness and modernity that increasingly characterize Moroccan society.

For this human rights expert, forcing a person to change religion, to renounce their religion or to declare themselves Muslim - even if they are not and/or do not want to be - in order to be able to marry a Moroccan woman, is pure absurdity.

Another problem arises from this type of union. It is the issue of inheritance. Mustapha Naoui affirms that Moroccan law allows a Moroccan to marry a Christian or Jewish woman for example; but this woman has no right to inheritance. For the simple reason that Article 332 of the same Family Code provides that "there is no succession between a Muslim and a non-Muslim..."