Malaysian Muslims Couples Are Getting Divorced Over Covid-19 Vaccines

What happens when a husband is anti-vaxx and the wife tries to protect herself from Covid-19?

Credit: Envato/Malay Mail

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A lovers quarrel in Terengganu has lives at stake.

A local housewife was seeking legal counsel when her husband threatened divorce after she went and got herself vaccinated for Covid-19 without his permission.

In an interview with Berita Harian, Syariah lawyer Maryam Wafda Kamilen from the Tetuan Wafda Kamilen & Associates legal firm revealed details of a peculiar case of theirs in which a woman had sought advice on whether her marriage was still legitimate.

Apparently, the husband in the story had forbidden his wife from getting vaccinated and professed a “taklik” without knowing that his wife had already gotten her first jab.

The couple was said to be having a long-distance marriage and the wife had gotten her first vaccine dose on 29 August.

Breach of contract?

In Islamic marriages, a taklik is basically a special condition that is agreed upon by the couple as part of the terms of their marriage.

Conditions for a taklik can be anything from standard stuff like the husband not being allowed to be away from the wife for a set period of time, to more egregious rules like needing to make a certain amount of money for a living or wanting a set number of children.

Taklik conditions can also be changed or removed based on the agreement of both parties.

Breaching the contract would obviously result in a divorce, and here in Malaysia, the details of a taklik are inscribed on a couple’s marriage certificate.