Nearly 2,000 official marriages in Makkah have been recently put on hold. Reason: No marriage contracts are available at the General Court to officially document the marriage. “The branch of the Ministry of Justice in Makkah has been relocated to a new building which in effect has delayed distributing the marriage official papers to the licensed marriage contractors in the city,” said Yaslim Ba-Swaid, chief marriage contractor at the Makkah General Court. The marriage contractors just initially document the marriages in Makkah on a draft book to be later transferred into official marriage papers, he said. But that draft paper is not recognized as official by the government agencies, adding more to the court embarrassment, he said. For a married couple to finish their joint government-related paperwork like a family card, they have to present an official marriage contract. “The couple cannot present this draft marriage paper to the Credit and Savings Bank to apply for a marriage loan. Rather, they have to submit the official marriage contract to get the loan,” said a marriage contractor. Abdul Aziz Filmban said he has put off his marriage plan until the court provides more official marriage contracts.
