Driver’s license a requisite for finalizing marriage contracts?

The Ministry of Justice is moving to rule that one of the conditions to finalIzing a marriage contract is the possession of a driver’s license. The step is being considered to limit the number of divorce cases in the Kingdom.
The ministry has already started communicating with consultants and family centers about the feasibility of the mechanism and is studying the decision carefully prior to its implementation. The ministry may also consider making rehabilitation courses compulsory for aspiring couples planning to get married, a system already applied in a number of Islamic countries.
Abdulsalam Al-Saqbai, family and legal consultant said the idea of obtaining a driving license came after the decision of a medical test to ensure the health and fitness of the couple before getting married. He said that the decision of the family driver’s license was taken after noting that divorces and separations had no connection with the results of the medical tests.
“We already have marriage workshops which existed with charitable societies that used to offer financial aid to some couples if they attended these sessions,” he said but the rising divorce rate continues unabated, hence the stringent measures.
The trainings are short but compulsory. “The issues that cause separation are usually very simple and these two-day courses give couples the basic rules of enjoying a happily married life,” he added.
However, the bureaucracy has delayed the decision to implement the decision in light of the unavailability of trained specialists to carry out the program in addition to the approval pending from special authorities to issue the license.
The decision is still under study and it is uncertain if it will be adopted by the Ministry of Justice or the Ministry of Social Affairs, according to Al-Saqbai. “There are still meetings being held with specialists in the Ministry of Justice, among the judges, family consultants and societies related to family development to discuss the issue,” he said. However, he believes that the decision will be implemented in the near future.
He attributed the increase in divorce rates to the gradually opening up of Saudi society. “We are clinging to traditions that have nothing to do with Islam and this is what is creating the rift,” he said.
Abdulsalam Al-Saqabi blames the young men for not taking responsibility and for lack of knowledge about women’s rights in a marital relationship which leads to divorce.