Palestinian courts take a break from divorce during Ramadan
The head of Palestine's Islamic courts has banned judges from registering divorces during Ramadan, citing hasty decisions made by fasting Muslims.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — Iman Basel, 25, is waiting for Ramadan to be over so she can file for divorce at an Islamic court in Nablus. Basel, who requested that Al-Monitor not use her real name, has not been able to file for divorce since a Palestinian judge banned such proceedings from taking place during Ramadan.
On May 28, the head of Palestinian Islamic courts, Mahmoud al-Habash, told judges in the West Bank not to grant divorces over Ramadan unless necessary. The order did not apply to judges in the Gaza Strip due to the divided state of the Palestinian government.
In urgent cases, Habash asked judges to base their decisions on the reports of the Department of Family Counseling and Reform.
Habash based his order on experiences from previous years, during which he said the divorce rate increased over Ramadan due to hasty decisions made by individuals who were fasting and not thinking clearly. No official statistics of divorce rates in Palestine during Ramadan exist.
