In a love-triangle, the third party is usually the lawyer. “It is fine, even beautiful, when a couple agrees and is clear on what they want from a relationship…a woman falls in love and the boy cares about her, she helps him to open his own business and they may run it together, and stay together. There is nothing wrong with that.” says Eid Al-Darby, a lawyer, after we talked for four hours about the Urfi marriage issue, his personal life, Israel and Sinai, and then about the way of life of the local Bedouin, and then back to Urfi marriages. We agreed that maybe these relations are a bizarre reflection on what we expect from a usual relationship, yet if everybody is happy, then let it be. Al-Darby has 13 years of experience in the law and he has been working in Dahab since 2001.
Marriages
A marriage in Egypt is legal if it is a civil ceremony performed at a local marriage court. An Urfi, or customary marriage, is a controversial issue and is still unrecognized by most of Egyptian society. The Egyptian government did not recognize Urfi marriage until the new personal status law passed in 2000. Now the document can be only used in family courts to prove the relationship and grant a divorce for a woman, without alimony or child support. Unofficial Urfi marriage is when the couple, two witnesses and a lawyer sign a document.
In Cairo, the reputation of Urfi marriages is that they are nearly the same as legalized prostitution. Stories abound of summer romances between filthy rich Gulf Arab boys buying poor virgin peasant girls for a fling. Urfi marriages are also considered a safety valve for frustration over spiraling marriage costs and an outlet for university couples' first discreet sexual experiences. In Dahab, where there is a beach and a surplus of underemployed men, it suits everyone.
In Cairo, the reputation of Urfi marriages is that they are nearly the same as legalized prostitution. Stories abound of summer romances between filthy rich Gulf Arab boys buying poor virgin peasant girls for a fling. Urfi marriages are also considered a safety valve for frustration over spiraling marriage costs and an outlet for university couples' first discreet sexual experiences. In Dahab, where there is a beach and a surplus of underemployed men, it suits everyone.
