Bahrain Mirror: Bahrain's Shura Council agreed in its session held yesterday on the unified family law, referring it to the Cabinet, which is set to word the bill and then refer it to the Parliament.

MPs Dalal Al-Zayed, Sheikh Jawad BouHussein, Ahmad Al-Areed and Sawsan Taqawi had proposed this bill, aimed at at issuing a unified family law comprising 149 articles.

The MPs claimed that this proposed law is aimed at supporting all Bahraini families, preserving their rights and conforming to their family-related obligations based on the provisions of Islamic Shariah Law in both Sunni and Shia Jaafari jurisprudence, also guaranteeing the particularities of both sects.

In past years, the government has failed to pass a unified family law. They passed a law that only applies to the Sunni jurisprudence, after the Shia citizens protested against the law that did not offer any guarantees, according to the spiritual leader of the Shia-majority in Bahrain Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim.

More than 200,000 Shia Bahrainis took part in a protest at that time that prompted the authorities to reverse their decision to pass the Jaafari portion of that law.

It is worthy to note that the majority of the Shiite sect adherents in Bahrain have fears regarding the government's management of family affairs, including marriage, divorce and inheritance, especially amid the regime's ongoing campaign targeting the Shiite faith and the Shiites religious affairs. The authorities have attacked the Shiite religious obligatory ritual of Khums (alms), prosecuted Ayatollah Qassim over this ritual, and banned Shiites from performing their rites, particularly their central Friday prayers in the village of Diraz, for about 39 weeks now.

Arabic Version