The relevance and Impact of Laws Regulating Premarital Screening in the Muslim Arab Countries

الملخص

In order to maintain the general health and prevent against propagation of contagious diseases, the majority of the Arabic Muslim countries adopted laws and regulations implementing mandatory programs of premarital screening and counseling. All these countries faced the challenge of maintaining healthy society without breaching human rights or neglecting respect to the main rules and dispositions of Islamic religion. This research studied the evolution of the legalization of the premarital screening 1laws in the Arab Muslim countries. Data was collected from different legislations regarding the premarital screenings in certain Arab Muslim countries and other occidental countries and similar cultural communities. Data were included regarding 8 Arab Muslim countries, 3 occidental countries, China and the Orthodox Jewish Community. An intensive literature review regarding researches measuring the outcomes of premarital screening in Arabic Muslim countries was also performed. A document's review was performed over legal documents and scientific researches. The research showed that the majority of laws in the Arab Muslim countries made the analysis and medical examination mandatory. Nevertheless, it is up to the future husband and wife to decide whether to continue the process of marriage or not. The imposition of premarital medical examination laws in the Arabic Muslim countries lead us to observe positive outcomes in countries like Bahrain, Palestine, UAE, Saudi Arabia and no effect in Egypt, Kuwait and Tunisia. An urgent need of researches measuring the outcomes of programs of premarital screenings was observed. Key words: premarital screenings, Laws, Muslim Arab Countries