United Arab Emirates issued its first civil marriage licence to a non-muslim couple

Tags: International News

• A Canadian couple were the first to marry under the new law on the personal status of non-Muslims in the Emirati capital, Abu Dhabi.
• UAE in November 2021 had announced that non-muslims would be allowed to marry, divorce and get joint child custody under civil law in Abu Dhabi according to a new decree issued by its ruler.
• The United Arab Emirates, where foreigners make up 90% of the approximately 10 ­million population has been amending its laws to present itself as a modernising force in a largely conservative region. 
• In the United Arab Emirates personal status laws on marriage and divorce had formerly been based on Islamic sharia principles, as in other Gulf states.

United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Capital: Abu Dhabi

Currency: United Arab Emirates dirham

President: Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan

Prime minister: Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum

About Abu Dhabi

• Abu Dhabi city in the emirate is the federal capital of the UAE.
• Abu Dhabi is the largest emirate in the United Arab Emirates, occupying 84 per cent of the national landmass territory. It has 200 islands and a long coastline stretching 700km.
• It is an oil-rich emirate and the second-most populous city of UAE, after Dubai.

Starting on January 1, 2022, the Emirates will become the only Gulf country not to observe weekends from Friday, the Muslim day of prayer, to Saturday.