Newsletter publication of Guyana's  Sad'r Anjuman -E -Islam BG dated March 1948.  BG means British Guyana.

The following quotes are taken from a paper titled, “Islam Making Alarming Gains over Christianity.”  In 1911, the British Government and its evangelical arms were alarmed that Muslims out numbered Christians in the British Empire.  There were 95, 000, 000 Muslims in the British Empire “more than 5,000,000 in excess of Christians” in the British Empire in 1911. (New York Times Magazine, October 29, 1911)

This paper focuses on the relationship between Guyana and the Islamic World from 1948 to 2008, and it brings to light the two track relationship, government to government and people to people with the Islamic World. Guyana has a significant Muslim minority, who forged strong bonds with the umma before the country gained independence in 1966.

Guyana, unlike other Caribbean countries has had strong ties with the Islamic World because of religious and political ties with the Islamic World which dates back to the 1700s when Islam reached the shores of Guyana through the African slave trade, and again with the coming of the Hindustani Muslims from India between 1838 to 1917.

Modern Guyana’s political history started with the Peoples Progressive Party (PPP), a left wing party, founded by Dr. Cheddi Jagan in the 1950 who forged strong ties with nationalists in Ghana, Iran, Indonesia, Syria, and Egypt. The party’s lofty goals, anti-colonialism, socialism and nationalism were analogous with Nasserism. Former Guyanese President, Dr. Cheddi Jagan travelled to Syria and Egypt in the 1960s and identified with the Iranian’s nationalist movement under the leadership of Dr. Mossadegh. A CIA covert operation let to the illegal removal of Dr. Jagan from power in the 1960s and the Peoples National Congress (PNC), the other political party came to power in Guyana and continued the same Jagganite foreign policies. Libya, Iraq, and Egypt opened embassies in Guyana and in the 1990s the Government of Guyana established diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Kuwait.

And in 1998 Guyana became a member of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) which brought it permanently close to the Islamic world. In 1996, Dr. Jagan made an official visit to the Middle East which included visits to Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

In his foreword, Mr Justice Nasir Aslam Zahid has emphasized the role of the two sisters, Mrs G.A. Wahab and Mrs H.A. Hakam, who faced trials and tribulations in the post-partition period in Calcutta and then in former East Pakistan during the traumatic days of 1970-71.

Justice Zahid pays tributes to them and to the writer Begum Akhter Jahan Khan for their perseverance, dedication and commitment to the cause of Pakistan and humanity.

It is indeed amazing that despite a conservative and conformist background as could have been expected from the Muslim society of pre-partition India, these two ladies demonstrated their scholarly knowledge, intellect, humility and the zest for a cause dear to their hearts.

Both of them were born in British Guiana, South America and were widely known for their simple living without any false starts or pretensions. They lived like dervishes leading an austere life. Their most outstanding qualities were warm affection, helpful sympathy and dedication to the cause of human happiness.

(this is taken from the Pakistani Daily Newspaper, Dawn.)

The Muslim Marriage Act of 1940 was part of the Asian Marriage Act of 1940 and was a result of strong lobbying by the Asian community to be recognised as part of the social and political fabric of Suriname.

Above all, it was a rejection of “Dutchification” and acceptance of “Asianisation” by the Dutch themselves, since Muslims have been living in Suriname since 1873 and up to 1940 their religious marriages were not registered with the government, “which caused many problems regarding law of succession and registration of children.”

It was in this context that the Dutch were sympathetic towards the Asians that they tried to resolve these problems by enacting the Asian Marriage Decree during the Governorship of Professor Kielstra who came from Indonesia; however, he was a Dutchman from the Netherlands.

This bold step taken by the Dutch Governor of incorporating special privileges to the Muslim and Hindu community and treating them as equals was a goodwill gesture to the Asians that demonstrated that the Dutch were not interested in “civilising” the Asians, unlike the British policies in Guyana. The decree consisted of two parts -- the Muslim Marriage Act and the Hindu Marriage Act which legalised marriages performed by Hindu and Muslim religious leaders.

The Muslim Marriage Degree concerned marriages among Muslims only and has drawn much coverage since the 1990s. Some attacked this dual law and see it as a violation of Suriname’s constitution and very unfair to women. Non-Muslims were always required to register their marriages with the civil authorities.

Dawn, a Muslim newsletter of Suriname, summarises the sentiments of the Muslim community: “The Muslim Marriage Decree should apply only to Muslims to prevent misuse by non Muslims for example bypassing the marriageable age or parental consent.”

There are sharp differences on the issue of divorce of Hindus and Christians as compared to Muslims, and this has been the bone of contention. Suriname’s Civil Code entitles every man and woman to a divorce. Marriages of Hindus and Christians cannot be dissolved because they are not regulated by their “religious books,” thus, a Hindu or a Christian must apply for a divorce based on Suriname’s Civil Code.

On the contrary, the Islamic marriages are regulated by the Quran (Sharia) and “the legislator could insert a separate regulation regarding divorce into the Muslim Marriage Decree.” Suriname’s Civil Code contains four grounds for divorce which is in stark contrast to Quranic Laws (Sharia) since there are no specific grounds for divorce (talak).

In Suriname a Muslim man according to the Muslim Marriage Decree can easily get a divorce; however the wife has only two options to divorce:

1. She can apply for a divorce based on Article 4 of the Muslim Marriage Decree;

2. She can apply for a divorce via a magistrate.

With regards to the second case, the magistrate is held to the grounds for divorce, as stated in the Civil Code, but he hears an expert of Islamic Fiqh (Islamic Law/Sharia) who verifies whether or not the couple can live peacefully, and determines if a divorce is necessary and that all the steps in the process of a Muslim Talak have been followed according to Sharia.

In the past decade the Muslim Marriage Decree has come under attack from international human rights groups, women groups in Suriname calling for the integration or standardisation of the country’s Civil Code which they alleged is in violation of the country’s constitution.

Islamic organisations such as the SIV, MMA, and SMA presented a united case to the President of Suriname. They supported the modification of the Muslim Marriage Decree in 1973 which became know as the Adhin Law (Marriage Law Revision Act 1973) which was ratified finally by the Surinamese Parliament in 2003.

The Muslim intelligentsia who were part of several commissions since 1973 revising the Asian Marriage Act did not see it as an infringement of their religious rights. In fact, they see it as an improvement of their country because the dual laws created cracks for abuse which were abused by non-Muslims as well. Revision included the age of marriage for both male and female to age 17 for male and 15 for female, grounds for divorces, inheritance, guardianship or parental authority after divorce, maintenance or allowance.

This in essence came into uniformity with the Civil Code of Suriname. Religious marriages of Muslims will now have to be registered with the civil authorities and divorce by a secular court.

More or less, the Muslim Marriage Act of 1940 has been abrogated.

This was in response to Mr. Ahmad Jhawnie’s letter titled “Fake marriages” in the Guyana Chronicle of June 8, 2006.

DOCUMENT TITLE (click on title to retrieve)	SOURCE
Guyanese sent aid to refugees of India/Pakistan at Partition
Ode to Jinnah from Berbice, Guyana
Emigration Pass - 1912 sample 1	G. Ntnl Arch
Emigration Pass - 1912 sample 2	G. Ntnl Arch
Emigration Pass - 1912 sample 3	G. Ntnl Arch
Emigration Pass - 1912 sample 4	G. Ntnl Arch
Mr. Ashraf Ali Returns
Flight-Lieutenant Fizul Karim (Royal Air Force)
Sad'rAnjuman-e-Islam 1947 Executive
Urdu dua composed, published in BG 1947