10-20-2021, 01:50 PM
![[Image: mariam-mokhtar-column-300x400-1.jpg]](https://s3media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/mariam-mokhtar-column-300x400-1.jpg)
The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed some serious flaws in our relationships.
On Oct 12, deputy law minister Mas Ermieyati Samsudin told Parliament that about 140 divorce applications had been filed a day from March 2020 to August this year. Of these, 121 cases a day were attributed to Muslim couples.
Did the high divorce rate of 66,440 cases filed by Muslim couples with the e-shariah system ring alarm bells among the Malay community? So, how will the government address this problem?
Registering 121 divorce cases a day, or five every hour, among Muslims is worrying. Was there a breakdown in the relationship? Was the couple saddled with financial trouble, especially as many people had lost their jobs during the pandemic? Was it being cooped up at home during lockdown that caused the union to fail? Did the husband want to divorce his wife to marry another woman?
Will the authorities find out the real reasons for these divorces?
According to Mas, the highest divorce rate among Muslims was recorded in Selangor (12,479). The rates for the other states are Johor (7,558), Kedah (5,985), Kelantan (5,982), Perak (5,921), Terengganu (5,098), Pahang (5,058), Sabah (4,010), the federal territories (3,854), Negeri Sembilan (3,473), Penang (2,978), Melaka (2,402), Perlis (1,081) and Sarawak (561).
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