Abstract

Statutory laws are applicable in Bangladesh for its citizens for general matters and religion based personal laws for family matters. Eighty percent of the population in Bangladesh are Muslims and most dispute pertaining to family related matters are judicially resolved in the Family Courts of Bangladesh whilst a few issues may be settled extrajudicially by designated forums in accordance with the Muslim Personal Law. In spite of the fact that there are Muslim Personal statutory laws with clear indication as to how the controversies are to be disposed of, it is often seen that moulvies (clergies) with the support of a few locals who hold some influential power, intervene in marital discords by stating fatwa which may not be in accordance to Islam thus resulting in a disruption of formal order of a family. Case study shows that rural people are affected by it and eighty percent of the total population reside in the rural areas. This article aims to show that the farwa with regard to hilla awarded by local moulvies contradict with the basic principles of Islamic Law. To reach this aim the article defines different aspects of fatwa, fatwa regarding hilla marriage and the judicial intervention on this issue.