Call to introduce mandatory pre-marriage training courses in Saudi Arabia

JEDDAH: A charity is advocating mandatory pre-marriage training courses to curb the increasing numbers of divorces and matrimonial disputes.
Mohammed Al-Raddi, director for Almawaddah charity Family Development, told Arab News that more than 30,000 families had benefited from their service in 2016, with a 92 percent satisfaction rate.
He said the charity’s objectives are in harmony with the Vision 2030 plans for reinforcing the role of families to preserve the social fabric and build a strong and productive society.
Al-Raddi suggested that the Ministry of Justice should make it mandatory for couples who are going to get married to attend a course.
“Increasing divorce cases and family problems make it necessary that we do all that we can to minimize these numbers, just like the pre-marriage medical screening, which has helped couples avoid many health risks,” he said.
He said that an agreement with the Social Development Bank to link their marriage loans to a marriage preparation course had been reached. However, he added, this has not yet been put into effect.
Al-Raddi said that since their society was established 15 years ago, they have trained more than 20,000 people who were going to get married. “We conducted a study last year about the impact of our courses on those who had attended our courses three years before. We found that 95 percent were then enjoying a good family life,” he said.
Al-Raddi said that some of their studies had shown that a large proportion of divorce cases occurred during the early months of marriage. “This was found to be due to outside interference from relatives who stick their noses into a couple’s life,” he said.
Similar studies had shown that 23 percent of divorce cases were due to couples being unable to solve their problems.
Their pre-marriage qualification program was designed to prepare young men and women to enjoy a strong, healthy relationship and offer them a better chance of a satisfying and lifelong marriage.
He said the program presented stories of successful couples who had managed to turn relationship failure into success. It also helped young people to know their marital rights and duties in accordance with the Shariah rulings.