Islamic countries such as the United Arab Emirates follow Islamic Laws or Sharia Law. This means that they regulate themselves differently than what would be considered normal in the global sense. If you facing with a pregnancy out of a wedlock in an Islamic country, here is what you need to know.

Alternatively you can also check out another piece of article we have put together which discusses unexpected pregnanancy for single women in UAE.

What does the Sharia law state?

Sharia law is a religious law that was formed in part of Islamic traditions. It is derived from the religious precept of the Quran which is the central religious text of Islam, and the Hadith which is believed to be a record of the words, actions and the silent approval of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

As per Sharia Law, marriage is the only legal bond for a man and a woman to establish a relationship and to have children. In most countries that do not have Sharia law, marriage in a civil setting would not be hard to do. However, under Sharia law the rules and procedure may vary depending on nationality and/or religion.

How Sharia Law affects unmarried couples expecting a baby 

With the boom of economy in the UAE, a lot of foreigners decide to go to the UAE especially in cities like Dubai and potentially start a family. It might be considered normal in most places to have children at first before deciding to get married. You have to be careful as this is considered illegal in Sharia Law. The law strictly punishes such violators.

The UAE government introduced a few quite important updates, in November 2020 announcing that consensual sex is not going to be punished by law anymore. However generally speaking the unexpected pregnancy law in the UAE didn’t change much by then which still meant that a baby can only be delivered in a marriage.

The recent changes in the UAE Penal Code allowed unmarried couples in the UAE to live together however other GCC countries did not apply such changes. Plus giving a birth out of wedlock is still illegal in the UAE up until now.

There have been a dozens of cases where local authorities have taken rather strict actions against single woman trespassing these laws and were even subjected to harsh reality of deportation from the UAE or jail. 

So here’s the latest update on the unexpected pregnancy

In most cases, couples would usually opt to get married outside of the UAE and make this official. An unexpected pregnancy can be a tiny hurdle in our plans but most couples would see this as a beginning to a new chapter.

According to the most recent updates however; Unmarried women who become pregnant in the United Arab Emirates will no longer have to flee the country for an abortion or marry in the latest move by the Gulf state.

The times.co.uk, 2021

This means that unmarried couples living in the UAE can heave a sign of relief and fret about the unwanted pregnancy and having to face the challenges like the other expats did.

Would you know of anyone who would be thrilled to hear these latest updates, please feel to share it with them