Bahrain Mirror: The Bahraini House of Representatives passed on Thursday (July 13, 2017) the unified family law bill in an exceptional session, despite reservations of senior Shiite clerics.

The law that comprises 141 articles governs the relations, marriage, divorce and custody according to the Shiite and Sunni sects.

Senior clerics had stressed that they still stand by their demand for "constitutional guarantees that protect the law (...) which has not been established yet". They considered that "disregarding these guarantees constitutes an impingement on (Shiite) doctrinal specificities."

Clerics (Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qassim, Sayed Abdullah Al-Ghuraifi, Sheikh Abdulhussein Al-Sitri, Sheikh Mohammad Saleh Al-Rabie and Sheikh Mohammad Sanqour) reiterated in a statement on (Wednesday, April 19. 2017) that "the unified family law bill, according to preliminary reading, includes big errors and violates the sect's views and provisions. This will impose on this sect followers provisions that contradict with their faith."

The law has been a controversial issue in the country since the government announced its intention to pass it in 2005. The country witnessed in November 10, 2015 vast protests led by Sheikh Isa Qassim in which tens thousands of Shiites took part in to condemn the government's new orientation.

Arabic Version