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Kenya: Information on Sunni Muslim traditions and customs regarding marriage and on whether women have the right to object to the man who is chosen to be her husband in an arranged marriage

The following information was obtained during a 20 February 1996 telephone interview with an associate professor and specialist on Kenya who teaches at the Department of Black Studies, Ohio State University, in Columbus.

There are 6 million Muslims living in Kenya. Although Kenyan Muslims belong to many different communities, in general they follow the Sunni doctrine. Marriage and divorce in the Kenyan Muslim communities is regulated by Islamic law based on the Sunni doctrine. However, if a Muslim wishes to marry in a government court presided over by a district officer, Common Law would regulate the marriage. Although arranged marriages are common in Kenya, they are not codified or dictated by the Islamic doctrine, and parents often justify these marriages by their own interpretation of the Koran or popular Islam. A woman who refuses to marry a man of her parents' choice risks to be banned from her family and community. A woman rejected by her family would no longer be able to rely on the network of mutual assistance that characterizes many communities in Kenya.

For further information on the above-mentioned topics, please consult Response to Information Request KEN21568.E of 13 October 1995 and its attachment, available at your Regional Documentation Centre, as well as to the attached documents.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Reference

        Associate professor and Kenya specialist, Department of Black Studies at Ohio State University, Colombus. 20 February 1996. Telephone interview.

Attachments

        Rhoodie, Eschel M. 1989. Discrimination Against Women: A Global Survey of the Economic, Educational, Social and Political Status of Women. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, pp. 124-35, 531.

Sisterhood is Global: The International Women's Movement Anthology. 1984. Compiled and edited by Robin Morgan. New York: Anchors Books, pp. 388-98.

Topics: Muslim, Sunni,