A judicial source revealed that 40 percent of the total marriages recorded by the courts in Damascus are men marrying a second woman, with the rate of marrying a third not more than 1 percent of the cases recorded, while the court has only recorded two instances of men marrying four women.
The source said that the judiciary bolsters the conditions of marriage in the event that the man marries a second or third woman, saying that the ability of the spouse to provide is investigated, and that the husband’s income cannot be less than 500,000 Syria pounds for a third marriage to be permitted.
The source added: “An income of less than this is not sufficient to provide for more than one family, and if this condition is not met, the judge will reject the marriage.” The source said that if the husband is a laborer or a civil servant, the marriage is usually rejected.
The source said that a number of cases of this type were rejected after it was revealed that the husband was unable to provide. The source added that having a second wife was permissible, regardless of the husband’s ability to provide, so long as it can be proven that divorce proceedings are underway for his first marriage, or that the wife has left and does not intend on returning.
The source said that before the crisis second wives were strictly regulated, meaning that there needed to be a reason for this marriage, such as her being ill, or having left, or was infertile, in addition to the ability to provide. The source said that currently there was strictness around the issue of the ability to provide for two spouses.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
