Sheikh Gumi defends use of public funds for marriage support in Shariah states
Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi has defended the use of public funds to support marriage arrangements in states operating under Shariah law, describing the practice as a legitimate responsibility of government.
In a statement shared on Facebook on Thursday, Gumi argued that governments in Shariah-governed societies have a duty to address social needs that arise from the prohibition of sexual relationships outside marriage. Where prostitution, fornication, adultery and promiscuity are barred by both religious principles and state laws, he said, state intervention to assist people who cannot afford marriage should be viewed as responsible governance.
He stated that public resources could legitimately be used to support young people in urgent need of marriage, as well as women who face limited opportunities to find suitable spouses. “In a Shariah law-driven state, where prostitution, fornication, adultery, and promiscuity are prohibited by both divine and state laws, using public funds to facilitate the marriage of women who are in excess of the available pool of eligible men, or of any young person in dire need of marriage, is a legitimate and responsible component of good governance,” he said.
The argument rests on a clear structural premise: when a legal and religious order closes certain private options, the state that enforces those restrictions assumes a corresponding obligation to reduce the social costs that follow. Gumi presents marriage support not as discretionary charity but as a logical extension of the rules the state itself upholds. Whether such spending is prioritised over other public needs remains a separate fiscal question. The claim he advances is narrower: that the expenditure is consistent with the governing framework rather than a departure from it.
