Defiant Couple Hold Civil Marriage in Lebanon despite Controversy

A Lebanese couple have held a civil marriage ceremony in Beirut, despite the latest controversy over the legalization of this type of unions.

MTV said Abdullah Salam and Marie-Joe Abi Nassif tied the knot at the Sursock Palace in the capital, in a ceremony presided over by Joseph Beshara, the head of the Public Notaries Council of Lebanon.

In addition to the couple's families and friends, the rare wedding was attended by former parliament speaker Hussein al-Husseini and ex-ministers Ziad Baroud and Tarek Mitri.

“The marriage paper work has not yet finished and it is taking its legal course in a normal way without any hurdles and the official announcement will be made on Monday,” MTV reported.

“This marriage is expected to be accepted, especially that Minister of Interior and Municipalities Raya al-Hassan had voiced a stance supporting the endorsement of optional civil marriage in Lebanon,” the TV network added.

Dar al-Fatwa, Lebanon's highest Sunni Muslim religious authority, has recently commented on the renewed debate in the country over the thorny issue of legalizing civil marriage.

It said civil marriage “fully contradicts with the rules of Islamic sharia and also violates the stipulations of the Lebanese constitution in terms of the need to respect the personal status law that is applied by the religious courts of the Lebanese.”

“Accordingly, the draft law cannot be approved in parliament without taking into consideration the viewpoint and stance of Dar al-Fatwa and the rest of religious authorities in Lebanon,” Dar al-Fatwa said.

It also called for “refraining from debating and discussing the issue of civil marriage,” saying “it falls under the jurisdiction of the Lebanese republic's Dar al-Fatwa, which is entrusted with the religion of Islam and the interest of Muslims.”

The highest Shiite authority in the country also expressed opposition.

"The Lebanese constitution recognizes that every sect has its own personal status laws," the deputy head of the Supreme Islamic Shiite Council said.

"We strongly oppose civil marriage because it violates the constitution," he said.

The head of Lebanon's Maronite church, Beshara al-Rahi, however, said he was "not against civil unions" conducted on Lebanese territory.

In an interview with Euronews, Minister al-Hassan said she was personally in favor of having a “framework for civil marriage” in Lebanon.

“I will talk about this issue and seek to open the door for serious and profound dialogue over the topic with all religious authorities and other officials, supported by Prime Minister Saad Hariri, so that civil marriage can be acknowledged,” al-Hassan said.

Lebanon has 15 separate personal status laws for its recognized religions but no civil code covering issues such as marriage.

Many Lebanese couples travel to neighboring Cyprus to tie the knot in a civil ceremony, because Lebanese authorities recognize such unions only if they have been registered abroad.

In 2013, the Interior Ministry took the unprecedented step of registering a civil marriage conducted in Lebanon.

However, only a handful of civil marriages have been recognized since the landmark decision, campaigner Lucien Bourjeily told AFP.

Former president Elias Hrawi in 1998 proposed a civil marriage law, which gained approval from the cabinet only to be halted amid widespread opposition from the country's religious authorities.